[Sorghum Cane]

Narrative by Junebug Clark in the summer of 2014 Sorghum cane stalks being brought to a mule drawn press where the stalks are ground, then the juice from the cane extracted and later poured into vats to be boiled down into molasses. Overall Background: Edit These Molasses Making Stir-off photos were shot by Joe Clark HBSS in the early to mid-1940s. Either on the farm of Fred Whitaker about four miles southwest of Cumberland Gap, or in Cumberland Gap on the farm of Baptist preacher the Rev. Hugh Vancel. More information about these images can be found in scrapbooks in the Clark Family Collection at the University of North Texas Special Collections Library. Specifically in a Detroit news pictorial article published December 13, 1942 titles "stir-off party" where mountaineers make molasses and merriment. Also in life magazine published November 13, 1950 [page 156] titled “Stir-off Time in Tennessee, Fun Starts in Hills as Molasses Boils.’ Also in the library is the NBC Today Show story on Joe Clark HBSS by Bob Dotson. It features Joe Clark returning to Cumberland Gap Tennessee to photograph a molasses stir off taking place in the same location as some of these photographs and attended …
Date: 194X
Creator: Clark, Joe
System: The UNT Digital Library

[Grinding Cane]

Narrative by Junebug Clark in the summer of 2014 Sorghum cane is fed into a mule drawn press where the juice is extracted and collected. Overall Background: These Molasses Making Stir-off photos were shot by Joe Clark HBSS in the early to mid-1940s. Either on the farm of Fred Whitaker about four miles southwest of Cumberland Gap, or in Cumberland Gap on the farm of Baptist preacher the Rev. Hugh Vancel. More information about these images can be found in scrapbooks in the Clark Family Collection at the University of North Texas Special Collections Library. Specifically in a Detroit news pictorial article published December 13, 1942 titles "stir-off party" where mountaineers make molasses and merriment. Also in life magazine published November 13, 1950 [page 156] titled “Stir-off Time in Tennessee, Fun Starts in Hills as Molasses Boils.’ Also in the library is the NBC Today Show story on Joe Clark HBSS by Bob Dotson. It features Joe Clark returning to Cumberland Gap Tennessee to photograph a molasses stir off taking place in the same location as some of these photographs and attended by some of the same people in the early 1980s. Let me briefly set the scene of the …
Date: 194X
Creator: Clark, Joe
System: The UNT Digital Library

[Douglas Clark Taking a Bath]

Narrative by Junebug Clark: Photograph is from the early 1940s and is shot in Cumberland Gap, Tennessee. Douglas Clark is taking a bath, preparing for Christmas festivities. Doug is the son of Wade Hampton "Junebug" Clark, Jr. Doug studied agriculture at Lincoln Memorial University. He went to work managing farms in Brazil for R.J. Reynolds Company and then became a lobbyist for the Tobacco industry.
Date: 194X
Creator: Clark, Joe
System: The UNT Digital Library

[Straining the Cane]

Narrative by Junebug Clark in the summer of 2014: "Straining the Cane" show community members actually straining the extracted juice from the sorghum cane before it goes into metal vats to be boiled down into molasses. Overall Background: These Molasses Making Stir-off photos were shot by Joe Clark HBSS in the early to mid-1940s. Either on the farm of Fred Whitaker about four miles southwest of Cumberland Gap, or in Cumberland Gap on the farm of Baptist preacher the Rev. Hugh Vancel. More information about these images can be found in scrapbooks in the Clark Family Collection at the University of North Texas Special Collections Library. Specifically in a Detroit news pictorial article published December 13, 1942 titles "stir-off party" where mountaineers make molasses and merriment. Also in life magazine published November 13, 1950 [page 156] titled “Stir-off Time in Tennessee, Fun Starts in Hills as Molasses Boils.’ Also in the library is the NBC Today Show story on Joe Clark HBSS by Bob Dotson. It features Joe Clark returning to Cumberland Gap Tennessee to photograph a molasses stir off taking place in the same location as some of these photographs and attended by some of the same people in …
Date: 194X
Creator: Clark, Joe
System: The UNT Digital Library

[Kissing Games]

Narrative by Junebug Clark in the summer of 2014: Kissing games at Stir-off gatherings are a favorite pastime. Looks like a few girls in the background are jealous and looking for a beau. The kissing game usually started with single boys and girls forming a circle. A girl would run around the circle and tag a boy and he would then chase her around the circle. The idea being that if she beat him back to the spot he vacated - she was safe. If he caught her - a kiss was the prize. It's been said it was amazing how many girls got their feet tangled running around that circle. People watching the molasses syrup as it boils down use short pieces of sorghum cane stalk to make “sop sticks,” which are used to dip into the molasses syrup for a taste. This was the height of the fall social season. Harvesting the sorghum, extracting the juice, boiling it down into molasses could take days and weeks going round the clock to finish. Overall Background:These Molasses Making Stir-off photos were shot by Joe Clark HBSS in the early to mid-1940s. Either on the farm of Fred Whitaker about four …
Date: 194X
Creator: Clark, Joe
System: The UNT Digital Library

[Joe Clark, The Hill Billy Snap Shooter]

A 1950's photo of Joe Clark, HBSS, the Hill Billy Snap Shooter with his trademark straw hat and Leica camera.
Date: 195X
Creator: Clark, Joe
System: The UNT Digital Library

[Women at a quilting bee]

Narrative by Junebug Clark: Photo of women in the Powell Valley during the early 1940s in Cumberland Gap, Tennessee. The quilters gather inside a neighbor's home during a Quilting Bee. This is a 2 1/4 X 2 1/4 B&W negative.
Date: 194X
Creator: Clark, Joe
System: The UNT Digital Library

[Douglas Clark Taking a Bath]

Narrative by Junebug Clark: Photograph is from the 1940s and is shot in Cumberland Gap, Tennessee. This is my cousin Douglas Clark, son of my Uncle Junebug and Aunt Jennie Clark. I'd guess this to be bath time in 1945.
Date: 194X
Creator: Clark, Joe
System: The UNT Digital Library

Baptising in Olde Towne Creek

Narrative by Junebug Clark: Photograph is from 1938 and is shot in Red Hill, Tennessee. One of the first photos made by Joe, Baptising in Olde Towne Creek, has endured to become a favorite and meaningful to many. It bears close scrutiny because of the differing expressions and attitudes of those attending. People have said that they have counted fifty-one people in this picture and I’ve listened to many a controversy about a TV antenna* appearing in this 1938 photo. The Rev. Hugh Vancel, in charge in this photo, performed countless baptisms, but the ceremony eventually moved indoors. Olde Towne Creek empties into Keg Branch, a creek that runs though our property, about three miles left of your view point. To your right, about a mile, is the Clark family cemetery where Joe was laid to rest in December of 1989. In 1981 the Smithsonian Institute displayed a print of this photo for use in an exhibit “Rights of Passage.” It was published in the autobiography of Dolly Parton and as the poster for the Wolf Trap Music Festival. Jb. *lightning rod
Date: 1938
Creator: Clark, Joe
System: The UNT Digital Library

[Kissing Game]

Narrative by Junebug Clark in the summer of 2014: Stir-off Time, the harvesting of sorghum and the process of extracting out its juices and boiling it down into molasses was a day and night process that brought families, neighbors and friends together for this last social event in the Fall season. Besides sharing in the labor they also shared in fun and dance as local musicians came to play as did many of the single folk used this as an opportunity to meet and court. Overall Background: These Molasses Making Stir-off photos were shot by Joe Clark HBSS in the early to mid-1940s. Most of them on the farm of Fred Whitaker about four miles southwest of Cumberland Gap, or in Cumberland Gap on the farm of Baptist preacher the Rev. Hugh Vancel. More information about these images can be found in scrapbooks in the Clark Family Collection at the University of North Texas Special Collections Library. Specifically in a Detroit news pictorial article published December 13, 1942 titles "stir-off party" where mountaineers make molasses and merriment. Also in life magazine published November 13, 1950 [page 156] titled “Stir-off Time in Tennessee, Fun Starts in Hills as Molasses Boils.’ Also …
Date: 194X
Creator: Clark, Joe
System: The UNT Digital Library

[Arriving at the Stir-off]

Narrative by Junebug Clark in the summer of 2014 Friends and neighbors come from miles around to participate in the Molasses Making Stir-off. Overall Background: These Molasses Making Stir-off photos were shot by Joe Clark HBSS in the early to mid-1940s. Either on the farm of Fred Whitaker about four miles southwest of Cumberland Gap, or in Cumberland Gap on the farm of Baptist preacher the Rev. Hugh Vancel. More information about these images can be found in scrapbooks in the Clark Family Collection at the University of North Texas Special Collections Library. Specifically in a Detroit news pictorial article published December 13, 1942 titles "stir-off party" where mountaineers make molasses and merriment. Also in life magazine published November 13, 1950 [page 156] titled “Stir-off Time in Tennessee, Fun Starts in Hills as Molasses Boils.’ Also in the library is the NBC Today Show story on Joe Clark HBSS by Bob Dotson. It features Joe Clark returning to Cumberland Gap Tennessee to photograph a molasses stir off taking place in the same location as some of these photographs and attended by some of the same people in the early 1980s. Let me briefly set the scene of the time and …
Date: 194X
Creator: Clark, Joe
System: The UNT Digital Library

[Women quilting outdoors]

Narrative by Junebug Clark: Photo of women in the Powell Valley during the early 1940s in Cumberland Gap, Tennessee. The quilters gather at a neighbor's home for a Quilting Bee. This is a 2 1/4 X 2 1/4 B&W negative.
Date: 194X
Creator: Clark, Joe
System: The UNT Digital Library

[Mule Power]

Narrative by Junebug Clark in the summer of 2014: Mules and horses were the common 'power plant' used for turning the mill that the stripped down sorghum stalks were fed. The juice from the stalks were pressed and extracted to later be boiled down into molasses in large metal vats. Overall Background: These Molasses Making Stir-off photos were shot by Joe Clark HBSS in the early to mid-1940s. Either on the farm of Fred Whitaker about four miles southwest of Cumberland Gap, or in Cumberland Gap on the farm of Baptist preacher the Rev. Hugh Vancel. More information about these images can be found in scrapbooks in the Clark Family Collection at the University of North Texas Special Collections Library. Specifically in a Detroit news pictorial article published December 13, 1942 titles "stir-off party" where mountaineers make molasses and merriment. Also in life magazine published November 13, 1950 [page 156] titled “Stir-off Time in Tennessee, Fun Starts in Hills as Molasses Boils.’ Also in the library is the NBC Today Show story on Joe Clark HBSS by Bob Dotson. It features Joe Clark returning to Cumberland Gap Tennessee to photograph a molasses stir off taking place in the same location …
Date: 194X
Creator: Clark, Joe
System: The UNT Digital Library

[Grinding Sorghum Cane]

Narrative by Junebug Clark in the summer of 2014 Sorghum cane is fed into a press where the juice is extracted and collected latter to be boiled down in large vats to turn it into molasses. Overall Background: These Molasses Making Stir-off photos were shot by Joe Clark HBSS in the early to mid-1940s. Either on the farm of Fred Whitaker about four miles southwest of Cumberland Gap, or in Cumberland Gap on the farm of Baptist preacher the Rev. Hugh Vancel. More information about these images can be found in scrapbooks in the Clark Family Collection at the University of North Texas Special Collections Library. Specifically in a Detroit news pictorial article published December 13, 1942 titles "stir-off party" where mountaineers make molasses and merriment. Also in life magazine published November 13, 1950 [page 156] titled “Stir-off Time in Tennessee, Fun Starts in Hills as Molasses Boils.’ Also in the library is the NBC Today Show story on Joe Clark HBSS by Bob Dotson. It features Joe Clark returning to Cumberland Gap Tennessee to photograph a molasses stir off taking place in the same location as some of these photographs and attended by some of the same people in …
Date: 194X
Creator: Clark, Joe
System: The UNT Digital Library

[Douglas Clark at Christmas]

Narrative by Junebug Clark: Photograph is from the 1940s and is shot in Cumberland Gap, Tennessee. This is my cousin Douglas Clark, son of my Uncle Junebug and Aunt Jennie Clark. I'd guess this to be Christmas time in 1945.
Date: 194X
Creator: Clark, Joe
System: The UNT Digital Library

[Stir-off Music and Dance]

Narrative by Junebug Clark in the summer of 2014 As the night rolls on out come the musical instruments, guitars, banjos, fiddles and the people who have come from miles around begging to dance and sing. Overall Background: These Molasses Making Stir-off photos were shot by Joe Clark HBSS in the early to mid-1940s. Either on the farm of Fred Whitaker about four miles southwest of Cumberland Gap, or in Cumberland Gap on the farm of Baptist preacher the Rev. Hugh Vancel. More information about these images can be found in scrapbooks in the Clark Family Collection at the University of North Texas Special Collections Library. Specifically in a Detroit news pictorial article published December 13, 1942 titles "stir-off party" where mountaineers make molasses and merriment. Also in life magazine published November 13, 1950 [page 156] titled “Stir-off Time in Tennessee, Fun Starts in Hills as Molasses Boils.’ Also in the library is the NBC Today Show story on Joe Clark HBSS by Bob Dotson. It features Joe Clark returning to Cumberland Gap Tennessee to photograph a molasses stir off taking place in the same location as some of these photographs and attended by some of the same people in …
Date: 194X
Creator: Clark, Joe
System: The UNT Digital Library

[Couple Sampling Molasses with Sop Sticks]

Narrative by Junebug Clark in the summer of 2014 People watching the molasses syrup as it boils down use short pieces of sorghum cane stalk to make “sop sticks” used to dip into the molasses syrup for a taste. This was the height of the fall social season. Harvesting the sorghum, extracting the juice, boiling it down into molasses could take days and weeks going round the clock to finish. Overall Background: These Molasses Making Stir-off photos were shot by Joe Clark HBSS in the early to mid-1940s. Either on the farm of Fred Whitaker about four miles southwest of Cumberland Gap, or in Cumberland Gap on the farm of Baptist preacher the Rev. Hugh Vancel. More information about these images can be found in scrapbooks in the Clark Family Collection at the University of North Texas Special Collections Library. Specifically in a Detroit news pictorial article published December 13, 1942 titles "stir-off party" where mountaineers make molasses and merriment. Also in life magazine published November 13, 1950 [page 156] titled “Stir-off Time in Tennessee, Fun Starts in Hills as Molasses Boils.’ Also in the library is the NBC Today Show story on Joe Clark HBSS by Bob Dotson. It …
Date: 194X
Creator: Clark, Joe
System: The UNT Digital Library

[A woman pulling food from an oven]

Photograph of a woman removing food from an oven. The woman holds a plate in one hand and grabs a pan with the opposite hand. Multiple pots and pans can be seen on the stovetop.
Date: [1939..1989]
Creator: Clark, Joe
System: The UNT Digital Library

[Sorghum Harvest]

Narrative by Junebug Clark in the summer of 2014: Young girl in a field of sorghum. Overall Background: These Molasses Making Stir-off photos were shot by Joe Clark HBSS in the early to mid-1940s. Either on the farm of Fred Whitaker about four miles southwest of Cumberland Gap, or in Cumberland Gap on the farm of Baptist preacher the Rev. Hugh Vancel. More information about these images can be found in scrapbooks in the Clark Family Collection at the University of North Texas Special Collections Library. Specifically in a Detroit news pictorial article published December 13, 1942 titles "stir-off party" where mountaineers make molasses and merriment. Also in life magazine published November 13, 1950 [page 156] titled “Stir-off Time in Tennessee, Fun Starts in Hills as Molasses Boils.’ Also in the library is the NBC Today Show story on Joe Clark HBSS by Bob Dotson. It features Joe Clark returning to Cumberland Gap Tennessee to photograph a molasses stir off taking place in the same location as some of these photographs and attended by some of the same people in the early 1980s. Let me briefly set the scene of the time and era that these photos were made. World …
Date: 194X
Creator: Clark, Joe
System: The UNT Digital Library

[Otto Walker and Harry England heading to the spring for water]

Photograph of Otto Walker and Harry England leaving the school house to get more water from the spring one mile away. In the image, Walker and England are just stepping out of the school house, bucket in hand, as they begin their journey for fresh water at the spring.
Date: 1940
Creator: Clark, Joe
System: The UNT Digital Library

[One Mule Power]

Narrative by Junebug Clark in the summer of 2014 One mule powers this grinding mill where long into the night sorghum cane is pressed and the juice is extracted, then boiled down into molasses. Harvest time and the making of molasses runs 24/7 when the cane is ready. Overall Background: These Molasses Making Stir-off photos were shot by Joe Clark HBSS in the early to mid-1940s. Either on the farm of Fred Whitaker about four miles southwest of Cumberland Gap, or in Cumberland Gap on the farm of Baptist preacher the Rev. Hugh Vancel. More information about these images can be found in scrapbooks in the Clark Family Collection at the University of North Texas Special Collections Library. Specifically in a Detroit news pictorial article published December 13, 1942 titles "stir-off party" where mountaineers make molasses and merriment. Also in life magazine published November 13, 1950 [page 156] titled “Stir-off Time in Tennessee, Fun Starts in Hills as Molasses Boils.’ Also in the library is the NBC Today Show story on Joe Clark HBSS by Bob Dotson. It features Joe Clark returning to Cumberland Gap Tennessee to photograph a molasses stir off taking place in the same location as some …
Date: 194X
Creator: Clark, Joe
System: The UNT Digital Library

[Sorghum Candy]

Narrative by Junebug Clark in the summer of 2014 Young boy finds himself a small piece of sorghum cane. It is sweet to suck on. Just like candy now, but even better when it will be boiled down and turned into molasses later. Overall Background: These Molasses Making Stir-off photos were shot by Joe Clark HBSS in the early to mid-1940s. Either on the farm of Fred Whitaker about four miles southwest of Cumberland Gap, or in Cumberland Gap on the farm of Baptist preacher the Rev. Hugh Vancel. More information about these images can be found in scrapbooks in the Clark Family Collection at the University of North Texas Special Collections Library. Specifically in a Detroit news pictorial article published December 13, 1942 titles "stir-off party" where mountaineers make molasses and merriment. Also in life magazine published November 13, 1950 [page 156] titled “Stir-off Time in Tennessee, Fun Starts in Hills as Molasses Boils.’ Also in the library is the NBC Today Show story on Joe Clark HBSS by Bob Dotson. It features Joe Clark returning to Cumberland Gap Tennessee to photograph a molasses stir off taking place in the same location as some of these photographs and attended …
Date: 194X
Creator: Clark, Joe
System: The UNT Digital Library

[Women at an outdoor quilting bee]

Narrative by Junebug Clark: Photo of women in the Powell Valley during the early 1940s in Cumberland Gap, Tennessee. Quilters have set-up a piece of fabric to begin sewing on a drawn pattern during a quilting bee. This is a 2 1/4 X 2 1/4 B&W negative.
Date: 194X
Creator: Clark, Joe
System: The UNT Digital Library

[Old Time Dancing]

Narrative by Junebug Clark: Photograph is from the 1940s and is shot in Cumberland Gap, Tennessee. Students of "pappy" Hiram Frakes School learn old time dances.
Date: 194X
Creator: Clark, Joe
System: The UNT Digital Library