Theodore S. Clerk
Theodore Shealtiel Clerk Achimota College | |
---|---|
Occupation | Architect |
Spouse |
Paulina Quist (m. 1948) |
Parents |
|
Awards | Rutland Prize |
Projects | City of Tema |
Theodore Shealtiel Clerk,
Early life and family
Theodore Clerk was born in
His paternal grandfather,
T. S. Clerk had eight other siblings and was a member of the historically important Clerk family.[8] His older brother, Carl Henry Clerk (1895 – 1982) was an editor, agricultural educationist and church minister who served as the fourth Synod Clerk of the Presbyterian Church of the Gold Coast from 1950 to 1954 as well as the Editor of the Christian Messenger newspaper between 1960 and 1963.[16][17][18][19] Among his sisters were Jane E. Clerk (1904 – 1999), a pioneering woman education administrator along with Matilda Johanna Clerk (1916 – 1984), the second Ghanaian female medical doctor and the first Ghanaian woman in any field to be awarded an academic merit scholarship for university education abroad.[20][21][22]
Education and training
T. S. Clerk attended Basel Mission primary schools in Larteh Akuapem, the boys' boarding middle school, the Salem School at Osu and had his secondary education at
Clerk secured a government scholarship for a diploma course in architecture at the Edinburgh College of Art, a constituent college of the University of Edinburgh where he attended from October 1938 to June 1943.[2][4] Records of his nomination for admission to the professional associations for architecture and town planning suggest that he also completed a diploma in town planning in 1944.[4] Theodore Clerk's nomination papers are housed at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.[4]
During the
Theodore Clerk passed the intermediate examination in June 1941 and the final examination in June 1943, and was admitted as an associate (ARIBA) by the Royal Institute of British Architects on 1 October 1943, with Frank Charles Mears, Leslie Grahame Thomson and John Ross McKay listed as his proposers.[4] Furthermore, Clerk was also an Associate Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute (AMTPI).[4]
Career
In the summer of 1943, Clerk was awarded the Rutland Prize by the Royal Scottish Academy; an award which facilitated a critical study and tour of the Building Research Station in Garston and the Forest Products Research Lab in Princes Risborough, in addition to analysing the architecture, housing and town planning in London, Leeds, Liverpool and Coventry.[4]
He joined the Town and Country Planning Department in
T. S. Clerk later became the first chief executive officer (CEO) of the
Sometime in 1963, a group of about fifteen mostly British and American-trained Ghanaian architects came together to streamline the architectural practice, education and accreditation through a professional body, the Ghana Institute of Architects (GIA) as the successor of the pre-independence Gold Coast Society of Architects, a colonial social club for Gold Coast-based architects founded in August 1954.[6][7] These architects were T. S. Clerk, D.K. Dawson, J.S.K. Frimpong, P.N.K., Turkson, J. Owusu-Addo, O.T. Agyeman, A. K. Amartey, E.K. Asuako, W.S. Asamoah, M. Adu-Donkor, K.G. Kyei, C. Togobo, V. Adegbite, M. Adu Bedu and E. Kingsley Osei.[6][7][32] On Friday 11 December 1964 at 8:30 p.m., the inauguration of the body took place at the University of Ghana, Legon, where T. S. Clerk was elected the first president of the Ghana Institute of Architects, after which he gave his inaugural speech.[6][7][33] Theodore Clerk also authored the first constitution of the Ghana Institute of Architects.[33] T. S. Clerk had previously served as the president of the erstwhile Gold Coast Society of Architects during the British colonial era.[7] Kwame Nkrumah later reassigned Theodore Clerk to the Ghanaian presidency as a senior advisor.
Personal life
On 20 March 1948, Theodore Clerk married Paulina Quist, a
Death and legacy
Clerk died in 1965 of complications relating to stomach cancer.[8] T. S. Clerk's funeral service was held at the Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, Osu and his remains were buried at Accra's Osu Cemetery, previously known as Christiansborg Civil Cemetery. The Ghanaian government named a street in Tema, T.S. Clerk Street, between Akojo School Park and Tweduaase Primary School at Site 6 of Community I, in his honour, in appreciation of his pioneering services to the development of Ghana.[5]
References
- ^ a b "Profile of Theodore Shealtiel Clerk". MyHeritage.com. Archived from the original on 7 April 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f Ofori-Mensah. "22 Successful Ghanaians Who Went To Achimota School". OMGVoice. Archived from the original on 30 March 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
- ^ "Theodore Clerk – Curious Edinburgh". curiousedinburgh.org. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Goold, David. "Dictionary of Scottish Architects - DSA Architect Biography Report (April 6, 2017, 9:52 pm)". www.scottisharchitects.org.uk. Archived from the original on 7 April 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
- ^ a b c Administrator. "Background of TDC". tdctema.org. Archived from the original on 7 April 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
- ^ a b c d e Intsiful, Prof George W. K. "Ghana news: In praise of pioneer architects - Graphic Online". Graphic Online. Archived from the original on 13 August 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
- ^ a b c d e "History". gia.org.gh. Archived from the original on 27 July 2017. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
- ^ a b c Clerk, N. T. (1943). The Settlement of West Indian Emigrants on the Gold Coast 1843-1943 - A Centenary Sketch. Accra.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ a b c Debrunner, Hans W. (1965). Owura Nico, the Rev. Nicholas Timothy Clerk, 1862-1961: Pioneer and Church Leader. Accra: Waterville Publishing House.
- ^ a b c "Clerk, Nicholas Timothy, Ghana, Basel Mission". www.dacb.org. Archived from the original on 28 March 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
- ^ "PRESEC | ALUMINI PORTAL". www.odadee.net (in Russian). Archived from the original on 30 March 2017. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
- ^ "70 Years of excellent secondary education" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
- ^ Dawes, Mark (7 October 2003). "Ghanaian church built by Jamaicans". Jamaican Gleaner. Archived from the original on 21 November 2017.
- ^ "Osu Salem". osusalem.org. Archived from the original on 29 March 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
- ^ ISBN 978-9004188884. Archived from the originalon 21 May 2021.
- ^ Company, Johnson Publishing (26 August 1954). Jet. Johnson Publishing Company.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Carl Clerk - Historical records and family trees - MyHeritage". www.myheritage.com. Archived from the original on 6 April 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
- ^ "The Christian Messenger, Basel, 1883-1917".
- ^ Debrunner, Hans W. (1 January 1967). A history of Christianity in Ghana. Waterville Pub. House. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013.
- ^ Clerk, Nicholas, T. (5 January 1985). Obituary: Dr. Matilda Johanna Clerk, MBChB, DTM&H. Accra: Presbyterian Church of Ghana Funeral Bulletin.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ISBN 9780813014326.
- ^ Joeden-Forgey, Elisa von (1 August 1997). "Review of Patton, Adell Jr.., Physicians, Colonial Racism and Diaspora in West Africa". www.h-net.org. Archived from the original on 30 March 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
- ^ a b c Asante, K. B. (2 February 2009). "Voice from afar". Daily Graphic.
- ^ "An Architectural History of Ghana • The Cultural Encyclopaedia". www.culturalencyclopaedia.org. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
- ^ a b "FamilySearch.org". familysearch.org. Archived from the original on 22 August 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
- ^ a b c "New Towns on the Cold War Frontier - CRIMSON architectural historians". www.crimsonweb.org. Archived from the original on 31 December 2018. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
- ^ a b c Provoost, Michelle (2006). "Tema, Ghana". New Towns on the Cold War Frontier by Crimson Architectural Historians: 316–383.
- ISBN 9781317661894.
- ^ Robinson, D. C. (1959). "Development of the New Town of Tema, Ghana". Architectural Design. 4: 138–140.
- ^ "Pioneer Ghanaian Architects: Theodore Shealtiel Clerk". www.design233.com. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
- ^ Justice, Ghana Ministry of (1964). Memoranda on Acts of the Republic of Ghana. Ministry of Justice. p. 155. Archived from the original on 20 July 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
- ^ "In praise of pioneer architects". www.ghanaweb.com. 7 August 2016. Archived from the original on 8 August 2016. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
- ^ a b Salih, Hassan (31 March 2010). "The Architectural Column: History of the GIA (Ghana Institute of Architects)". The Architectural Column. Archived from the original on 8 October 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
- ^ "Janus: Progress in the Colonies, 1940s-1950s". janus.lib.cam.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 6 August 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
- ^ "Church Groups | OEPC". www.osueben-ezer.com. Archived from the original on 5 September 2017. Retrieved 5 September 2017.