Dr. Robert Judson Clark, who passed away on January 4,2011 had been a valued member of the Friends Board since 2004. He generously shared his great knowledge, enthusiasm, and ideas. His enthusiasm for the preservation work at the Church was infectious.
Robert often said that the Church was his favorite building in the world. He first saw it when a student at the University of California, Berkeley and was so impressed with it that even as an undergraduate he started collecting photographs of it and researching its history.
He later received his Ph.D. from Princeton University where he taught from 1968 to 1996. While there he organized a landmark exhibition on "The Arts & Crafts Movement in America, 1876-1916" which later traveled to three other museums including the Smithsonian. It was also published as a book. He was nationally renowned as both an expert and an advocate for the Arts & Crafts movement with a special emphasis on its architecture. After his retirement from teaching he continued his research on architectural subjects with a special emphasis on the Church and other work of Maybeck, on Greene and Greene and their Thorsen House in Berkeley, and on the work of several other Arts & Crafts architects.
In October, 2009, he opened the series of three Centennial Lectures on the Church sponsored by the Friends, with his lecture on "Inventing a Masterwork: Bernard Maybeck and the First Church of Christ, Scientist, Berkeley". In his talk he traced some of the details on how the Church selected Maybeck as their architect and how it became an architectural masterpiece. He observed that Maybeck designed "a church in many styles for a very interesting congregation.... The church was modern - using modern materials - and is the most magical inventive building I've ever seen."
We owe much to the distinguished scholar who was our teacher, mentor, and our friend. We are very grateful for the rich legacy he has given us.
The Friends held a Celebration of Robert Judson Clark at the Church on March 13, 2011 |