Digitization of this item was sponsored by a grant from The Headliners Foundation.
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
Photograph of Reverend Hugh Vancel performing a baptism in Olde Town Creek near Red Hill, Tennessee. The reverend is standing in the creek and facing a large crowd of people on the bank, and holding the arm of a young girl standing next to him; several other girls, a woman and a man are also standing in the creek, on the left. A building with wood siding is visible in the background. Photo by: Joe Clark, HBSS. Clark PhotoFile: 0004-38