John Kirkland Clark

John Kirkland Clark, Sr. (January 21, 1877 - January 20, 1963) was an American lawyer, college basketball player and the first head coach of the Harvard College men's basketball team. Clark was a New York City assistant district attorney under Charles S. Whitman, the New York County District Attorney. In New York, Clark was appointed to investigate and prosecute cases of corruption. He was president of the New York State Board of Law Examiners from 1921 his retirement in 1943. Clark served as a member of the Loyalty Review Board established by U.S. President Harry S. Truman.

Biography
Clark was born on January 21, 1877, in Springfield, Massachusetts to Edward Perkins Clark editorial writer for the New York Evening Post and the writer Kate Upson Clark. Clark grew up in Springfield, Milwaukee, Washington DC and Philadelphia before his family settled in Brooklyn. Clark graduated from Yale College in 1899 and from Harvard Law School in 1902. Clark's brothers were Charles Upson Clark who discovered the Barberini Codex and George Maxwell, President of Clark & Gibby, Inc. of New York. He died on January 20, 1963.

Basketball
Clark played three seasons for Yale College men's basketball from 1896-1899 as a 5'10" 160 lb Guard. While attending Harvard Law School, Clark brought basketball to the attention of the Harvard Athletics Department and served as the first head coach as well as player for the Harvard College men's basketball team for the 1901 and 1902 seasons.  For the first Harvard Yale basketball game in 1901 Clark served as referee instead of a player because he was a Yale alum and his brother George Maxwell Clark was playing for Yale. Clark posted a 20-13 record at Harvard. Clark played independent basketball for the 17th Separate Company of Flushing New York from 1902-1908 and for the Poughkeepsie Bridge Jumpers for the Hudson River Basketball League 1909-1910.

Selected Works

 * Let the Maker Beware. (St. John's Law Review 1945 volume 19 number 2)
 * Preparation of Cross-Examination (Practicing Law Institute 1946)