Allen Culling Clark was born in Philadelphia in 1858 and moved to Washington, D. C., when he was five years old. Clark attended public school in Washington, D. C. and graduated from the Law School of National University in 1879. After working for the collector of taxes, the Equitable Insurance Company, the Lincoln Hall Association, and the Law Reporter Printing Company, Clark served as the president of the Columbia Historical Society from 1916 until his death in 1943. The Columbia Historical Society, now called the Historical Society of Washington, D. C., was founded in 1894 with the mission of "the collection, preservation, and diffusion of knowledge respecting the history and topography of the District of Columbia and national history and biography." Clark contributed articles to the Records of the Columbia Historical Society journal and wrote books on Washington history, including Abraham Lincoln in the National Capital, Abraham Lincoln: the Merciful President, the Pardon of the Sleeping Sentinel, Life and Letters of Dolly Madison, and William Duane.

External sources and additional information:

"History of the Historical Society", Historical Society of Washington, D. C., http://www.historydc.org/about/HSW_History.asp. (See also "History of HSW", Historical Society of Washington, D. C., http://www.historydc.org/about/history.html, accessed April 25, 2023.)

Allen C. Clark Papers, 1879-1943, Ms 47, Historical Society of Washington, D.C., https://dchistory.org/manage/assets/uploads/ms0047.pdf, accessed April 25, 2023.