Clark Gable Foundation

The Clark Gable Foundation is a foundation based in Cadiz, Ohio, United States. Its official website states that its museum has re-opened and is giving tours by appointment, with times available on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 1pm to 4pm, and Saturdays from 10am to 4pm. Appointments can be made by calling Karen at 740-942-GWTW (4989). The site also includes a gift shop and a page on the foundation's history.

The Clark Gable Foundation's official website includes a 'Foundation History' page. According to that page, on February 1, 1983 a radio disc jockey from Quincey, Ill. called the United States Post Office in the small Eastern Ohio town of Cadiz and asked postman Pat Frazier, 'Do you know whose birthday it is today?' Pat answered honestly that he did not and was informed by the deejay that Feb. 1 was Clark Gable's birthday. He then asked what Cadiz, Ohio was doing to commemorate the birth of its most famous son. That was the last time 'nothing' was the answer. The following year a local women's organization, DISTAFF, organized the first annual 'Clark Gable Birthday Celebration,' held Feb. 1, 1985. Despite a terrible ice storm the day before, the party was a smashing success with over three-hundred townspeople and devoted fans in attendance. The 1985 celebration was the first organized attempt to commemorate Gable's hometown connection. However, some time prior to that a group of local citizens concerned with the terrible economic slump enveloping the town and county, met to discuss tourism. Cadiz, once known as 'The Proudest Small Town in America' because of its many famous sons including Gen. George Armstrong Custer, was highly dependent on the bituminous coal industry. In the late 1970s due to a softening demand for ecologically polluting high sulfur coal, the mines began to close. At one point in 1985 the unemployment rate for Harrison County reached over 25%. The town experienced all the social problems that occur with high unemployment and population loss. Some were convinced that the tourism potential of its beautiful topography, historical figures and strategic location near several major population centers was ripe for development.

1. 1Clark Gable Foudationclarkgablefoundation.com
2. 2Foundation Historyclarkgablefoundation.com