Death of Carro Morrell Clark

Carro Morrell Clark died on February 16, 1950, bringing to a close the long life of a woman who had broken new ground in American publishing decades earlier. She was 82 years old at the time of her death.

Over her lifetime, Clark had operated under several names, including Carro Frances Warren, Atkinson, and Lempert, reflecting a personal life marked by multiple marriages, which complicated later historical research into her biography and business records.

By the time of her death, the C. M. Clark Publishing Company — which she had founded, owned, and managed single-handedly starting in 1900 — had long since closed its doors, having released approximately 171 titles between 1900 and 1912 before ceasing operations. Yet her legacy as the first American woman to independently establish and run a book publishing firm endured in trade histories and local Boston lore.

Clark's death marked the end of an era in which she had, for a period, been regarded as the only woman publishing books in the United States — and by some accounts, in the world. Her story remained relatively obscure for decades afterward, resurfacing later through historical research into Boston's Back Bay commercial history and women's contributions to American publishing.