Clark H. Getts and Osa Johnson papers, 1897-1996

Clark H. Getts, born in 1893, was a public relations counsel and booking agent. Clark established an independent lecture and radio production bureau in 1932 and incorporated his public relations business into it in 1940. Getts’ client list included politicians, statesmen, and show business personalities such as Eleanor Roosevelt and Hedda Hopper. He produced a few radio, television, and musical shows as well, including John T. Flynn’s radio show “Behind the Headlines,” the television show “Crime Report” and the musical show “Fiesta Mexicana.” Clark married Osa Johnson in 1939. Getts was Osa’s second husband, following the death of her husband and adventure partner, Martin Johnson in January of 1937. Martin and Osa Johnson had been one of Clark Getts’ clients before the marriage. The couple divorced in 1949. Clark married Dorothy Jones Getts in 1955. Clark H. Getts died in May of 1982, and Dorothy in 1993.

Osa Helen (Leighty) Johnson was born March 14, 1894, and married Martin Elmer Johnson, born October 4, 1884. The couple was married on May 15, 1910, and they began traveling the world together in 1917. Martin passed away January 12, 1937, on Western Air Express Flight 7, flying from Salt Lake City to Burbank, CA. Martin was one of the four passenger fatalities, while Osa suffered from back and neck injuries. The couple were American Adventurers and documentary filmmakers. They were popular in the first half of the 20th century, capturing the public’s imagination through their films and books of adventures in faraway places. The couple were also photographers, naturalists, and authors on top of their filmmaking and adventuring. They studied the wildlife and peoples of East and Central Africa, the South Pacific Islands, and British North Borneo. They would go explore, go on Safaris, and then bring back film footage and photographs that offered many Americans their first glimpse and understanding of these places. Osa was also a writer and children’s author, using their adventures for her writing. Osa Johnson passed away in New York City in January of 1953, while planning another expedition to Africa, despite a heart condition.