Title: Clarence Spohn Ephrata Printing Research Collection
Administrative/Biographical History
Clarence Edwin Spohn was born to Arthur Lloyd Spohn and Pearl Irene (Barnhart) Spohn on November 22, 1948, in Ephrata, Pennsylvania. He grew up on Washington Avenue in Ephrata and his neighbor J. Harry Hibshman, president of Ephrata National Bank, spent countless hours sharing knowledge with him about the town.
Motivated to forge a history-oriented career of his own, Spohn spent 26 years with the Pennsylvania Historical Museum Commission as a tour guide and tour guide supervisor (1966-1988) and later a museum educator (1988-1996) at the Historic Ephrata Cloister. He is also a past president (1977-79) and curator (1980-1985) of the Historical Society of the Cocalico Valley, as well as the author of 35 articles, journals, and books (including a two-volume history of the former Mountain Springs Hotel) that relate to the history of Ephrata. Additionally, he was elected mayor of Ephrata for two years, serving from January 1982 to April 1984. He and his wife, Marcia, lived in Lititz for 29 years.
Spohn was a member of the United States Air Force, serving a tour in Taiwan from 1968-1972. He was also a member of various historical organizations, including: the Ephrata Cloister Associates, the Pennsylvania Society Sons of the Revolution, the History Society Berks County, the Lancaster County History Society, the Pennsylvania German Society, the Lancaster Mennonite History Society, the History Society Cocalico Valley (honorary), the Masons Lodge, and the American Legion. He was listed as a noteworthy museum educator by Marquis Who's Who.
