Clarence H. Webb

Born near Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1902, Clarence H. Webb built his first career in medicine. He studied at Tulane University, earned his medical degree in 1925, later completed graduate work in pediatrics at the University of Chicago, and returned to Shreveport, where he helped found the city’s first Well Baby Clinic and practiced for decades.

Archaeology became his second life. After a Boy Scout trip with his sons in 1934 sparked his curiosity, he threw himself into the study of prehistoric cultures of the southeastern United States. His work is especially associated with Louisiana sites such as Poverty Point and Belcher Mound, and with research on Caddoan culture.

What makes his story memorable is the mix of professions: he was a working pediatrician who also became an influential field archaeologist and writer. Webb died in 1991, leaving behind a reputation for careful, persistent work that helped deepen understanding of the ancient past in the American South.