Clarence Hamilton Poe

author

Clarence Hamilton Poe

1881–1964

Raised on a small North Carolina cotton farm, this longtime editor turned rural journalism into a force in public life. He spent decades shaping The Progressive Farmer and writing about farming, education, and reform in the South.

1 Audiobook

Where Half The World Is Waking Up

Where Half The World Is Waking Up

by Clarence Hamilton Poe

About the author

Born near Gulf in Chatham County, North Carolina, in 1881, Clarence Hamilton Poe grew up in a farming family and had only limited formal schooling. Even so, he became editor of The Progressive Farmer in 1899 at just eighteen and remained a leading voice of the magazine for decades.

Poe was known as an editor, publisher, and author whose work reached far beyond farm news. Sources describe him as a major figure in North Carolina public life, especially through his advocacy for rural improvement, education, and agricultural cooperation. He also helped build The Progressive Farmer into one of the South's most influential farm journals.

He died on October 8, 1964. Remembered as both a writer and a reform-minded public thinker, Poe left a lasting mark on Southern agricultural journalism and on conversations about how rural communities could thrive.