Managing Old Records & Scrapbooks

This is an excellent video on how to manage old scrapbooks, record books, and other old books. I studied this in college. This Archivist does an excellent job explaining standard methods, and she tells you why. For this reason, I am posting here for others to learn and benefit.

The Character of Curtis H. Cline

My father used to say, "A man is only as good as his word."  When I was young, that did not make sense to me, but now I understand he was talking about honesty and integrity.  My father strongly disliked corruption, deceit, and dishonesty.  He was a man of principles.  In 1949 or 1950 farmer ordered limestone for their farms and fields, based on a government subsidy they had received for many years.  At the time, my father owned and operated five lime spreading trucks and had six or seven employees.  He was on top of the world.  He and my mother purchased rent houses and Dad, and a couple of his employees built an attractive duplex on Ingram Street in Sikeston.  In 1948, we took a month long vacation out to Colorado in our new Willis Jeep.  Life was good.

Then, after receiving orders for the product, Curtis ordered the limestone from Ste. Genevieve Lime Company. Within a week of receiving the limestone in a hopper railcar on a switch a block away from our home, the government announced that particular subsidy was eliminated for the next few years.  What!  Not only did it effect my father's business but several other lime-spreading companies in Southeast Missouri.  Dad sold his equipment, laid off most of the workers, and liquidated what he could to pay off the business account.  The loss of income mortified my mother and what she perceived was altered social status.  The other lime-spreading companies declared bankruptcy, but not my Dad.  He felt duty-bound to pay back every cent he borrowed toward the lime product. He gave his word to pay for what was purchased, and he did.  It took him ten years to pay back everything, but he did so with a good conscious.

He tithed ten percent of his net earnings annually to the First Nazarene Church in Sikeston.  After returning to the Sikeston area in 1995, many people told me stories of how he helped them over the years.  Curtis had a soft spot for widows.  He helped them any way he could, and rarely charged them full price for his nursery services.  One lady in Benton, Missouri told me that she had used his nursery services for many years to keep her trees pruned and free from insects.  One year, she recalled Curtis stopped to see if she wanted him to trim up her trees.  She was embarrassed to tell him she had no money for the work, and she barely had money for food.  She thanked him and went back into her house.   About an hour later, there was a knock on her door, and there was Curtis Cline with two bags of food and a bucket of apples and peaches from Diebold Orchard stand.  She said he had tears in his eyes when he told her that he knew what it was like to be strapped for money, and he never wanted anyone to go hungry.  She was shocked but grateful.  This act is only one of many stories I heard of his generosity.  He never told anyone about these acts of kindness.  Curtis H. Cline was a devout Christian, fair-minded, and righteous.  I was proud to call him Dad.