Volume 1, Number 8 - Summer 1963
President's Message
Ralph D. McPherson President
Dear Members of the White River Valley Historical Society:
It is indeed an honor and a privilege to be elected as your president for the year 1963-64.
The officers you have chosen to assist me are efficient in their duties and I feel certain that we will have a very successful year.
Since I have been a history teacher for more than thirty years, with most of those years in Taney County, I have always felt that we have been woefully lacking in the history of our state, and especially of the Ozarks Region.
I cannot help but feel that those who were responsible for organizing this Society were "born 30 years too late." Had someone in the twenties or thirties had the same inspiration that Mr. Ingenthron and others had who were responsible in organizing this Society, what a wealth of first-hand material they could have found. Many of our Civil War Veterans and early settlers of this region were still living at that time. Even though much of our information must be secondary material, we can at least preserve that. If it is not preserved now, much of the history of the Ozarks will eventually be lost for lack of records and interest.
It certainly is encouraging to see the interest taken by people who are not natives of this region but have come here to make this beautiful part of the United States their permanent home.
I do not feel that I can measure up to your two former presidents, Mr. Ingenthron and Dr. R. M. Good, but I pledge to you that with your help and understanding, I will do my utmost in making this year a good year for the White River Valley Historical Society.
I know, too, from time to time old papers long-forgotten are found. Old stories handed down from generation to generation are remembered. Old relics stored safely away in some attic or basement are unearthed. Old friends and relatives who long ago left the Ozarks to live elsewhere may them selves have papers, stories and relics dealing with the Ozarks Region. These, my friends, would be the kind of source material we would like to have for the Historical Society Quarterly.
I am certain that Mrs. Cummings, the editor of the Quarterly, would be happy to have any information you might have dealing with early Ozarks history, and I am sure that all the people of this region would be eternally grateful for your interest and cooperation in making the White River Valley Historical Society a very worthwhile organization.
Sincerely yours,
Ralph D. McPherson
President
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