In My Drawers

Being wakened by cramps in the calves of my legs is not the usual way I awaken each morning and I am thankful for that. But while I’m awake, I will put together my blog for today. Wednesday I spent 4 hours doing volunteer work at the Chestnut Ridge Historical Society in Stahlstown, Pennsylvania. Over the last month I’ve finished all of the heavy moving, sorting, and storing of the accumulated artifacts. One of the remaining tasks is the straightening of the 9 drawer filing cabinets. In an earlier post, I mentioned the weight of the cabinet, even with the drawers removed and the struggle to move it to its new position. I’ve barely scratched the surface of that daunting task.

In the first drawer, I found logs from local school districts. Just by studying the names and locations, it was simple to reorganize them and thought this isn’t too bad, then I opened the second drawer. A plethora of hanging files and manila folders greeted me. I had to look through each to be sure they were in the proper order. Files of cemeteries and churches were the first to come into view. Each sheet of paper was evaluated and replaced or moved into a denomination and to certain locations. Lutheran, Catholic, Presbyterian etc. had a folder.

Stored behind them were files of businesses: lumber and logging, shops and stores, coal mines and stone iron smelting furnaces, post offices, and we must not forget the government. Each photo, memento, and letter had to be identified and placed in the proper place. This is necessary to allow the articles to be found more easily.

Now, to the third drawer, it was even more tightly packed than the others. Inside were files of each local town, township, or locality. Those files were subdivided into photos, records, and even some memorabilia. I was tiring by this time and after wading through 1/3 of the collection, I called it quits for the day. It wasn’t going away and I was fearful that I would overlook something or misfile it. Only 6 & 2/3 more drawers to go.