Collection Title: Jackson Purchase Oral History Project - Lifestyles
Series Number: OH103
Interviewee: Curd, James B.
Interviewer: Pasco, Kathryn
Date interviewed: November 6, 1979
Processed by: Tara Marcum
Date processed: May 17, 2011
Description: 1 sound disc (37 minutes)
Abstract: James B. Curd describes his life in Calloway County, Kentucky during the first half of the 20th Century. He discusses his childhood and attending rural one room schools, the impact of the First World War to the region and the community's growth in the 1920s. He also reflects upon the economic troubles of the 1930s, President Roosevelt's "New Deal" to provide relief for the region and the community's struggles during Second World War.
Biographical / Historical note: James B. Curd was a native of Calloway County, Kentucky. His father farmed corn, tobacco, hay, and raised livestock on an eighty acre farm. He began his education at age five at the Howard School but soon transferred to the Hickory Grove School. He graduated from Lynn Grove High School. He regularly attended Martin's Chapel, a Methodist Church near Murray, Kentucky. He married in 1908. Curd farmed until 1928 when a crop failure forced him to sell his farm. He worked for Jones Dairy Farm during the late 1920s, which later became part of Murray State University. He moved to the city of Murray in 1930. His great-grandfather was an early pioneer and land speculator in the Jackson Purchase area.
General information: No user access to original recordings. Use audio user copies, digital derivatives, transcripts, and/or tape indexes. This collection may be protected from unauthorized copying by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code). Permission for reproduction must be requested from Murray State University.
Subject Headings / Descriptors:
Curd, James B.
Curd family.
Calloway County (Ky.) – History.
Murray (Ky.) – History.
Hickory Grove School (Calloway County, Ky.)
Howard School (Calloway County, Ky.)
Lynn Grove High School (Calloway County, Ky.)
Martin's Chapel (Murray, Ky.)
