Albert Bruce Curtis papers
Scope and Contents
The items in this archival group were donated to the University of Idaho Library by A.B. Curtis in October 1982. They are stored in four archival file boxes and occupy approximately four linear feet of shelf spaces
The material includes newspaper and magazine articles, correspondence, maps, certificates and citations, and scrapbooks. The photographs which were received with the material were removed and are cataloged with the other photographs which Mr. Curtis donated to the library earlier.
There are several brochures on the city of Orofino, material from several organizations to which Mr. Curtis belonged, and many items relating to the Clearwater and Potlatch Timber Protective Associations, including many maps. Although most items relating to the Public Land Law Review Commission are in Group 78, there are a few items in this collection as well. The largest single group of material is that relating to the building of Dworshak Dam, a project for which Mr. Curtis worked for many years.
The contents of this archival group are related in more detail in the following Description of Series.
Dates
- Creation: 1927-1977
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Biographical / Historical
A.B. "Bert" Curtis was born on a ranch near Salem, Oregon, August 1, 1903. His parents, Charles Garret Curtis of Independence, Missouri, and Elizabeth Ann Milne, who was born near Dundee, Scotland, were early pioneers. When the family moved to Orofino, Idaho, in 1912 Charles Curtis operated the Cottage Hotel for a time before he returned to ranching.
Having attended high school in both Orofino, where he was on the football team, and Plummer, from which he graduated in 1921, Bert entered the University of Idaho where he remained for one year. He then attended Lewiston State Normal School where he received his teacher's diploma after two years of study. He taught and coached athletics in Fernwood for a while, then returned to the University of Idaho for two more years. He married Alene Honeywell of Clear Lake, South Dakota, in Moscow on December 21, 1928. They have five children, four sons and a daughter.
In 1918 he began his 50 year association with the Clearwater Timber Protective Association when, due to the manpower shortage caused by the war, Theodore Fohl hired the 15 year old Curtis as a waterboy, carrying water to the firefighters. He spent his summers until 1925 working for the association, then in May 1926 he began full-time work. In 1927 he was appointed Assistant Chief Fire Warden for the association and a year later was appointed Chief. In 1945 he was made Chief Fire Warden and Manager of the Potlatch Timber Protective Association, and in that same year he became State Fire Warden. In 1966 the Clearwater and Potlatch Timber Protective Associations were combined and Curtis remained Chief Fire Warden of the new organization until he retired in August 1968.
In 1950 Curtis was elected mayor of Orofino, a position he held for 23 years, during which the city completed a large water and sewage treatment plant. In 1958 he tried unsuccessfully to unseat Gracie Pfost, the Democratic incumbent representing Idaho's First District in the U.S. House of Representatives.
He was a strong supporter of Senator Henry Dworshak on the Bruces Eddy (now Dworshak) Dam issue, and was one of the primary figures in obtaining approval and funds for the construction. In 1972 he was awarded the Department of the Army Certificate for Patriotic Civilian Service for his assistance to the Corps of Engineers in building the dam. Among his other awards are the Idaho Chamber of Commerce Distinguished Citizen award (1968), and a 38 years of distinguished service award presented by public and private Idaho forestry associations in 1956.
He has been active in the Chamber of Commerce, Association of Idaho Cities, was an original incorporator of the Clearwater Economic Development Association, was active in the Idaho Municipal League, served on the Inland Waterways Association, and from 1965 to 1970 he represented the timber industry as a member of the Public Land Law Review Commission. His memberships in forestry organizations include the American Forestry Association, Society of American Foresters - Inland Empire Section, and the Western Forestry and Conservation Association. He was also a founding member of the University of Idaho Advisory Research Council, president of the Alumni Association, and a member of the Athletic Advisory Committee. He was president of two mining concerns, Orofino Lime Products and Oxford Copper Mining Company near Pierce. His memberships in fraternal organizations include the Masons, Shriners, and Elks. He is also active in the Kiwanis Club of Orofino.
At the present time (1983) Bert and Alene Curtis live in Orofino where he is completing a book on the history of forestry in Clearwater County.
Extent
4 l.f.
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Personal correspondence, certificates, citations, information on timber protective associations, and a large body of material on the construction of Dworshak Dam.
Arrangement
The material in this archival group is arranged according to subject. All of Bert Curtis's personal memorabilia are in one series, and each organization to which he belonged has a separate folder. Material related to forestry is in another series, the Public Land Law Review Commission material is in another, and the fourth is comprised of Dworshak Dam material. Correspondence in each series is in alphabetical order.
Existence and Location of Copies
Some of the materials were digitized and added to the digital Dworshak Dam Collection.
- Title
- Albert Bruce Curtis papers
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Judith Nielsen; updated by Sara Szobody in 2024.
- Date
- 1983
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid is written in English.
- Sponsor
- Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Repository Details
Part of the University of Idaho Library, Special Collections and Archives Repository