Historic memories

At 100 years of age, Cornelia Scales sums up her century of living simply she has been blessed.

Born and reared in McCrory (Woodruff County), Scales was the daughter of a cotton plantation owner. She was 5 years old when World War I started, and she has memories of adults talking about the war. She said she remembers hearing about Armistice Day in 1918. She was on the school ground at recess, she said.

Scales graduated from Arkansas State Teachers College (now the University of Central Arkansas) in 1932.

She said she remembers the Great Depression distinctly.

"The crash was in '29," she said. "I was 20 years old. I started teaching in McGehee in '32. For a few months we didn't get our regular pay. We were paid in warrants, I believe. I didn't really suffer during the Depression, but I remember some people I knew who lost money in the banks."

Scales taught several years in Arkansas and then moved to Illinois. She took a business course and secured a job with Swift and Company, the world's largest meat packing company at the time, located in the stock yards in Chicago. She worked there about 32 years as a secretary.

"That's not a very exciting time, but it was pleasant," she said. "I liked Chicago. It was a friendly city, but I always knew I would come back to Arkansas. No matter how much I liked Chicago, Arkansas was still home."

She started her job at Swift and Company a week after the attack on Pearl Harbor. During World War II, she volunteered selling war bonds at a movie theater near her home.

When she retired from her job in 1974, she moved within six months back to Conway. She rented a duplex where she lived for 28 years until she moved to College Square seven years ago.

Since retiring, she said, "I've been abroad to Greece and England. I spent 10 days in Greece after I retired and 10 days in London another year."

Regarding her other interests, she said, "I have always enjoyed reading. I was almost a bookworm for reading when I was a child."

She is now reading "The Shepherd of the Hills" by Harold Bell Wright.

"My mother enjoyed this book. That's why I bought it," she said.

Her favorite book is "the Bible, of course," she said. "That's my favorite book."

Scales said she has watched Conway grow up since she moved here in the mid-70s.

"It's astonishing the growth of Conway," she said. "I've always been interested in figures. When I came here, the population was about 16,000, and it's now 55,000. I, as the rest of Conway residents, have just been astonished at how fast Conway has grown."

Asked to what she attributes her longevity, Scales said, "Getting enough rest, being fairly careful with what I eat. I consider walking a very important thing to do."

She said when she lived in Chicago she walked seven or eight blocks to transportation every day.

Scales named several of the things that made her life blessed, including "the Christian religion, good health, the ability to live a while in a different part of the country, family, friends, living in the United States, having enough to eat and wear."

She concluded, "I'm very grateful for the blessings I've had in life."

(Staff writer Rachel Parker Dickerson can be reached by e-mail at rachel.dickerson@thecabin.net or by phone at 505-1277. Send us your news at www.thecabin.net/submit)