Because in 1934, at the height of their violent career, Clyde sent a letter to Ford Motors that is now carefully preserved in the archives. He said the company's vee-8 product was so good he stole one whenever possible. Clyde's letter can't be beat. He had so many cars to choose from, yet he never sent such a letter to any of Ford's competitors. The letter has served as the focus of a corporate marketing campaign, proving the value of both product excellence, and of the practice of archiving.
Archives preserve the historical documents of organizations.
Most commonly, the purpose is to maintain a record of the corporate culture, but while they share that purpose every archive is unique. Credit union archives can contain everything from board minutes to photos of the annual picnic, and every credit union is different. There are always people, products, activities and projects whose existence and progress should be documented for permanent reference. Series of letters, committee minutes, annual reports, notebooks, photos, brochures, budget statements and ledgers are the most common forms of archival documents in credit unions. There are also legal reasons for credit unions to set up archives.