'Big history nerd' Mary Stansfield gets her dream job in archives

Mary Stansfield poses in the archives at the Missouri State Archives in the State Information Center in Jefferson City. The oversized red leather books are just a few of the tens of thousands of items stored in the climate controlled area of the archives.
Mary Stansfield poses in the archives at the Missouri State Archives in the State Information Center in Jefferson City. The oversized red leather books are just a few of the tens of thousands of items stored in the climate controlled area of the archives.

Mary Stansfield jumped at the "unicorn in the archive world," when the chance came for a permanent, full-time job with benefits.

A Missourian by birth, Stansfield returned to her home state in January 2012 as a research analyst with the Missouri State Archive in Jefferson City. In December, she was promoted to reference archivist.

She had been working in the archive world's "farm team" at the Wisconsin State Historical Society after earning her master's degree.

Growing up in Festus, Stansfield said, she was "always a big history nerd." She blames books like the "American Girl" and "Little House on the Prairie" series, she said.

"I built a Conestoga wagon for my Barbies," she said. "This is my dream job."

Her history interest focused on primary documents after working in the Missouri State University, Springfield, special collections, she said.

Working in the archive, she gets to see history firsthand, she said. Documents like poll books and probate records hold well more than names and dates.

Looking at Missouri probate records prior to the Civil War, one can see a slave listed along with a cow and wagon as a daughter's inheritance.

"It allows you to think in the abstract: What did (the slave) think of that?" Stansfield said.

And, there's the Hannibal poll book where Marie Byrum became the first woman in the nation to vote following the passage of the 19th Amendment.

"You can look at her signature; it brings the story to life," Stansfield said.

Plus, she admits, "it's fun to touch all the old stuff."

Another benefit of the job is helping get others excited about Missouri's history, Stansfield said.

Through programs like Archives Alive, she helps tell the stories of the past to hundreds of school children.

"They're the public's records; we're keeping them safe and accessible," Stansfield said. "We want people to come in and use these records."

One of her primary jobs is cataloguing the county history books and vertical files, where clippings and smaller items are stored topically.

She also researches questions from genealogists.

"To me, it's super simple to look up a 1940s Census," Stansfield said. "But to them, it's, 'Wow, that's my mom.'"

One of the recent digital additions is a database of the Missouri State Penitentiary inmates from 1836-1931.

"That's a great resource," she said.

And it is available online.

"Anyone can find the information in their pajamas from home," she said.

Digitizing records for easier accessibility on the internet does not threaten the occupation of the archivist, Stansfield said.

"Even if we digitized everything, it's not a good preservation format," she said. "There's always going to be a role for the archivist, who knows the records."