Name: Christina Landis
Title: Student and Archives Assistant
Institution: Drexel University
Title of Influential American Archivist Article: “Dear Mary Jane: Some Reflections on Being an Archivist”
Author(s) of Article: John A. Fleckner
Volume and Date: 54:1 (Winter 1991)
How has this article influenced you as an archivist?
I was first introduced to John Fleckner’s “Dear Mary Jane: Some Reflections on Being an Archivist” in my second week as an archival studies student. It was an exciting time for me, treading an educational path which would lead to a career, and having just secured an internship in an archives. And I wanted to know: Why did people become archivists? What drew them to the profession? What was it really like being an archivist? Eight months later finds me re-visiting “Dear Mary Jane” and remembering how it made me fall in love with archives.
I realized that no one seems to set out to be an archivist – that perhaps we all find our way to the profession, as John did, through “an accident in good guidance.” Coming from an English and history background, I thought my only options were to teach (which I didn’t want to do) or work in a library somewhere, leaving my seemingly unfeasible dreams of playing with old stuff and getting paid to do so. For me, it was a history professor, not a university career counselor, that pointed me on the way, but the end result was the same. Knowing that we, as archivists, come from so many different backgrounds quelled my fears about entering the profession rather late in life.
But it was John’s description of being an archivist – and the reasons he cares for it so – that did it for me. He spoke fondly of his first collection (at the time of the article, nearly twenty years ago) and I remember my first collection (although not so long ago) through his words and the joy of listening to those records. It was, too, John’s vision of what it means to be an archivist that stuck with me; that we “maintain the integrity of the historical record;” that we can, through our work, help to remind society of where we have been and who we have been.
He spoke also of our skills as archivists; our understanding, not just of the content of historical records, but of how and why they were created; and our ability to make those records relevant to society today, whether it be to correct injustice, secure justice, or ensure that our past is not forgotten or re-written.
“Dear Mary Jane” has taught me what it means to be an archivist and why we do what we do. It has taught me that I am entering a profession filled with like-minded colleagues who are eager to share their knowledge. It has taught me, above all, that to be an archivist is a wonderful thing, indeed.