Curtis Mann

By: Erin Adams

Looking for a long-lost relative? The name of the ghost whos haunting your 100-yearold home? Where some dead nuns used to be buried?
The answers to these questions could probably be found at the Sangamon Valley
Collection, an archive devoted to the history of Sangamon County and those who touch it, on the
third floor of the Lincoln Library in Springfield, Illinois. Run by Curtis Mann since 2004, the
archive has everything from old maps of Springfield to high school year books.
After getting his masters in Library Science from University of Illinois Mann has been
working at the library and the archive since 1993.
The undergrad degree can be basically about anything, but a lot of people in this field
usually have like a history undergraduate, said Mann.
The masters could be in Library Information or Science.
If you have an interest in archives, it would be good to take coursework in that area so you can
get a sense of how archives operate, said Mann.
Coursework in archiving would include a survey course on archives.
they are organized a little bit differently than a library would be organized. A true
archive would have record groups and certain types of classifications, said Mann. Classes on
preservation and computer classes focused on digitization, according to Mann, are also highly
recommended.
Two librarians work in the archive at any time.
It used to be there were three librarians and one part-time clerk in here, said Mann, but
due to cutbacks and, as Mann put it the fiscal reality of government, the formerly stand-alone
department was merged with two others and now operates with librarians and eight volunteers.
The library itself is down to eight librarians and two clerks, full time.
I spend most of my time in here since I have a better idea of how it operates, said
Mann. He also oversees Reference and Information and Reader Services which is really the
Adult Fiction collection, said Mann.
The archive focuses on collecting information on 11 counties, primarily focusing on
Springfield and Sangamon County. It has all varieties of printed material, including paintings and
posters. The collection also has movies and some sound recordings.
If it has local origin and local significance, we try to collect it, said Mann, receiving
new material weekly.

The archive currently acquires things such as newspaper clippings through an electronic
database.
We are in the process of adding photos to our website as well, said Mann.
Materials are primarily donated, but there is a budget to purchase materials. The archive
receives many published family trees and government and meeting minutes for free. Public
records are free and available to the archive and everyone. Mann will sometimes purchase any
photographs he finds interesting or relevant from sites like Ebay or in bulk from defunct
companies like Mercury Studio, a former commercial photo company with negatives to purge.
The archive recently received just boxes and boxes of photographs from Craig Isbell, from the
now defunct Springfield Aviation Company. The estate of Murray Hanes, a deceased architect
also donated blueprints to the archive.
There arent many sensitive or scandalous records to be found in the archive, but it did
receive and just finished microfilming Sangamon County Insanity Records but most of those
records are so old that the individuals in those cases are long deceased. But the archive will hold
certain materials for years if requested, then release them.
Mann didnt go looking for his job, in his words, I just kind of got it. He began
working in Springfield in the Legislative Research Unit. After volunteering for a couple hours on
Tuesday nights, a job opening came up and he applied and got it.
Its just one of those kinds of jobs, you realize after a while, this is something I really
like, and I, you know, I enjoy it. So I try to become better at it.
Mann became so good at it that he was promoted to manager in 2004 after the archives
former manager, Edward Russo, retired after 30 years.
Mann is also an author and has written two books on the history of Springfield. His
favorite, so far, is A Pictorial History of Springfield Business. He has also co-authored at least
10 books with two different authors.
Theyre mostly pictorials, but when youre writing captions youre doing a lot of
research, said Mann. Mann also wrote several archeological reports on the early history of
Sangamon County for the archeology museum in Elkhart, Illinois.
I do plan on writing more booksIve got several manuscripts Im working on right
now... Im writing a family history, Im writing the history of a village in South Eastern Illinois
that my ancestors lived in called Wanborough, he said. He has been working on it for 10 years.
He calls it a labor of love.
It probably never will be complete, said Mann.
What Mann likes most about his job is the research and compares it to a puzzle.
A close second is working with people on their family histories, said Mann. He is
fascinated by what people can find and how far they can go back.

Its amazing what they have, binders full of informationI really love those published
family histories.
He often wishes that they would just leave their information with the archive.
We have just enough people to keep the library open basically, and maintain the hours
that we do, said Mann, describing it as maintenance level from having up to 82 people down
to 41. The archive has probably suffered the most. Librarians know how to use the collection but
dont devote as much time to it as Mann. Mann thinks and knows that the library, and
Springfield, needs more archivists and people who delve into Springfields history as much as he
does.
If you can find the background to whats going on, and tell the whole story, that really
helps. In my sense thats what Im trying to do, understand the whole story of Springfield.