Mancil Johnson
Since 1985, Mancil Johnson has been the repository of Tech’s stories, histories and traditions. In that time, the archivist has helped countless students, faculty and community members to discover the past and has organized, indexed, and made more than 90 collections available to researchers. Before he retires in 2015, Johnson will play a vital role in planning Centennial celebrations. He sat down to share some of the memories and stories he has spent nearly 30 years collecting.
What is the most memorable moment in Tech’s history?
I have been here through five presidents. You sort of break down the events by who was in charge. I came when Dr. Roaden was president and I was administrative staff at the time. I became a faculty member when Dr. Prescott was president.
There are a lot of little things. There is not one big event. I mostly remember the students that worked for me. We’ve had some interesting people that have darkened our doors and some that have been very inspiring.
There was one young lady from a deprived background. She managed to do well for herself. She has achieved her goals and has earned her doctorate and is working in the job she had always hoped for. It’s nice when people do well who had to really struggle. It’s the individual success stories and the individual failures that I particularly remember in the university’s history.
I think the establishment of the archives and the decision that was made to create the archives is certainly a major event in my life here at Tech. When I came, there was exactly one collection, Rep. Joe Evins’ papers. When he passed away, the family requested that something be done with the papers. I was hired and came on a temporary, two-year appointment to get the collection into some researchable kind of condition. There was no guarantee that there was going to be any job when I got done with it, and there was no guarantee that this was going to lead to the creation of the archives.
Which is the oddest artifact in the archives?
We did have a human skull. It had always bothered me that we had human remains in the archives because human remains are not souvenirs and they should not be.
The skull was given to a professor in the history department. Johnson spent years trying to find the Cherokee skull’s origin, which Johnson kept covered with a red cloth, a sacred color. After attending a powwow, he contacted some archeologists to examine the skull. The skull was and reburied with the appropriate religious ceremonies.
Which artifact is your favorite?
I would have to say it is probably the Harding studio collection, and like many things in life I sort of stumbled blindly into it not realizing what I was getting into. One of the history faculty had some connections with Mr. Harding’s son-in-law. The son-in-law came to me and said he had an interesting photography collection and wanted to know if I would be interested in it. Without seeing it I said yes.
When I got there I realized I might be in over my head. The collection occupied the entire floor of an old building. There were hundreds of photographic materials in different formats and media. We haven’t done this collection as much justice as we need to because it is so huge. There is a lot of it we can’t identify.
What does it mean to be an archivist?
In some ways you get to peak behind the curtains at history, and in some cases I’ve been able to sit in on the conversations people have had that impact an institution.
In other ways you can preserve this material for future generations. I hope that when Tech is celebrating its 500th anniversary that the work that I’ve done and the work that people after me have done is still around.
However, there are still lots of gaping holes in this collection that I would love to see filled. There are questions that I have that I have never found an answer to. I don’t know if the answer is out there.
If I had one regret it would be that I didn’t meet Austin Wheeler Smith. He was the first provost of the university. He did an oral history before he died at 104. That’s the closest chance I’ve had to actually find out what was going on in a lot of places. Those mysteries from history keep you curious and keep you motivated. Those kind of big gaping holes keep you wishing you were able to collect more.
What are some of your favorite moments since you have been here?
My favorite moments are personal. They involve watching a kid that has worked for me for four years walk across the stage and get a diploma. Some of these folks are overcoming a lot of baggage, and it’s a really satisfying feeling when you have seen someone through four years of hard work. You’ve listened to their problems, you’ve given them the best advice, and you’ve helped them out when you could.
What was your proudest accomplishment in being an archivist here at Tech?
The existence of the archives because there wasn’t one. When I got here 1985 I was the only archivist between Lebanon and Oak Ridge and between Chattanooga and the Kentucky border.
Today virtually every county in that area has a county archives and a county archivist. I showed as an advisor on a few of those situations, but I think its really kind of satisfying that people are valuing their history and are doing what they can to preserve it.
Johnson has curated Tech’s largest collection, Rep. Joe Evins’ papers. Johnson was hired on a temporary appointment, responsible for curating and organizing the collection. Since then the collection has grown from a collection of papers to his entire office.