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Do you have a local historical question or mystery in your family? Here is the person to consult. Sue Doocy’s eyes shine with pleasure and interest when she tells about her job as research and archives manager for the Mower County Historical Society.

Although she had no formal training before taking this job in 2017, Sue had always loved history and had volunteered at the historical society, as well as having done some personal research there. She is passionate about her work.

“It is a dream job. I get to help people find ancestors and lost family members,” she said.

Sue looks for clues to whatever historical mystery is brought to her by combing  birth death and marriage records, newspapers, land holding records, business records, asking living relatives, local historians, and using the online resources Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org.

When Sue was first hired, she did a little of everything at the historical society from routine cleaning and snow shoveling, tour guiding to researching and arranging displays. She is proud to describe one exhibit she curated called “Let’s Dance”telling about the local musical scene in the 1920s through 1960s. Sue was mentored by Dick Hall and Monica Lonergran, amateur historians, in this endeavor. This exhibit portrayed the semiprofessional musicians who headlined at the three local dance halls: The Terp, the Oasis and The Rainbow, including Henry Charles Peters and Royce Stoltenberg.  Some of you may have seen this exhibit when it was on display at the library in conjunction with a Minnesota Historical Society traveling exhibit “New Harmonies.”

Sue’s work now involves whatever research assignment comes up, from finding where a grandmother was baptized, married and buried to locating old photos of points of interest for local businesses to display, to documenting Mower County’s experience with the recent pandemic. As well as doing research, Sue is the intake person for all new written material or when photographs are donated, be they letters, journals, business records, farm diaries, etc. Sue evaluates their value to the historical society and catalogs them; non-written,  3-D donated items are handled by her colleague, Jamie Timm).

Sue is full of wonderful stories from her work, including a skeleton found in a false wall, swindlers who used amnesia as a cover story, a child whose death was either caused by a rattle snake bite or the pint of gin given to her as a cure, and the identity of a Mary Johnson whose tomb stone was recovered in a building site. Three frustrations Sue lists are not being able to learn the historical information fast enough, the limits she must put her time when she really wants to do more data entry or more researching on a mystery, and the limited financial resources to provide adequate storage for the archival and 3D object collection.

“There is always something to do!” she said.

Sue points out that the work of the historical society could not be accomplished without the help of many volunteers, including those who serve on the historical society board. Generous praise is offered for all the volunteers who help to raise funds, act as tour guides, monitor exhibits during the county fair, are sources of memories of Mower County history, and do many other supportive tasks.

Sue said: “History is important! It is good to know those who came before us. They give us a sense of who we are. Our stories matter. And remember that history is happening all around us even now.”

Thank you, Sue Doocy for your passion and care in keeping Mower County History preserved for us and future generations!

For more information about Austin AAUW contact Sue Grove sue.grove@riverland.edu or Carolyn Bogott@gmail.com.

The American Association of University Women, now AAUW, Is open to anyone who has completed a two year degree or beyond. AAUW welcomes men who support our objectives and there are student memberships available. AAUW has been empowering women since 1891. We support equality and education for women. Scholarships are offered, as well as help in litigation in cases dealing with sex discrimination.