Heavy rain and thunderstorms continue across southeastern Minnesota Thursday evening.

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You might assume historians spend their time digging through archives and dusty bookshelves, but for park historian Jade Ryerson, that’s not always the case.

“I think that sometimes the perception of a historian might be as more of a ‘desk ranger’ than a ‘park ranger,’” said Ryerson.

Mississippi National River and Recreation Area

, which runs through the heart of the Twin Cities. It’s a “partnership” park, meaning the National Park Service owns just a small portion of the land that makes up the park, so it partners with private homes and local governments along the river to provide programming. In this case, the service owns just 67 of the 54,000 acres that comprise the 72-mile-long park. 

Programming is facilitated by rangers like Ryerson, who has been a historian with the park service for a year and a half. As a historian, her job definitely includes digging through documents, but the work can often be little more hands-on. 

”There’s no shortage of opportunities to uncover something that’s special about the river, and no shortage of stories when there’s 12,000 years of time that we cover,” Ryerson said. “And so history provides a lot of ways for us to sort of act as detectives.”

Sometimes that detective work involves finding and caring for historic sites along the Mississippi River, talking with local and tribal governments, or exploring archives to find river stories park rangers can bring alive during programming.

“If you see yourself reflected in its story, you’re also going to want to care about it more,” Ryerson said. “There’s a reason why we’re here today. It’s because people intentionally chose to seek out this river and to build up a city around it. This is some place that can tell America’s story.”

This conversation is a part of our Job Interview series, where we talk to everyday Minnesotans about the rewards and challenges of their work. This interview has been lightly edited for style and clarity. Click on the audio player for the original radio version.

: Park historian at the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area

The coolest things that I think I’ve found in our park archive are honestly just the stories that are about the people that have lived here and that have interacted with the river. 

And so, for example, I’m thinking about 

. He was a freedom seeker from the south. He traveled up the Mississippi River to seek his freedom here in Minnesota, and he actually was able to establish one of the first African American congregations in the state.

The hardest part of my job is when we have to cancel a program because we spend so much time behind the scenes to build these experiences for people to enjoy. So, it can honestly be such a bummer when there’s bad weather or something.

This job has taught me a lot about how we don’t get anywhere alone. I think about the way that the river looks now. A lot of people had to really care for this place and to clean it up and to make it somewhere that’s pleasant to be.

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Lukas Levin

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The Mississippi River spans 54,000 acres within Minnesota’s border. Park historians make sure the centuries of stories along those riverbeds aren’t forgotten. 

The Mississippi River spans 54,000 acres within Minnesota’s border. Park historians make sure the centuries of stories along those riverbeds aren't forgotten. 

Job Interview: National park historian fishes for stories about the Mississippi River

A person in a ranger uniform and hat looks out.

Courtesy of NPS | Kurt Moses

A person smiles while sitting in a kayak.

Job Interview: National park historian fishes for stories about the Mississippi River

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