You see them in public buildings and restaurants.   They are part of the landscape in law offices, board rooms and even classrooms.   They’re on calendars, greeting cards, and in banks -- even in the occasional living room.

Whether a turn-of-the-century Mobile waterfront, complete with steamships and banana docks; or the debut of “Gone with the Wind” at a downtown theatre; or Babe Ruth readying to bat on a stop in Mobile; or a Mardi Gras parade being pulled not by shiny new pickups, but mules; they are black-and-white vestiges of Mobile’s past.  The images share in common the ability to capture the imagination, as well as a familiar credit line -- the University of South Alabama Archives.

Each image reminds us of our city’s rich heritage and stimulates a pause from the day’s hustle and bustle to consider the long view of our home and ourselves.

For Dr. Michael Thomason, protecting these priceless gems of Mobile’s past was worth a lifetime of work.

“I always really wanted to bring people to history,” said Thomason, who recently retired as USA’s founding archivist.  “I found the archives to be the place where I could do what I thought important and be associated with others who felt as I did.”

Thomason was instrumental in the creation of the archives, procuring rare and “at-risk” collections of photos, papers and other historic artifacts, and serving as an advocate for their proper care and preservation.

USA’s founding archivist is quick to credit many other staff and students who have been vital to developing the USA Archives into the treasure it has become. Still, the historical truth is that Thomason has been the essential force behind the collection, which now resides at USA’s Springhill Avenue campus.

“Anyone who cares about Mobile’s history owes a debt of gratitude to Mike Thomason,” said Dr. Richard Wood, who directs USA’s libraries, the administrative home of the archives.

Thomason’s career is almost as diverse as the collections he’s built.   He has been a teacher of history, photography, and printmaking, as well as an author and scholarly publisher.  He edited the acclaimed scholarly history on Mobile for the city’s 2003 tricentennial, and he created and edited a journal of Gulf Coast history and culture.  He has given hundreds of pro bono historic tours of the Mobile region.

Yet Thomason’s signature achievement was the creation of the USA Archives in 1978, which stemmed from his efforts to preserve the famed Erik Overbey collection of historic photographs of the Mobile area.  The project grew from there.

“In the next few years we got major grants, printed and re-sleeved important negatives, made exhibits which traveled all over Alabama, and generally built a name for ourselves. In the process we built up the collection with a focus on manuscript, print and photographic material from the late 19th century to the present,” Thomason reminisces.

USA Archives is used heavily by people locally and across the nation.   It contains hundreds of thousands of itemsdocumenting and preserving Mobile’s past, from court records to official papers of past governmental leaders. It is a hands-on place, accommodating scholars and the general public with equal enthusiasm.

Like all elements of the University, USA Archives is a classroom.

“Over the years, USA Archives has attracted an outstanding group of student workers,” Thomason said. “The archives has become a nursery for a new generation of public historians, filling important positions in Mobile and elsewhere across the country.

“Our university students get to work with original primary sources as they do research, an exciting experience for anyone interested in history,” Thomason said.

“We have a great Civil Rights collection, women’s history, Civil War history, and arts, culture and literary history are all well represented. Then there are the uncounted thousands of photographs, prints, negatives, slides, movies, videos, CDs. And the list goes on and on. We have saved so much of Mobile’s history that would have been lost -- -- I mean destroyed, without us. We also have set a high standard of professional archival practice here, which other institutions strive to emulate.”

When asked about the current state of the USA Archives, Thomson beams like a new father.

“Over the years, USA Archives has grown into one of the finest research collections in the state. Scholars visit here from all across the nation and the world. We have demonstrated that this ‘new’ university cares about the history and culture of this ‘old’ city and the surrounding region. Historic preservation efforts, which I am convinced have saved Mobile, would have been much more difficult without our photographs.

 “The University did not have to purchase the manuscripts, published materials and photographs we have here; they have come because we cared enough to save them, and do all the work it takes to preserve, organize, and make them available to researchers. God willing the collection will keep on growing as the years go by.

“Who knows what wonderful discoveries future researchers will make and what wonderful articles and books they will write.”

Thomason considers his time at the USA Archives a career well spent and sees a bright future for Mobile’s history.

“Whether it is a scholar from a major university, a homeowner who finds an old picture of a newly purchased home, or an architect who can use old plans and photos to save a historic structure, helping our patrons is truly rewarding. Everyone who has worked here has had the experience of seeing history come alive for someone because of what they found in our collections. It is a magical experience.”