Vietnam, Bulgaria, France and Iceland are just a handful of the countries that Wayne State University Archivist Alison Stankrauff has explored on bicycle.

“I’m adventurous and curious about the world, so I guess that’s what motivates me as an archivist, too,” said Stankrauff.

Stankrauff’s passion for cycling was cemented in 2002 while working on her master’s in library and information science at Wayne State. At the time, one of her jobs at the Walter P. Reuther Library included scanning photo negatives from the recently acquired Detroit Free Press collection. After work, Stankrauff often rode around the city for a firsthand view of the neighborhoods and buildings she had observed via photographs all day.

“It was just a random byproduct of a job that I loved,” she said. 

Fast-forward 15 years to last September, when Stankrauff used a bicycle to discover Detroit anew after being named university archivist. Her goal is to ride approximately 40 miles each day after work, only missing when it’s too icy or snowy. “It’s one of the best ways to explore any place,” Stankrauff said.

After 13 years as campus archivist at Indiana University South Bend, Stankrauff returned to her alma mater at one of the best times for someone in her profession — the months leading up to its sesquicentennial.

She says the heightened interest in Wayne State’s history around its 150th birthday presents more opportunities to let people know about the amazing collections in the Walter P. Reuther Library archives — the foremost labor archive in the world, and home to extraordinary information and photos of and about Detroit.

People come from all over the world to conduct research in the library’s reading room on topics such as the United Farm Workers, school desegregation and family ties to Wayne State. 

“I love hearing the stories of how people from different generations are tied to the university,” Stankrauff said. “When we can find a picture for someone of their grandmother from the 1930s, it’s so satisfying to be able to provide that happiness to someone.”

Wayne State University will officially launch its yearlong Sesquicentennial Celebration at 2 p.m. Friday, Jan. 26, in the Community Arts Auditorium in Reuther Mall. The event will also include unveiling of the “Wayne State University at 150” exhibit at the Walter P. Reuther Library.

Stankrauff and the Reuther are also organizing sesquicentennial panel talks throughout 2018 on topics such as are Wayne State and its connection to Title IX, LGBTQ history and historic preservation — and maybe one on cycling.