A life rich in culture and global experiences, helps MU professor inspire students

by Eran Shelby, posted Dec. 23, 2009

A cup of mid-day coffee and a brief description of the restaurant her husband was taking her to for their weekly ‘date night’ was the beginning of an inviting conversation with Mary Grigsby, MU associate professor of rural sociology, about her life experiences.   

Growing Up
Grigby’s father was a student at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga., when she was born. When she was 4 years old her family moved to Iran, where her dad worked for the state department as a community developer, focusing on helping people in economic development and agriculture.

In 1961, Mary and her mother came back to the states for seven months when she was 9 years old. Her dad was working in Africa as many of its nations established their independence.

After her father finished his work in Africa, her family moved to Bolivia for two years where Grigsby attended an international school. While growing up, she always had horses and friends who helped build a strong sense of community even in an unfamiliar country. That sense of community she felt in Bolivia was similar to what she would experience when moving to New Franklin, Mo., a few years later.

Grigsby’s father retired from the state department in 1966 and came to Missouri to teach community development in the regional and community affairs department at the University of Missouri. Her parents bought a farm between New Franklin and Fayette where they raised black angus cattle, corn, soybeans and chickens. 

“My mother lives with my husband and me, and we often talk about the years on the farm and our good memories,” Grigsby said.

A fond memory Grigsby recalls from her days on the farm was a trail ride her family hosted. They provided the barbecued chicken for their guests, which was of course fresh, and Grigsby helped butcher and barbecue the meat.

In 1978, Mary’s dad died, and her mom sold the farm because she could not maintain it herself.  

“My father’s death was a sad time, but now the good memories of our time together on the farm are what stands out, and some of the funny things that happened,” Grigsby said.

Starting Her Career
Grigsby attended college at Mizzou and originally wanted to get a degree in photojournalism, but later decided on a bachelor’s of science in history.  She went on to receive her master’s degree in library science.

Her first job was for the State Historical Society of Missouri as a reference librarian, this satisfied both her love for history and library science. She was then promoted to a librarian in the Missouri School of Journalism. 

In 1989, she left her job in the journalism library to take a job in Niijgata, Japan, working for Southern Illinois University. In Japan, Grigsby worked to set up a library for the university.

“I greatly enjoyed having the opportunity to work in a cross-cultural setting, and working with Japanese architects on the building plans all the way from the ground up,” Grigsby said.

Her time in Japan served to increase her interest in different cultures and societies. Grigsby said Japanese culture is much more group oriented and the people value group harmony highly, while U.S. culture is more individualistic. She was proud to be part of the team that established the U.S.-style university campus in a rural region of Japan and to play a role in educating young people who wanted to learn.

When Grigsby returned to the states, and working at the journalism library, she soon met the man who would become her husband, Gary Grigsby. The couple met at a jazz concert at the Blue Note in downtown Columbia. For their first date, he sent her a letter inviting her to come to an art show with him in St. Louis. I guess you could say the rest is history. They were married in 1991.

Two years later, the University of Southern Illinois recruited them both to return to work in Japan.

“Sometimes an unplanned opportunity comes along and it may be better than what you had planned,” Grigsby said.

Upon returning to the states, she received her Ph.D., in sociology from the University of Missouri.

“She is extremely professional and intelligent, and she scares me sometimes because she cares so much,” said Emily Stephens, a freshman in Grigsby’s introductory rural sociology class. “She is one of the few teachers left that actually wants you to learn.”

Today and Tomorrow
Grigsby's most recent book, College Life through the Eyes of Students, was published in 2009. The topic of the book is of interest to many who work with college students, and in March of 2009, she was invited to New Dehli, India, to give a guest lecture on her work.

Grigsby was motivated to research and write this book by a desire to know more about the daily lives of students — in the residence halls, socializing, balancing different aspects of their lives, what they really cared about and wanted from college — from their perspectives.

“A large part of what matters to me in life involves college students and their success,” Grigsby said. 

Another research focus for this busy professor is the practice and culture of noodling. Noodling, or hand fishing, is a sport where participants catch large fish using only their hands.

“Noodling interests me because it is a rural folk tradition that has been passed down through the generations even though it is illegal and has been somewhat stigmatized,” Grigsby said. 

Noodling has been illegal in Missouri since 1919, except for trial legal seasons in 2005 and 2006, which was a result from lobbying by a group of passionate noodlers.

Still some rural Missourians have persisted in noodling and in passing the folk tradition on to their children.

“This suggests that there is something culturally important to the rural kinship groups who noodle and my research shows that noodlers have a subculture in which noodling helps them pass on norms and values of a way of life through teaching the young to noodle,” Grigsby said.

If she could give students one piece of advice, it would be: “Your life can be planned and have goals, but be open to people you meet and opportunities you get.”

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