Published on Show Me Mizzou Aug. 28, 2026
Story by Chris Blose, MA ’04
Somewhere in the bowels of the Library of Congress, a secret vault houses rough drafts that define America’s history. There, in Thomas Jefferson’s handwriting, sits an early iteration of the Declaration of Independence. Nearby are Lincoln’s early drafts of the Gettysburg Address and the Emancipation Proclamation.
Climate control preserves the documents. Secrecy keeps them safe, and few know the vault’s location. Kevin Butterfield, BA ’97, is one.
That’s because of his interim assignment as acting chief of the Manuscript Division, or as he says, “maybe the coolest job title I’ll ever have.” In his usual position, he directs the Library of Congress’ John W. Kluge Center, a hub for visiting scholars. But Butterfield was happy to step up as temporary chief, particularly during the country’s 250th anniversary.
“Probably the signature thing that I’ve gotten to work on in both my roles is an exhibit featuring Jefferson’s rough draft of the Declaration of Independence for the anniversary,” he says. An excited expression crosses Butterfield’s face as he shows such documents — George Washington’s correspondence, for instance — to people. He knows the value of well-preserved ink on paper.
Butterfield first felt this pull toward the past in a Mizzou classroom, where he studied under Noble Cunningham, a leading Jefferson scholar. “I got to learn that history is this thing that people go do as opposed to this thing that happened in the past.”
Cunningham’s course The Age of Jefferson helped define Butterfield’s future, He earned a master’s and doctorate, taught at the University of Oklahoma, directed the library at Mount Vernon, and now occupies multiple roles at the Library of Congress. His enthusiasm for the subject has not dimmed, in large part because of the bounty he has at his fingertips every single day.
“The thing that's true of libraries across all of time is the way in which they create an opportunity for us to be in conversation with the past,” he says. “When you read Aristotle or Plato or Jefferson, you’re not limited by the time in which you're living.”
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