Welcome

Special Collections and University Archives provides hands-on learning opportunities to interact with primary sources in many disciplines. Sharing the amazing learning that happens in libraries and with museum collections is a core part our mission.

E.M. Violette, the 19^th century history faculty member who started the museum collection, truly believed in the power of an object to tell a story.  Engaging with manuscripts, books or artifacts is a great way to learn, and we invite you to explore our collections by stopping by our Reading Room, contacting us for a special presentation or program, or browsing through our website of digital collections and exhibitions.

Here you’ll interact with Truman’s educational history through the University Archives, delve into beautiful manuscripts and early printed books with our Rare Book Collections, explore Kirksville, Missouri through letters, diaries, and early photographs of the Missouriana Collections, see how one alumnus’s passion for history led to the creation of a Lincoln Collection, be inspired by the works of Truman’s own faculty and student body with the Faculty and Alumni Collections, and so much more.

Please consider this your personal invitation to interact with us; we welcome you to the department and look forward to sharing with you the treasures we preserve.