Welcome

The Special Collections and Museums department thrives on engagement.  Providing hands-on learning, opportunities to interact with history, and being able to share with others the amazing learning that happens in libraries and museums is a core part our mission.

E.M. Violette, a 19^th century history faculty member who started the museum, truly believed in the power of an object to tell a story.  Engaging with history is one of the best ways to learn about it, and we encourage you to come explore our collections by stopping by the Reading Room or Gallery spaces, 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 join us; we welcome you to the department and look forward to sharing with you the treasures we preserve.

Amanda Langendoerfer

Director of Special Collections and Museums