Digital Collections & Exhibitions

These online exhibits have been created from photographs, art, and artifacts from Special Collections and the E. M. Violette Museum Collections. Some feature all or parts of a single collection while others bring together items from two or more collections to tell a story.

    • Artists’ Books

      This exhibition features books on various topics such as politics, religion, and nature, which are created by artists using nontraditional methods. They do not fit the standard description of a book—they are accordion books, leaflets, sculptural books, and more.

    • Beneath White Tents

      This exhibition, consisting primarily of objects held by Truman State University’s Special Collections and Museums, tells the story of the traveling circus in its heyday, and how its legacy has impacted our collective memory.

    • Big Fire

      Information about the 1924 fire that destroyed Baldwin and Library Halls at Northeast Missouri State Teachers College, which is now Truman State University.

    • Book of Hours

      Explore our Book of Hours to interact with the manuscript, learn historical information, and read a transcription and translation of the book.

    • Cabinet of Curiosities

      A cabinet of curiosities is a collection of objects that reflects the diversity of the natural and human world. View each item in our cabinet!

    • Children’s Literature Festival

      Discover the history of Truman’s yearly Children’s Literature Festival, where middle graders and their favorite authors have been meeting since 1983.

    • Chinese Export Porcelain

      An online exhibit on Truman State University’s Special Collections and Museum’s Chinese export porcelain collection.

    • Cuneiform

      Learn more about our collection of objects from ancient Mesopotamia which include baked and unbaked clay tablets, Palestinian oil lamps, a Babylonian cylinder seal, and a votive cone.

    • Cutting Across the Map

      Truman is fortunate to be home to many fascinating tools and weapons from across the world. This interactive map illustrates their cultural significance.

    • History of the Horn Book

      This early teaching tool fell into obscurity after the advent of the primer. Learn about the hornbook, its various uses, and the modern day references it has inspired.

    • Kirksville Cyclone

      A centennial photo exhibit of the destruction wrought by Kirksville’s April 1899 tornado.

    • Lincoln and the Dome

      Learn about the creation and restoration of Allyn Cox’s cartoon (at Pickler Memorial Library) for a segment of “The Hall of Capitols” mural in the United States Capitol.

    • Pickler Furniture Collection

      This digital exhibit gives a close look at the Pickler Furniture Collection, as well as the history surrounding the artifacts. Learn about the man who owned these pieces, the designers who made them, the art movements that served as inspiration, and more!

    • Rural Education Innovations in Adair County, Missouri

      Explore the groundbreaking work of progressive educators, John R. Kirk and Marie Turner Harvey in rural Missouri education, 1870-1924.

    • Schwengel Lincoln Collection: a tribute to the Honorable Fred Schwengel, 1906-1993

      This collection is one of the largest “special collections.” Learn more about donor Fred Schwengel, the Lincoln Foundation and Collection, and the Annual Lincoln Contest.

    • Secretary Alphonso Jackson Collection

      Photographs, awards, and memorabilia acquired by alumni Secretary Jackson during his tenure as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, 2004-2008.

    • Smith/King International House

      Learn about this historic house near Truman’s campus and its first residents. The house is now home to international students.

    • Stereographs

      Take a peek into the stereograph collection and learn more about this vintage 3D phenomenon.

    • Victorian Domesticity

      This exhibition tells about life for families in the 19th century. Explore day-to-day home life in Victorian America.

    • Welcome to 1890s Kirksville

      A tour of the sites and introduction to the citizens of Kirksville at the end of the 19th Century