E. M. Violette Museum Collection
While E. M. Violette was a graduate student in the University of Chicago, he became interested in the use of visual aids in the teaching of history. As a professor of history at this institution, then the First District Normal School, he began to experiment with visual materials in the classroom. In 1923, the Museum contained several hundred items. Since then, its collections have grown to include thousands of catalogued items. For information on the objects in the collection, please contact the Special Collections & Museums department.
The Frank Cassity Collection
One of the outstanding collections given to the Violette Museum is that of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Cassity of Purdin, Missouri. In this collection of 105 items are many tools, farm implements, cooking utensils, pieces of furniture…
The Civil War Collection
This collection includes artifacts obtained from a number of sources; visitors may see such sundry items as Confederate money, Civil War papers and records, a lead melter and bullet molds, cannonballs, swords…
The World War I Collection
Of all the Twentieth Century conflicts, the “Great War” was viewed with the greatest enthusiasm. Much campus fervor was inspired by the selection of alum General John J. Pershing to command…
The World War II Collection
In less than a quarter of a century, the University again found itself again involved in a World War. As during World War I, students threw themselves wholeheartedly into the war effort; by V-J day, August 15, 1945…
The Knobbs Paperweight Collection
One of the most beautiful collections given to the Violette Museum is the glass paperweight collection of Dr. Pauline Dingle Knobbs. Dr. Knobbs was an alumna (Normal School, class of 1924) and retired from this…
The American Indian Collection
This collection is a work in progress. Please check back in the future to view more information. These selected objects are but a small sample of the entire collection…
Consisting of over 7,000 objects, the museum collections are maintained, preserved, and made available to faculty, staff, students, and other researchers upon request. On occasion, the artifacts may be put on special exhibit at the Ruth W. Towne Museum & Visitors Center or in Pickler Memorial Library’s gallery areas. Please contact the Special Collections & Museums department for more information.
The Mission of the Museum is to support and participate in the educational mission of the University by the collection, preservation and exhibition of historical artifacts.
No limits were placed on the types of things included in the collection until the mid 1900s; “anything historical” was acceptable. When space constraints created a need to limit collecting scope, it was decided to specialize in Missouriana, with an emphasis on the history and development of the northeast Missouri region. University artifacts and memorabilia are collected by the University Archives.
Early in the 20th century, E. M. Violette, professor of history at the First District Normal School, as we were then known, saw a need for a museum of historical material. With the aid of the school’s historical society, which he sponsored, he collected artifacts both for use in the classroom and to be displayed in an exhibit hall on the second floor of Baldwin Hall.
Dr. J. L. Kingsbury assumed care of the collection when Mr. Violette left on 1923. The next January, a quirk of fate saved the artifacts when they were moved to the new Kirk Auditorium building a mere six days before a fire destroyed Baldwin and Library Halls. The collection was moved to Pickler Memorial Library when it was completed in 1925 and then, in the early 1930s, was put into storage so the museum rooms could be used for classroom space.
Though the artifacts were packed away, faculty members who had been students of both Mr. Violette and Dr. Kingsbury kept interest and awareness of the Museum alive. One of them, Dr. Walter H. Ryle, took steps to revitalize the museum when he became President in 1937.
The collection was officially named The E. M. Violette Museum by resolution of the Board of Regents on April 23, 1940. It was reopened, with appropriate ceremony, in rooms designed for it in the basement of the new John R. Kirk Memorial on June 4, 1943. This museum exhibit area remained operational until the Fall of 2003, when environmental concerns required that the collections be moved to a more appropriate location to ensure their preservation.
Ruth W. Towne Museum & Visitors Center
NE Corner, Franklin & Normal
660) 785-4038 (Libraries & Museums)
(660) 785-4114 (University Admissions Office)
University Art Gallery
Ophelia Parrish Fine Arts Center
(660) 785-5386
Adair County Historical Society
211 S. Elson
Kirksville, MO 63501
(660) 665-6502
Coal Miners Museum
804 Corrigan Ave.
Novinger, MO 63559
(660) 488-5280
(660) 342-6455
Novinger Log Homestead
203 Snyder Ave.
Novinger, MO 63559
(660) 488-5280
(660) 342-6455
Museum of Osteopathic Medicine
Tinning Education Building, A.T. Still University
800 W. Jefferson
Kirksville, MO 63501
(660) 626-2359
(866) 626-2878, ext. 2359