Researching Kirksville History Through Truman’s Special Collections and University Archives

Truman State University's Special Collections and University Archives can answer Kirksville-history questions that ordinary web search cannot.

The two collection areas overlap physically, but they serve different historical purposes.

University Archives versus Special Collections

University Archives preserves material created by Truman State University and its predecessor institutions.

Current collection descriptions include material such as:

• official and departmental records;
• presidential papers;
• student publications;
• catalogs and bulletins;
• theses;
• newsletters;
• programs;
• posters;
• photographs;
• audio and video;
• ephemera.

Special Collections and Missouriana extend beyond University administration into broader Kirksville and northeast Missouri history.

That distinction helps you choose where to search first.

Useful Kirksville collections

Current Truman finding aids describe local collections including:

• Adair County Historical Collection;
• Kirksville Photograph Album;
• Kirksville Photos by Drake;
• Kirksville Photograph Archives;
• E.M. Violette papers and museum collections;
• local business and theater material;
• maps and architectural material.

The Adair County Historical Collection alone spans subjects including businesses, churches, organizations, photographs, maps, correspondence and osteopathy.

Start online before visiting

Before entering the reading room:

1. search Truman's digital collections;
2. search the finding aids;
3. record the collection identifier;
4. record box, folder or item information;
5. contact staff for unusually large or specialized requests.

That makes the visit much more efficient than arriving with "I need everything about Kirksville in 1903."

Reading-room rules protect the materials

Current procedures require researchers to sign in and agree to use policies.

Personal belongings are stored in lockers.

Researchers may use:

• pencil;
• paper;
• laptop.

Food and drink, including water, are not allowed in the reading room.

The stacks are closed

Researchers do not browse the archival shelves directly.

You submit a call slip and staff retrieve the requested materials.

Current procedures also require photo identification while archival material is in use.

For manuscript or archive boxes, only one box is used at a time.

Photography and copying

Current procedures say flashless photography of some documents may be allowed after asking.

Staff control photocopying and scanning and can refuse reproduction when materials are fragile or restricted.

Do not assume that because you can view an item, you automatically have unrestricted reproduction rights.

Digitized does not mean complete

Truman has valuable digital collections, but online holdings represent only part of the archive.

A finding aid may describe material that has never been scanned.

That is why archival research often begins online and ends in the reading room.

Cite the exact collection

A strong archival citation should preserve:

• collection title;
• collection identifier;
• box;
• folder;
• item;
• repository.

That allows someone else to locate the same source later.

For general visitor use of Pickler, see Using Pickler Memorial Library as a Visitor or Researcher.

The key archival skill is not knowing everything.

It is learning how to ask for the exact box that might know it.