Research Collections

The University cares for a number of behind-the-scenes collections that are used for research and teaching.  Visitors, including researchers and teachers, can gain access to these collections through online databases and, in some cases, by scheduling private tours with the curators of each collection.

Art, History & Humanities

Charles H. Templeton, Sr. Music Museum

Located on the fourth floor of Mitchell Memorial Library, the Charles H. Templeton, Sr. Music Museum tells the story of the “business of music” with its collection of musical instruments, recordings and sheet music.

Monday-Friday from 9 am - 5 pm

Cully Cobb Antique Tool Collection

Showplace for more than 350 antique tools and primitive machines. Forest Products Laboratory.

Phone: 662-325-2116

Monday - Friday, 8am - 5 pm

Frank and Virginia Williams Collection of Lincolniana

Considered the nation's largest privately owned holding of Abraham Lincoln research and display material, as well as the country's most comprehensive privately owned Lincoln and Civil War library, the Frank J. and Virginia Williams Collection of Lincolniana boasts rare historical memorabilia; priceless artifacts; original, signed documents; ephemera; books published over a span of 150 years; and both original one-of-a-kind, and early mass-produced, artwork relating to Lincoln and the Civil War era.

Historic Costume and Textiles Collection

The Historic Costumes Collection features clothing, textiles, and related items dating from the mid-1800s to the present. This collection is housed in Moore Hall.

Mississippi State University Archives and Special Collections

The MSU Archives is located within the MSU Library Special Collections Division on the third floor of Mitchell Memorial Library. The archives house papers, documents, photographs and artifacts that document the history of Mississippi State University from 1878 to present.

Monday-Friday: 7:30 pm - 5:00 pm

Saturday: 10:00 am - 1:00 pm

Myrna Colley-Lee Costume Collection

This collection features hundreds of costumes and pieces of vintage clothing, notes, and sketches, donated by celebrated film, television, and theatre costume designer Myrna Colley-Lee.

Natural History

Dunn-Seiler Museum

The Department of Geosciences houses approximately 50,000 fossil, mineral, and rock specimens.  The fossil collections focus heavily on Late Cretaceous fauna, but include barnacle type specimens and other taxa that span all of geologic time.  The Dunn-Seiler Museum is currently in the process of digitizing and databasing specimens.

Lois Dowdle Cobb Museum of Archaeology

Artifacts from the ancient Middle East and the Southeastern United States. Located in the Cobb Archaeology Building.

Phone: 662-325-3826

Mississippi Entomological Museum

The Mississippi Entomological Museum is the third largest insect collection in the Southeastern United States, with 1 million specimens, including the Ross Hutchins and David Young photograph collections with more than 40,000 slides and prints.

Mississippi State University Herbarium

The Mississippi State University Herbarium is a research collection of dried, pressed plants. The collection is the official plant collection of MSU and contains ca. 32,000 specimens, with an emphasis on southeastern U.S. collections. The collection is housed in Harned Hall.