About the Collections
The Michigan State University Museum, founded in 1857, is the first collection-holding unit established on campus. It holds the university’s most extensive and diverse Cultural Heritage Collections. These collections are used for research, education, exhibition, and outreach and engagement projects. Strengths include: agricultural heritage collections, North American Indian basketry, Pan-African material culture, Michigan Traditional Arts Program Research Collections (which hold ethnographic documentation on many different cultural expressions and from many different cultural groups in Michigan), Great Lakes Quilt Center collection of quilts and related ephemera, world cultures textile collection, archaeological research collections from numerous Michigan locations ranging in age from Paleo-Indian through the nineteenth century, while the archaeology teaching collections primarily cover Europe, Middle, and South America. For extended descriptions of discrete collections, go to https://www.museum.msu.edu/cultural-and-historical-collections/
College/Department Affiliation: The Michigan State University Museum reports to the Associate Provost for University Collections and Arts Initiatives with a dotted line report to the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies.
Anthropology/Archaeology Collections
- Dr. Jodie O’Gorman, Associate Curator of Anthropology, Ogorman@msu.edu
Visiting the Archaeology Collections
The archaeology collections are located in McDonel Hall and the Central Services Building. Access is by appointment only. Contact Dr. Jessica Yann, 517-353-5966.
Cultural Collections
The MSU Museum cultural collections are located in the Cultural Collections Resource and Research Center, Central Services Building, Red Cedar Road, MSU. Access is by appointment only. Contact Lynne Swanson, swansonl@msu.edu, 517-355-3304
Digital Collections
- Ms. Beth Donaldson, Digital Assets Integrity Officer, donald20@msu.edu
- Ms. Pearl Yee Wong, Coordinator, Digital and Multimedia Collections, wongpear@msu.edu
Digital Repositories and Online Research Tools
- The Quilt Index (www.quiltindex.org)
- Michigan Stained Glass Census (www.michiganstainedglass.org)
- Michigan Barn and Farmstead Survey (www. michiganbarns.org)
- Feeding America: The Historic Cookbook Project (https://d.lib.msu.edu/fa)
Folklife and Traditional Arts Collections
- Dr. C. Kurt Dewhurst, Curator of Folklife and Cultural Heritage, dewhurs1@msu.edu
- Dr. Marsha MacDowell, Curator of Folk Arts, macdowel@msu.edu
- Ms. Lynne Swanson, Cultural Collections Manager, swansonl@msu.edu
- Ms. Mary Worrall, Assistant Curator of Folk Arts, and Coordinator, MSU Museum Internships, worrall@msu.edu
- Ms. LuAnne Kozma, Assistant Curator of Folk Arts, kozma@msu.edu
History Collections
- Mr. Val Berryman, Curator of History, berryma2@msu.edu
- Dr. Julie Avery, Assistant Curator of History, averyj@msu.edu