Museum of Anthropology, Mizzou

08/26/2026

Fall Semester 2026 has officially started!

Here is your fun fact to start the academic year: Did you know that the Museum of Anthropology is the oldest museum on campus? Collections were started in the 1870s and organized into a museum in 1885 by President Samual Laws. The collections were housed on the first floor of Academic Hall and originally included a variety of taxidermy specimens purchased by Laws, as well as artifacts collected from around North America. When the fire broke out in 1892 burning Academic Hall to the ground, students, faculty, and staff broke through a wall to pull artifacts and specimens out before they were consumed by the flames. The collections were then kept in Switzler Hall until 1913 under the name Museum of Ethnology and eventually moved to Swallow Hall, where in 1936 the museum was renamed Museum of Anthropology. The museum stayed in Swallow Hall until the building's renovation in the 2010s, and is now located on the ground floor of the east wing of Ellis Library.

Start off the semester with a visit to us!

While we no longer have the taxidermy, we still have an amazing collection that has been growing for almost 150 years and our oldest artifacts on exhibit are 3 million year old tools! Right across the hall from us is the Museum of Art&Archaeology whose collections started in the early 20th century and have their own long history - don't miss their exhibits while you are here!

Image: Museum of Anthropology collections when they were housed in Academic Hall 1885- 1892 in the natural history museum space. From State Historical Society Archives.

08/19/2026

It's Welcome Week at Mizzou!
Join us in the Research Room any time between 11:30 and 1 pm today for pizza and a Meet and Greet with Mizzou's very own student group for Indigenous students and allies, Four Directions !
Four Directions (4D) is a group comprised of Native Americans, Alaskan Natives, other indigenous peoples of the Americas, multiracial people with ancestry from the indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native Hawaiians, and allies. 4D welcomes all people, regardless of ancestry, to come together to support indigenous education and awareness on Mizzou's campus. We are proud to be able to support them in various ways throughout the year!

08/17/2026

Come visit us at the Missouri State Fair today! We are in the Mizzou Central Building just to the left of the main entry gates. We can’t wait to see you!

08/07/2026

Attention: Hitt St entrance will be closed again today, due to the tree work being delayed by yesterday's weather. Please use the Lowry Mall entrance, or the library entrance on the WEST side (Speaker Circle side) of the building for accessible entry.

08/05/2026

Our Hitt Street entrance will be closed today (Wednesday August 5th) and tomorrow (August 6th) for tree work. Please use the Lowry Hall entrance or enter from Ellis Library. For accessible entry please use the Library's west doors (by the cafe) and follow the hall to our library door entrance.

07/31/2026

It's the last day of the Summer Semester! Research students that participated in the Summer Research and Creative Achievements Forum presented their final posters on the Department of Anthropology's 2026 field school held in collaboration with Missouri State Parks. Their findings from the excavation season were exhibited in the NextGen Precision Health Building yesterday. One of the most exciting elements uncovered was a feature found on the last day that will need further exploration in future field seasons to fully determine its use! The Museum of Anthropology's graduate researcher and Department of Anthropology's PhD student, Chelsea A., did a fantastic job explaining the goals of the excavation and we even got a glimpse of Emeritus Dr. Lyman, emerging to support our amazing MU students. Congratulations on an excellent field season Department of Anthropology, Mizzou!

07/17/2026

The Mississippian people in Missouri are often only remembered for Cahokia being across the river. Thank you for the great video, Nine PBS!

07/07/2026

Low Sensory Morning is today 10am - 11am
Enjoy a quiet, low light hour at the museum and escape the steamy mid-morning air. We look forward to seeing you all.

07/02/2026

We are celebrating 250 years of Independence!
The museum will be CLOSED Friday, July 3rd and Saturday, July 4th. We will be open on Sunday July 5th regular hours 12pm - 4pm.

Image: A miniature weaving by Navajo artist Sandra Brown, 20th century.

06/29/2026

News about news!
If you are a subscriber to our quarterly newsletter, The MoA Quarterly, you may have noticed it has been a bit quiet in 2026. MU has been hard at work this year updating digital accessibility across all departments which has led to our designer and communications team member, Amanda, to work on a new way to distribute and access the newsletter.

We are still in the transition period, but we really want to share a couple updates with friends, supporters and followers to let them know how the year as been going and what we are looking forward to this fall. The newsletter is now directly on our website's News tab. Click the link to check it out!

Thank you for supporting the Museum of Anthropology!

Note: If you have received the newsletter via email in the past - we are still working on the best way to get it to our subscribers.

Summer has arrived, and Missouri’s signature heat and humidity are here! After a busy spring semester filled with intern training and student research at the Museum Support Center, we’re excited for a summer of installing new exhibits for our visitors.