Collections

Charles H. Templeton Digital Collections

The Templeton Digital Collections include over 20,000 pieces of sheet music as well as images of music players and an inventory of recordings from the Museum.

• Charles Templeton Sheet Music Collection
  Consisting of over 20,000 pieces, the sheet music collection is part of a larger collection amassed by Charles Templeton, Sr. which also includes music players and recordings. Digitization of the collection is part of an ongoing effort to provide broader access to titles. A large portion of these pieces are in the public domain (not copyrighted) and are available for download directly from the site. Some restricted titles are available upon request.
• Charles Templeton Instrument Collection
  There are 200 music players in the collection, over 100 of which are available for online viewing. These include cylinder players, gramophones, phonographs, a player piano, a player organ, cylinder-and-disc music boxes, and paper roll and cob organettes.

Congressional & Political Research Center Digital Collections

The Congressional and Political Research Center was created in 1999 with the goal of providing access to holdings of U.S. Congressional collections, papers of Mississippi legislators and other state officers, and local political materials. Digitization of selected materials from these collections is ongoing, and currently includes photographs, correspondence, newspaper clippings, and documents from three of the collections. Materials cover topics including agriculture, race, political issues, state and national legislature, and the economy.

• John C. Stennis Collection
  The John C. Stennis collection (U.S. Senator [D], 1947-1989) contains materials devoted to agricultural issues in the U. S. Congress, as well as problems faced by Mississippi farmers. Senator Stennis' interest in forestry is also well documented in this series. Included are materials reflecting Civil Rights issues, which offer perspective into the myriad issues facing the nation during Stennis' tenure in the Senate.
• David Bowen Collection
  The David Bowen Collection (U.S. Senator [D], 1973-1983) contains newspaper articles authored by Bowen for the Delta Business Journal, The Northside Sun, and The Clarion-Ledger. These editorials deal with a variety of issues including political campaigns, race relations, foreign and domestic policy, and the Iraq War. Also included is a group of correspondence documenting Bowen's key role in rice legislation, an interest he pursued throughout his five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. As Representative of a district which included the Mississippi Delta, many of his constituents were rice farmers with a direct interest in the legislation.
• G.V. 'Sonny' Montgomery Collection
  The G.V. 'Sonny' Montgomery collection (Mississippi Senator [D], 1956-1966; U.S. Senator [D], 1967-1997) contains photos, correspondence, and audio. Many of the materials document Montgomery's work towards the Montgomery G.I. Bill, as well as his work with veterans. His weekly radio addresses cover a wide range of political topics, including budget cuts and reforms, defense spending, military base closures, and veterans legislation.
• John Marshall Stone Collection
  The John Marshall Stone Collection consists of two (2) letter books containing copies of Stone's correspondence from 1893-1899. The books, housed in two separate boxes, are in fair condition, though their bindings have been torn. As such, the materials have been digitized and are made available through the Mississippi State University Libraries Digital Collections. Correspondents include the President of the United States, various federal and state officials, governors of other states and United States Senators. Other pieces of correspondence contain information about Stone's service in the Confederate army, focusing on his experiences at the Battles of Antietam and the Wilderness.

Ulysses S. Grant Digital Collection

The digital collection consists of 31 volumes of The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant, political cartoons, and sheet music from the larger collection. Other materials will be added to the digital collection as processing continues.

• The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant
  The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant were published in 31 volumes by Southern Illinois University Press between 1967 and 2009. These materials contain thousands of letters written by Ulysses S. Grant (1837-1885), and to him; his military and presidential documents; and a small number of photographs. These manuscripts are extensively annotated to explain their significance. There is also an extended calendar synopsis of letters in each volume. In total, this is the largest and most comprehensive published collection of Ulysses S. Grant correspondence available for scholarly use. Even more material is contained in the complete Ulysses S. Grant Association Collection housed in the Congressional and Political Research Center.
• Ulysses S. Grant Collection
  Political cartoons from publications such as Harper's Weekly and Puck offer researchers a variety of illustrated commentary featuring Ulysses S. Grant from the early days of the Civil War to the scandals that rocked his Presidency. Patriotic sheet music written in honor of U. S. Grant, William T. Sherman, Abraham Lincoln, and the Union Army complements the MSU Libraries' extensive collection of sheet music in the Charles Templeton Ragtime Collection. The Grant sheet music ranges from songs composed in the 1860s up to the early 20th century.
• Bultema-Williams Collection of Ulysses S. Grant Photographs and Prints
  This collection of postcards and photographs of Ulysses S. Grant and his family, colleagues, and homes was donated by James A. Bultema and Frank J. Williams, treasurer and president of the Ulysses S. Grant Association.
• Bibliography and Chronology
  This collection includes a detailed timeline of the life of Ulysses S. Grant and an extensive annotated bibliography of published books and articles about Grant.

CHARM Digital Collections

CHARM (Consortium for the History of Agricultural and Rural Mississippi) seeks to promote understanding and appreciation of the role played by agriculture, forestry, and rural life in Mississippi's past by collecting, preserving, and providing access to important historical materials as a foundation for teaching, learning, and research. Selected materials from the collections in CHARM continue to be added to the digital collection. These include photographs, reports, and records from the MSU Extension Service, personal diaries and correspondence, business ledgers, daybooks, deeds, correspondence and other records relating to agriculture and timber industries, exhibition catalogs from fairs, and records of the cotton trade.

• CHARM Digital Collection
  Selected materials from the collections in CHARM continue to be added to the digital collection. These include photographs, reports, and records from the MSU Extension Service, personal diaries and correspondence, business ledgers, daybooks, deeds, correspondence and other records relating to agriculture and timber industries, exhibition catalogs from fairs, and records of the cotton trade.
• Forest Resources Tool Collection
  The Cully A. Cobb Antique Tool Museum contains over 350 antique woodworking tools, farm implements, and household equipment. Items date to the 17th century, including axes, saws, planes, hammers, drills, chisels, adzes, mauls, and plow stocks. The digitization of these objects is an ongoing effort as part of the CHARM initiative.

University Archives Digital Collections

Currently, the digital collection contains selected photographs from the archives, as well as documents from the foundation of Mississippi State University and its first two presidents. Photographic subjects include daily campus life, aerial views, sporting and other campus events, campus groups, visiting dignitaries, university administrators and faculty, campus buildings, and more. Highlights include photographs of 'Old Main' before, during, and after the fire that destroyed it, photographs of previous Bully mascots, images documenting the MSU – Ole Miss rivalry, and historic photos of classes from the 19th and early 20th centuries.

• University Archives Digital Collection
  The University Archives digital collection contains photographs of campus scenes, events, buildings, and people, as well as important documents from MSU's history.
• MSU Founders' Documents
  In 1878 the Governor John Marshall Stone established a Board of Trustees whose mission was to establish an Agricultural and Mechanical College for the state of Mississippi. This digital collection contains materials relating to the establishment of Mississippi A&M (later Mississippi State University) and the presidencies of its first two administrations. The materials in this collection represent the earliest documents from Mississippi State University.
• The Reveille Digital Archive
  The MSU Libraries have partnered with the Lyrasis Mass Digitization Collaborative to digitize each volume of the Reveille published in print from 1898 to 2008. The Reveille chronicled the lives of the students of the Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College (later renamed Mississippi State College and finally Mississippi State University), throughout the institution's history.
• MSU vs. Loyola 1963
  On March 15, 1963, the Mississippi State University basketball team made history by facing the Loyola University Ramblers in the NCAA Tournament. Previously barred from participating in tournaments which featured integrated teams, MSU President Dean W. Colvard and Head Basketball Coach Babe McCarthy defied the "unwritten law" and, under threat of arrest, snuck the MSU squad out of Starkville and up to Lansing, Michigan. The MSU Bulldogs lost to Loyola (the eventual National Champions) yet returned home to Starkville to a hero's welcome. 50 years later, we honor the MSU and Loyola teams who participated in the "Game of Change."

Echoes of Lloyd-Ricks-Watson

Mississippi State University's Lloyd-Ricks-Watson Building, built in 1929 to house agricultural programs, is home to the School of Human Sciences and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. "Echoes of Lloyd-Ricks-Watson" collects oral histories from people who have worked in this building.

Intellectual Underpinnings of the American Civil War

The Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL) organization and its member libraries seek to further contribute to the growing corpus of online scholarship by collaboratively developing a digitized collection of materials collectively titled "The Intellectual Underpinnings of the American Civil War." This collection will consist of materials of any type or subject published between 1850 and 1865, and may or may not be directly related to the War itself.

Mitchell Memorial Library Events

MSU Libraries Events contains images, videos and other materials documenting the variety of events hosted by the Libraries of MSU. Many different events occur at the Libraries, including the nationally recognized annual Charles H. Templeton, Sr. Ragtime Festival, numerous conferences and workshops, and ongoing activities such as the Collins Speaker Series and the Marszalek Lecture Series. This collection is frequently updated with images, videos and other resources from recent events.