What are the opening hours?

Monday 8:30am - 4:30pm Tuesday 8:30am - 4:30pm Wednesday 8:30am - 4:30pm Thursday 8:30am - 4:30pm Friday 8:30am - 4:30pm

Special Collections & Archives, Southeast Missouri State University

Home
United States
Cape Girardeau, MO
Special Collections & Archives, Southeast Missouri State University

Special Collections & Archives at Southeast Missouri State is open to the campus and community!

05/07/2026

It's officially commencement season, which means congratulations are in order for our three graduating staff members: Sam Mueller, Lilly Fordham, and Catherine Kraemer!

Over the past two years as our Graduate Assistant, Sam has completed multiple projects to help maintain the organization of our Rare Book Room, including constructing custom housing for some of the Room's most fragile materials. He has also played a huge role in creating physical exhibits to promote our collections. Following commencement, he will be returning to his alma mater, Murray State University, for a summer internship mending books at the Pogue Special Collections Library. Sam plans to pursue a career in either academic archives or local museums, ideally somewhere in Europe.

Lilly (left) has worked with Special Collections & Archives for the past two years, and was one of the primary processers of the Jean Bell Mosley Papers, also working extensively with the League of Women Voters of Southeast Missouri Papers. We are happy to say she will be returning to join us as our new Graduate Assistant in the fall, after completing an internship repairing historic windows with Moss Restoration in St. Louis.

Catherine (right) has been with us over the last year-and-a-half, also playing a key role in processing the Mosley Papers. This summer, she will be completing an archaeology internship with the Missouri Department of Transportation. After her time with MoDOT, she will be attending the University of Missouri-St. Louis to earn a Master of Arts degree in History with an emphasis in Museums, Heritage, and Public History. Join us in wishing all three of them well, along with all the rest of this year's graduates!

04/03/2026

Happy Easter, everyone! Here's a selection of pages from a vocal score of Irving Berlin's popular song "Easter Parade,” from around 1933. The song was part of the musical r***e "As Thousands Cheer". The r***e, with lyrics and music all by Berlin, ran from September 1933 to September 1934 at New York City's Music Box Theatre. The full score is part of our Patty Mulkey Collection. Patty Mulkey was a local teacher and longtime volunteer at the Cape River Heritage Museum (now the Cape Girardeau Heritage Museum) who donated her personal collection—comprised of everything from photographs of the Cape Girardeau flood of 1917 to vocal scores such as this—to Special Collections & Archives in 1997.

03/24/2026

We’re excited to introduce the newest member of our team in Special Collections & Archives: Lucas Cullen, our new full-time Library Assistant! Lucas is originally from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. He has a Certificate of Training in Film and Media Preservation from the L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation in Rochester, NY, and was the recipient of the Film Noir Foundation’s Nancy Mysel Legacy Grant for 2024. Lucas holds a BS in Film, Video, & Theatre with a minor in English Language & Literature from Stevenson University. Most recently, he served as a seasonal Session Assistant with the Rare Book School in Charlottesville, VA, and has worked in a variety of positions for the Maryland Film Festival in Baltimore over the years. While there, Lucas was also a clerk at Beyond Video: an all-volunteer-run video rental library with over 40,000 titles available on Blu-Ray, DVD, VHS, and LaserDisc. He is an active member of the Association of Moving Image Archivists, as well as the Irish Arts Center in New York City—and he’s very passionate about the Irish language, so má tá suim agaibh sa Ghaeilge, cuir in iúl dó, le bhur dtoil!

03/17/2026

Beannachtaí La Fhéile Pádraig oraibh go léir ó gach duine anseo i mBailiúcháin Spesialta agus Cartlannaí ag Leabharlann Kent! (Saint Patrick's Day blessings on all of you from everyone here in Special Collections & Archives at Kent Library!)

Photo of 3 people at a St. Patrick's Day celebration, c. 1950s. Image from the Harold O. Grauel Collection.

11/28/2025

Happy Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is a holiday centering around food, family, and growth. SEMO offers various degrees that focus on developing culinary skills and interpersonal development, such as hospitality management and family and consumer sciences. To complement the family and culinary skills training offered at SEMO in both the present and past, we have records from a local professional group in the field of home economics. In 1956 a group of women in Cape Girardeau County founded the Professional Home Economists group, which served as a gathering for women with degrees or training in home economics, where they could discuss and share expertise. Cape Girardeau has a rich history in promoting family and consumer skills both within the university and the broader Cape Girardeau area. Enjoy your Thanksgiving, Redhawks!

Images from the Cape Girardeau County Professional Home Economics Collection and the H.O Grauel Collection

11/21/2025

Hey Redhawks, today is National Substitute Teacher Day! To celebrate we are sharing pictures of SEMO education students through the years. Our education programs are creating amazing teachers and educators of the future!

Images from the 1980 and 1989 Sagamores

11/11/2025

Happy Veterans Day! SEMO participated in the V-12 Navy program during World War II. The V-12 Navy program was a government program which sought to produce Navy officers by having men attend colleges partnered with the program and receive completion degrees in various fields such as engineering, foreign language, and medicine. In honor of today, here are some photos of a group of these V-12 Navy program participants. These photos include formal pictures taken of what is inferred to be their Navy class as well as members participating in the Navy programs band.

Images from the H.O Grauel Collection

11/05/2025

November is Lung Cancer Awareness month. In recognition of this, we're celebrating SEMO’s nursing program which has produced the amazing nurses of the past, present, and future! SEMO began its nursing program in 1958 and has continued to develop since then, with the program now offering both a BSN and a MSN. These photos take us through the ages of the nursing program all the way from 1958, with a photo of the first graduating class of nurses, to 1989, with a student nurse practicing on a medical dummy.

Images from the University Publications Collection, the Helen Kinney Collection, and the 1989 Sagamore.

10/31/2025

Happy Halloween Redhawks! Throughout the years SEMO has never lost its festive spirit as students across the years have dressed up to celebrate the holiday.

Images from the H.O Grauel Collection, The University Photographs Collection, and Sigma Phi Epsilon Records.

10/23/2025

Happy everyone! In honor of today, let's take a look at fashion choices throughout the years from students in the 1990s and faculty members from the 1930s. Fashion sure does change.

Address

Kent Library, Rm 306
Cape Girardeau, MO
63701

Opening Hours

Monday	8:30am - 4:30pm
Tuesday	8:30am - 4:30pm
Wednesday	8:30am - 4:30pm
Thursday	8:30am - 4:30pm
Friday	8:30am - 4:30pm

Telephone

+15736512245

Website

https://library.semo.edu/service-areas/special-collections-and-archives

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Special Collections & Archives, Southeast Missouri State University posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organization

Send a message to Special Collections & Archives, Southeast Missouri State University:

Want your organization to be the top-listed Government Service in Cape Girardeau?