The University of Minnesota Archives holds the essential records of the University’s past, largely tucked away in two huge underground caverns along the Mississippi River under the West Bank of the Twin Cities campus. If you want to learn more about this amazing collection, join the Cabinets of Curiosity tour with University Archivist Erik Moore on Wednesday, May 7, 2025 at 1 p.m. This will be a repeat of the April tour that had overflow registration.

The University of Minnesota Archives, with its major holdings largely tucked away in two huge underground caverns along the Mississippi River under the West Bank of the Twin Cities campus, holds the essential records of the University’s past. Official documents from student records to presidential appointments, yearbooks that date back to the late 19th century, manuscripts of faculty research and teaching, as well as records of sports and other non-academic activities are safely stored in acid-free boxes. When questions arise about the naming of buildings or the funds that derived from the sale of Indian lands or myriad events, University Archivist Erik Moore and his staff hunt down the relevant documents.

Moore will explain the role of the archives and bring out a sampling of what it holds, including yearbooks, printed directories, manuscripts, and fascinating artifacts that reflect the persisting yet always changing dimensions of higher education. At the end of our visit, he will conduct a tour of the Minnesota Library Access Center, the high-density storage facility in the literally cool caverns, revealing where these precious materials are housed, including the original audio tapes of KUOM, now Radio K. This tour is a special opportunity because that underground space will be closed, starting this summer, for at least a year while the book holding are being moved to a new storage facility in the Como neighborhood.

After the tour, at about 3 p.m., those who wish to socialize will meet at the nearby Town Hall Brewery.

You are invited to sign up for a May 7, 1 pm tour. Further details will be sent to all registrants a few days before the event.

If you have any questions contact Sally Gregory Kohlstedt ([email protected]) or Cathy Lee Gierke ([email protected] ).