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About Our Museum

First opened as a natural history museum in 1874, the University Museum at Southern Illinois University Carbondale has evolved into a teaching museum that represents the humanities, the sciences and the arts. While our focus is on southern Illinois, our humanities collection includes ethnographic materials that allow us to share the world with a diverse campus and a region that is isolated from urban centers. With roughly 70,000 objects in our care, the University Museum captures and illuminates the human story, opening a window on who we are and where we came from. 

FALL 2019 DAYS AND HOURS

Free and open to all.

Tuesdays–Fridays: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays: 1 to 4 p.m.

Closed: Sundays, Mondays, and University Holidays

Public metered parking available across from the Student Center and beside Woody Hall.

Animal figureSchedule of Events

North Hall

  • Continuum Gallery - Charles Swedlund photograph exhibit of various caves in the region
  • Mitchell Gallery - Charles Swedlund photograph exhibit
  • Atrium - Charles Swedlund photograph exhibit

South Hall

  • Appleknockers Customs
  • Moments of Merriment
  • Fashion & Style: The Work of Our Hands
  • Carl W. Lutes Gallery - collection of Renaissance and later furniture, tapestries and works of art
  • Southern Illinois Gallery - history of Southern Illinois region from pre-historic to the 20th century