University Museum Collection

The University Museum is currently closed.

Stories in the Seams: the Tales Clothes Tell

Highlights from the Irma G. Bowen Historic Clothing Collection Digital Catalog
If you enjoyed our exhibit, Stories in the Seams: the Tales Clothes Tell you can explore hundreds of images of the Irma G. Bowen Historic Clothing Collection in our Digital Collections.

List of past exhibits

About the University Museum Collection

Curator Phil Wilcox established the museum in 1966 as a one-room exhibit space in the UNH Field House. Over the next decade the museum expanded into five rooms before closing in 1977. In 1990, an endowment created by several alumni class gifts led to the reopening of the museum in a temporary space in Thompson Hall. It became a part of Special Collections and moved to the newly renovated Dimond Library in 1998.

The museum’s collection includes UNH memorabilia that highlights the growth and development of the institution, while reflecting changes in college life at UNH. The collection also includes the Irma G. Bowen Historic Clothing Collection.

UNH alumni endowment from the classes of 1932, 1937, and 1958, as well as the E. Ruth Buxton Stephenson Memorial Fund, continue to support the museum’s exhibitions and programming mission.