Charles H. Templeton, Sr. Music Collection

The late Charles H. Templeton, Sr. was a Starkville, Mississippi businessman who loved music from an early age. Templeton was a member of the Mississippi State College Famous Maroon Band. He graduated from MSU in 1949. Templeton began collecting musical instruments and players in the 1950s and over the next 40 years, he combined business and music to build one of the largest collections of instruments, recordings, and sheet music in the United States, calling this collection “The Business of Music.” He donated the collection to Mississippi State University in 1987, and the Libraries took possession of the items in 2000 and began a decades long endeavor to make Mr. Templeton’s collection available to the world.

Many of the items from the collection are on display in the Charles H. Templeton, Sr. Music Museum in Mitchell Memorial Library.

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Browse the Charles H. Templeton, Sr. Music Collection:

Charles H. Templeton, Sr. Ragtime Festival

Cylinder Recording Collection

Gatsby Gala

Instrument Collection

Sheet Music Collection