1996, the school was known as Northeast Missouri State University.
== History ==
Truman State University was founded in 1867 by Joseph Baldwin as the "North Missouri Normal School and Commercial College". Baldwin was a pioneer in education, and his school quickly gained official recognition in 1870 by the Missouri General Assembly, which designated it as the "First District Normal School", the first public teachers' college in Missouri.
The school served a district comprising 26 counties: including Adair, Audrain, Boone, Callaway, Chariton, Clark, Howard, Knox, Lewis, Lincoln, Linn, Marion, Macon, Monroe, Montgomery, Pike, Putnam, Ralls, Randolph, St. Charles, Schuyler, Scotland, Shelby, Sullivan, and Warren.
Purple and white were adopted as the school's official colors after Basil Brewer wrote a school song entitled "The Purple and the White." They have remained as the school colors since.
In 1919, the school was renamed "Northeast Missouri State Teachers College". For the next four decades, it was commonly …
