[1] Instead of standard textbook instruction Mrs. Trowbridge envisioned an interactive learning experience where students would collect oral histories from the people of Adair County and the larger northeast Missouri area.

In the summer of 1980, realizing that the stories written and interviews conducted during the class year should be preserved and published for the general public to enjoy, Mrs. Trowbridge and student volunteers compiled and edited the first issue of The Chariton Collector, which was released in Fall, 1980.

[3] A typical issue might include the famous, like author Lester Dent and circus impresario William Preston Hall, or the unknown like local basket weavers and former residents of a coal mining camp.

All stories and photographs from each of the eighteen issues were scanned and placed online for free use by the general public via the website of Truman State's Pickler Memorial Library.

Additionally, Kirksville High School donated interview tapes, transcripts, and photographs associated with The Chariton Collector to Pickler Libraries' Special Collections department.