[1] The museum is dedicated to preserving and displaying South Dakota cultural and historical objects.

Another objective is to maintain an inventory of research works and files.

The museum was founded in 1883, established by the University of South Dakota.

[1] It is named for W. H. Over, who is credited or blamed for excavating the Ludlow Cave, an archeological site of great importance, probably the most significant in the state, which had a wealth of projectile points and much more.

It was excavated with poor methods, including possible accidental mixture of projectile points from other sites/cultures/eras into its collection.