The record for the World’s Smallest Museum was once held by a 134 square foot tourist trap in Arizona. They need to change their website domain name from worldssmallestmuseum.com to worldssecondsmallestmuseum.com – hey, not so fast. One of America’s recent tornadoes ripped through Edgar’s Closet Museum. Sad.
In 2008, sixth grade teacher Tommy Flowers created an Edgar Allan Poe museum in a 22 square foot closet at his Alabama school. Many of his student’s creations lined the black walls and shelves, along with over 1000 items (the majority bought on eBay), including plastic hearts, skulls and dozens of photos. Even though he teaches math, Flowers wanted his students to read the classics and be inspired by literature. Edgar’s Closet was an official member of the Alabama Museum Association, but it rarely got visitors, which was never important to Flowers in the first place. He only wishes more teachers would have museums in their closets. So let’s hope the “new” Edgar’s Closet and other knock-off versions open soon in schools across the world.
