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We are honored to have a collection of Vietnam War veterans’ oral history transcripts in the Archives and Special Collections. This collection contains interviews with 33 veterans from central South Dakota gathered between September 1984 and December 1985. “Their service in Southeast Asia spans 1961 through 1975 and covers a wide variety of combat and […]

The Archives and Special Collections has acquired Cuthbert DuCharme’s (also known as Old Papineau) trading post ledger. The post was located along the Missouri River and the military road near present-day Geddes, South Dakota. The ledger covers the years 1869 to 1872. For information on DuCharme see John Andrews et al, South Dakota Outlaws and […]

The Archives and Special Collections has a small collection of General Land Office maps. The Black Hills maps are supplemental plats, extension surveys, and dependent resurveys with dates between 1927 and 1932. They show mineral surveys, mine names, homestead entry surveys, homesteader names, forest reserves, sections with subdivisions, surveyor names and sometimes relief. The Cheyenne […]

This year will mark the 175th anniversary of the death of the legendary violinist Nicoló Paganini. Regarded as the most famous violinist of all time, Paganini is remembered in history for his supreme virtuosity and technique, but his life is also shadowed in mystery and lore. Born in 1782, Paganini spent most of his childhood in Genoa, […]

The Archives and Special Collections has a collection of 386 maps that we believe are associated with the Great Depression federal relief programs. All the maps are identified to a town or county in South Dakota. Most indicate the type of project they are associated with, such as street surfacing. Most have dates from 1939 […]

Charles Hall Dillon was South Dakota’s representative to the U.S. Congress 1913-1919. He was also a delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1900 and 1908, a member of the state senate 1903-1911, and an associate justice of the state supreme court 1922-1926. He was born near Jasper, Indiana in 1853 and died in […]

“Joseph [William Lincoln] Parmley [1861-1940] wore many hats during his career – homesteader, stockman, publisher, real-estate agent, politician, promoter of Missouri River development, and advocate of world peace. He is best remembered, however, for his work for good roads in South Dakota and his role in creating the Yellowstone Trail (United State Highway 12).” […]

The Archives and Special Collections invites you to view our display featuring military-related pieces from the William J. Janklow Papers. Items now on display include: • Marine Corps Jacket, two USMC lapel pins, and business cards from Governor and Congress • Longlive Friendship Plaque, gifted to Janklow by the Republic of […]

Image from the Albert Sidney Frost papers. He was a colonel in the 1st Regiment, South Dakota Volunteers while they were in the Philippines for the Spanish American War.

In addition to books, magazines, pamphlets, and ephemera, the Mahoney Music Collection also contains unpublished material, such as: All About Violin Varnish : Its Manufacture And Application. Gould, John A. Illustrations To Old Violins And Their Value Fleming, James M. John Gould’s Violin Instrument Appraisals – 1945-1984 Gould, John Sur Sylvestre, […]

Did you know that the Archives and Special Collections has a time capsule? It was filled with items related to the centennial of the University of South Dakota and is scheduled to be opened in 2082.

The Herman P. Chilson Collection of Western Americana, located in the Archives and Special Collections, includes books, journals, maps, pamphlets, and other print materials relating to local histories, South Dakota history, Native American cultures, and United States western expansion. The Chilson Collection is cataloged and information about items in the collection can be found using […]

During the 1940s to the 1960s, Vermillion hosted a vibrant set of concerts sponsored by the Vermillion Community Artists’ Series. The following description is from one of its programs: “The annual concert program was inaugurated in 1947 when Arthur H. Whittemore and Jack Lowe, duo-pianists, presented a concert to establish the A. H. Whittemore Memorial […]

American History in the Mahoney Music Collection This week we celebrate the birth of our nation, with this Friday marking the 238th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Throughout those two centuries, music has played a key role in shaping our American culture, and the Mahoney Music Collection is lucky to hold some of the […]

The Archives and Special Collections invites you to check out our new display featuring pieces from the Mahoney Music Collection. Items now on display in front of the Archives include: Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 1st edition The Strad, Vol. 1 Portraits of Musical Celebrities, from Steinway & Sons (showing a testimonial from […]

John Phillip Sousa is widely known in the world of music as the “March King.” Yet, his prolific compositional career included operettas, songs, and suites in addition to the more famous 135 individual marches: Stars and Stripes Forever, The Washington Post, Semper Fidelis, The Liberty Bell, Minnesota March, et al. Sousa was more than an […]

This cartobibliography consists of eighteenth and nineteenth century maps housed in the Archives and Special Collections Department of the University Libraries at the University of South Dakota. The maps selected focus on the Northern Great Plains with special emphasis on South Dakota. Also included are select maps of Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Iowa, and Nebraska. Entries […]

A Postcard Collection from the University of South Dakota’s Archives The USD Archives and Special Collections is home to many unique holdings from South Dakota’s past. This on-line exhibit, Greetings from South Dakota, is a compilation of 27 postcards rendering images from throughout the state. As a part of our Chilson Collection, this group of […]

Introduction: Emmy-nominated screenwriter Dorothy Cooper Foote was born in Vermillion, SD in 1911. She was also a USD alum who graduated in 1933 with a degree in journalism. After moving to California, she soon began to work her way up the ranks at Universal Studios. Under the name Dorothy Cooper, she wrote such films as […]

A Brief Introduction Being a music performance major besides being a bibliophile, I was elated to begin working with the Mahoney Music Collection this semester. One of the first projects assigned to me was to find books to potentially be digitized in the next project, after treatises and Lyon & Healey catalogues. They were to […]