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This blog presents information about Institute of American Indian Studies Photograph Collection . Photographs range from the late 1880s to 2004 associated with IAIS directors, activities and Native American leaders.

Help us transcribe our collections! https://fromthepage.com/usdarchives FromThePage is a software designed for transcribing documents. The platform enables users to view an image of a page and transcribe the corresponding text. More information https://libguides.usd.edu/fromthepage Questions? Email us at library@usd.edu Recently our work in FromThePage was featured on KTIV news. https://www.ktiv.com/2026/01/13/becoming-digital-archivist-vermillion-libraries-seek-volunteers-h

First started by fur traders, Dakota Territory trading posts provided places for patrons to meet, have a drink of whiskey or two, purchase items needed for everyday living or work, obtain jobs, get a room for the night, or obtain a ride to another town. Cuthbert DuCharme (“Old Pap”), a French-Canadian fur trader, arrived in […]

Digital Images of “Indians of North America, Prisoners of War Series”, Chilson Collection (https://explore.digitalsd.org/digital/collection/chilson/search/searchterm/Bailey%2C%20Dix%20%26%20Mead/field/contra/mode/exact/conn/and/page/1 William Richard (W. R.) Cross was born in Vermont in 1839. He learned photography from his brother Daniel Cross who was a Union Civil War photographer. In 1867, W. R. Cross moved to Omaha, Nebraska, and married Jennie Church. Subsequently, they

The I. D. Weeks Library hosts its digital collections in the Digital Library of South Dakota. Highlighted here is Andreas’ Historical Atlas of Dakota, published by A. T. Andreas in Chicago in 1884, and is part of the Herman P. Chilson Collection of Western Americana. The term “atlas” refers to a collection of maps. This […]

Bobby Penn graduated with a BFA from the University of South Dakota in 1974. While at USD and after his graduation, Penn worked as an art instructor and illustrator. Beginning in 1986, he pursued his painting career full-time. Penn lived and worked in Vermillion, South Dakota until his death in 1999. Penn’s work is in […]

Southern Dakota was one of the first railroads in Dakota Territory, and the first to successfully operate in the area that would become the state of South Dakota. The tracks began in Sioux City in 1872 and reached Vermillion, Dakota Territory at the end of that year. In 1873, the tracks were completed to Yankton, Dakota […]

On April 23, 1884, Arbor Day, students at the University [of South Dakota] planted a silver maple tree. One hundred years later on April 26, 1984, students and USD alumni celebrated the centennial birthday of South Dakota’s largest silver maple tree by planting 125 trees around campus. In an unfortunate storm on October 24, 1997, […]

When did the USD football team play Notre Dame? 1913-1917 Information from The history of intercollegiate football, basketball, track, and baseball at the State University of South Dakota, Richard T. Haase, USD M.A. thesis. Consult Haase’s thesis to find out if USD beat Norte Dame and when. Image of USD football team from Digital Library […]

Dr. Frances Kelsey. In 1960, while at the Food and Drug Administration, she refused to approve release of thalidomide in the United States due to inadequate testing. For a portrait of Dr. Kelsey at the University of South Dakota, see the Digital Library of South Dakota.

The national woman suffrage story ultimately became a success because of the success of suffragists at the state and local levels. Next year, as we celebrate a century since the ratification of the 19th Amendment, it is important to remember the significance of the state and local stories as well. Simultaneously the most fun and […]

maps from: Illustrated Historical Atlas of Clay County, South Dakota : Including a Brief History of Clay County by E. Frank Peterson, 1901. Standard Atlas of Clay County, South Dakota : Including a Plat Book of the Villages, Cities and Townships of the County, Map of the State United States and World, Patrons Directory, Reference […]

Archives and Special Collections recently received a 1925 report about the Standing Rock Reservation written by E.D. Mossman for a visiting congressional committee. Shown below is one of the pages from this report. [Update: Report to the members of the visiting Congressional Committee regarding the Standing Rock Indian Agency, Fort Yates, North Dakota has now […]

Archives and Special Collections is pleased to announce that a small selection of material from the Larry Pressler Papers has been digitized and is now available in the Digital Library of South Dakota. These documents have been selected to coincide with the recent publication of Senator Pressler’s book, Neighbours in Arms: An American Senator’s Quest […]

The Archives and Special Collections has this book in the Oscar Howe Papers: O. H. Bonnell, Translation of the Sioux Indian Language into English: figures, money, definitions, words, sentences, &c. Chamberlain, Dakota Territory: Democrat Print. 1880. 8 pages. 19 cm. [Update: Translation of the Sioux Indian language into English; Figures, money definitions, words, sentences, etc. […]

The Archives and Special Collections has recently digitized Pierre Baillot’s Methode de violon from the Mahoney Music Collection. This French treatise was published in 1793 with contributions from Pierre Rode and Rodolphe Kreutzer. It can be viewed, with a number of other treatises from the collection, on the Digital Library of South Dakota.

The following collections in the Archives and Special Collections have content about the U.S. Military. Army Specialized Training Programs – WWII Austin, Horace – Civil War Beede Family – 1st Dakota Cavalry Bellamy, Paul E. – Spanish-American War Burton, Frederick – WWII Civil War Diary, Union Soldier, 1861-1863 Civilian Aeronautics Administration, USD Training Program, 1939-1945 […]

Well, all of the University Herbarium specimens collected by W.H. Over have been photographed and put back into their proper folders/cabinets. Altogether, we photographed 1,154 specimens! Now we are working on metadata and digital specifications in order to upload the photos, batch by batch, onto the Digital Library of South Dakota. We’ll start the upload […]