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These handwritten diaries document Blair’s senior year (1890-1891) at the University of South Dakota and are set mainly in Vermillion and Elk Point, South Dakota. The collection also includes one copy of the Volante from June 15, 1891. This Volante issue covers a tumultuous time at the University and has one article by Blair.

This is an image of Dr. Karl Wegner and Dean John Day flanking a bronze bust of Governor Peter Norbeck. The bust was part of the USD Art Collection and is located in Old Main, room 118.

To honor Indigenous traditions, languages and stories during Native American Heritage Month, we are highlighting Dakota and Lakota language classes at the University of South Dakota. The newsletter of the Institute of Indian Studies recounts, “There is an interesting story behind the development of the course. It started as a topic introduced from the floor […]

The Armory, now called the Belbas Center, was the first indoor athletic building constructed in 1905 at the University of South Dakota (USD) where enrollment was 450 students. Aside from being a venue for military sciences, athletics, and physical education, it served as a place for social activities. Twenty-four years later a building was built […]

I found this great birds-eye view the of the USD campus in the Bulletin of the University of South Dakota, Announcement of the College of Medicine 1910-1911 (July 1910), Health Science Archives W 19.5 AS8 U58c. Notice how the main buildings make a u-shape. University catalogs (which were sometimes published as part of the Bulletin […]

In the summer of 1970 revered and highly respected traditional Oglala Sioux Teton chief, civic leader, and healer, Andrew Frank Fools Crow (circa 1890-1989) visited the University of South Dakota (USD) and met with students in the Upward Bound program. The purpose of the Upward Bound Program, started in 1966 at USD under the Institute […]

At the end of 1969 Usher Abell stepped down as Chair of the Department of Music at the University of South Dakota (USD), a position he held since 1952. Abell was a well-respected, talented violinist, director of the USD orchestra, and teacher of string instruments promoting music education locally and nationally. Usher Abell, Agnes Ringley, […]

Thursday, April 18, 20244:00-6:00pm IDW 3rd Floor 321Join us for refreshments, guided tours, interactive stations and guest speakers.

In 1964, the University of South Dakota (USD) student newspaper, the Volante and the Vermillion Plain Talk mentioned USD Rodeo Club activities several times. That March the club signed a contract for livestock for the upcoming fourth annual intercollegiate rodeo held in Vermillion on May 2nd and 3rd. Events those two days included a parade, […]

Constructed in 1954, the Danforth Meditation Chapel at the University of South Dakota (USD) is one of 15 university chapels funded in part by Danforth Foundation founded by William H. Danforth, owner of the Ralston Purina Company, and his wife. According to Danforth files in Buildings (USD Archives, USD Archives and Special Collections), a Corporation […]

The Archives and Special Collections recently received buttons (or pins) related to this event. For the full story of how Southern State College became the University of South Dakota/Springfield, and then a state minimum-security prison, consult the William J. Janklow papers at the Archives and Special Collections and read “Closing Time: A Twenty-Five-Year Retrospective On […]

The Shakespeare Garden, located in front of the Pardee-Estee Laboratories building at the University of South Dakota (USD), originally featured every flower, herb, and shrub mentioned in Shakespeare’s works, everything from columbine to wormwood. The USD Emeritus Club dedicated the Shakespeare Garden on April 23 (Shakespeare’s observed birthday), 1988. Over time, the original plants were […]

According to Herbert Schell’s book Clay County: Chapters Out of the Past, Chapter 15, and review of Coyote Yearbooks from the early 20th century, University of South Dakota (USD) men’s athletics boasted early on Base Ball, Track and Football teams. Little was mentioned regarding athletics among women students. Basketball at the University of South Dakota […]

On November 7, 1922, South Dakotans were asked to vote whether to move the University from Vermillion to Sioux Falls. This initiated law lost, and it had the lowest yes vote of any initiated law in the years analyzed by Alan Clem, i.e., 1889-1960 (page 35). Shown in the image are the constitutional amendments (CA) […]

The Archives and Special Collections received 31 boxes of rolled architectural drawings, floor plans, and blueprints of buildings in Vermillion SD and the University of South Dakota. We are in the process of flattening and inventorying this gift. Projects date from 1920s to 2000s. Some of the projects are the Clay County Courthouse, Vermillion public […]

Information from “U.S.D. Endowment Association.” The Alumni Quarterly 18 no. 1 (April 1922); 36-37. This publication can be found in the Archives and Special Collections.

What do you think of this great graphic expression of the University of South Dakota’s academic programs in 1982? The poster also lists the year each program starts. It was created by Wayne Knutson and is in the College of Arts and Sciences collection.

The image is from the Digital Library of South Dakota. Library of Congress sponsors #ArchivesHashtagParty once a month, and August’s topic is #ArchivesAthletes. LOC invites archives to submit tweets about athletes who broke records and barriers, famous sites for training and competition, patents for sport equipment, or historic moments that still give you goosebumps.

What is more embarrassing than a Belch in the library? In the library a Belch rumbles through the corridors. It booms in the shocked silence. It echoes extra loudly. It startles the people and everybody looks at you, some disapproving, over the tops of their glasses and some laughing, behind their books, at […]

List from Knutson, Wayne S. “A story of faith and endurance: The University of South Dakota.” In From idea to institution: higher education in South Dakota, edited by Herbert T. Hoover et al, page 32. Vermillion, SD: University of South Dakota Press, 1989, call number LA364.5 .F76 1989. name date of initial appointment academic areas […]