All Posts

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.

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 […]

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, […]

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 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 […]

Kent Scribner Collection (MS 270) is now open to researchers. This newly processed collection consists of the campus events from Scribner’s time as a University of South Dakota undergraduate student from 1956-1960. The other part of the collection consists of Scribner’s work at the USD Foundation mostly with the capital campaign named Campaign South Dakota. […]

Betty Turner Asher was the first woman president of any public higher education system in South Dakota. She served at USD from 1989-1996, resigning after seven years of service. At the time, her tenure was tied with two other presidents for the fourth longest term of any president at USD. Asher was previously the Vice […]

Freshmen Initiation Friday, September 19, 1913, otherwise known as Black Friday, the newly acquired graduating class of 1917, gathered outside of Main Hall (today one could assume they meant Old Main) promptly at 7:30 pm to begin their journey through the time honored tradition of hazing the incoming freshmen. Though this practice has gone by the […]

The Faculty Woman’s Club collection has been processed and is available for research. The Faculty Woman’s Club was a group at USD that was formed for female faculty members and wives of professors. On a program cover letter from September 21, 1954, program chairwoman Edith M. Eyres states that the Faculty Woman’s Club’s “purpose is […]

Once again, Dakota Days has come. Though the festivities have begun early in the week, the parade is still an exciting highlight of Game Day. A screaming sea of red and white converges upon the Dome to cheer the Coyotes to victory. One lucky girl is crowned Miss Dakota. In the evening, merry USD students […]

Preliminary List of USD Campus Projects 1997-2011 For my first project as a volunteer at the University of South Dakota archives, I compiled a list of building projects that occurred from 1997-2011. This list will be added to for use in the Buildings, Other Structures, and Utilities collection at the archives. The main resource for […]

The Delzell Education Center sits where a small lake once existed? According to the Dedication for the School of Education Building (1963), Due to the type of soil it was necessary to drive 271 wooden pilings to a depth of about 35 feet. These wooden pilings, which are creosoted and approximately the size of large […]