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Even his wife Eleanor did not know what was in it. In her cookbook, she described the dressing as having a tangy flavor all its own. George McGovern was an US senator from South Dakota and the Democratic Party presidential nominee 50 years ago in the 1972 presidential election. This cookbook is in the Chilson […]

Eastern part of SD was in Iowa Territory 1838–1846. Eastern part of SD was in Minnesota Territory 1849–1858. Western part of SD was in Nebraska Territory 1854–1861. SD was entirely in Dakota Territory 1861-1889. The original boundaries of Dakota Territory are shown on the first map below. The final boundaries are shown in the second […]

The following summary is from the guide to his papers at the Archives and Special Collections: Frank L. Farrar was born April 2, 1929, in Britton, South Dakota. Farrar was the only Governor of South Dakota who was also elected governor at South Dakota Boys State. He attended and graduated from the University of South […]

It was south and west of Yankton, Dakota Territory. This 1872 map can be viewed in the Archives and Special Collections. Map of Military Department of the Platte, Nebraska. Washington, D.C.: Engineer Dept., U.S. Army (Washington D.C. : N. Peters, Photo-lithographer), 1872. CHILSON COLLECTION MAP 4190 W728 1872

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.

Map of the Ceded Part of Dakota Territory: Showing Also Portions of Minnesota, Iowa & Nebraska, Smith, B. M., et al, 1861. Archives and Special Collection has this map in the Chilson Collection with the call number 4130 S64 1861. The inset map in the upper left corner shows the entire Dakota Territory and its boundaries.

The atlases contained information on routes, hotels, gas stations, car repair shops, road conditions (including which roads to avoid when it is muddy and which roads had sharp turns). The ads in the book are beautiful and informative about car culture. Volume Ten is in the Archives and Special Collections. Library of Congress sponsors #ArchivesHashtagParty […]

Lulu (Mrs. E.P.) Wanzer may have been the first. She was from Armour, SD and was active in public health and the State Board of Health. A state summer camp for children was named Camp Wanzer in her honor. She was appointed to the BOR in January 1931 and served until her death in August […]

Salute to Oscar Micheaux, who homesteaded near Gregory (SD) before becoming a film maker and author. The Archives and Special Collections at USD has many books by and about him. Books by Micheaux in the Herman P. Chilson Collection of Americana: Micheaux, Oscar. The Conquest: The Story of a Negro Pioneer. Lincoln, Nebr.: Woodruff Press, […]

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 […]

In recognition of Florence Nightingale’s 200th birthday and her contributions to health, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared 2020 as the “Year of the Nurse and Midwife”. This post is a continuation of another post that focused on midwives. Nurses have gone from being regarded as a menial profession to a respected field of study. […]

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 […]

Some of South Dakota first ladies (i.e. governors’ wives) are described in the Tidbits sections of the South Dakota governors residence cookbook: a culinary legacy celebrating the first families of South Dakota, 2007. Margaret Wylie Mellette “was a china painter and portrait painter and was the hostess at the South Dakota Building at the 1893 Columbia […]

I recently found the note below in a book called The People’s Problem and Its Solution by William H. Lyon and copyrighted in 1886. This book was published by the author and printed by Press Job Print, Sioux Falls, Dakota Territory. The note is: “Please accept this work with the complements of the author. It […]

Growing up just a half hour away from Mt. Rushmore, I can tell you that the beauty and grandeur is as great as the hype about it is. Though as a Rapid City native I have not visited the monument as often as one would guess, really I can count on my hands and feet […]

The Archives and Special Collections has a small collection on the USS South Dakota. These images are from that collection. There have been 2 naval ships named after South Dakota and a new one will be joining the fleet in 2017. The middle one of these three was a battleship that served during WWII. The […]

Beginning to work at the Archives and Special Collections department at USD’s I.D. Weeks Library seemed to be a little mysterious at first. What would I find in that special back room? Will I be putting books back on shelves all day? Will I be able to listen to music?! These concerns were alive and […]

The Chilson Collection of Western Americana has many Dakota Territory and South Dakota books and journals and a few surprises. I found this early South Dakota chronology in The Monthly South Dakotan, March 1899, vol. 1 no. 11, pages 191-193. May contain offensive language.

The South Dakota Oral History Project’s first year was described in a 1970 South Dakota History article. “This past summer an oral history project was inaugurated in South Dakota. Five thousand dollars was funded by the state legislature at the request of Dayton Canaday, State Historian, and Professor Joseph Cash of the University of South Dakota. Professor Cash and Mr. Canaday suggested to the state legislature that a project be initiated among white settlers while reminis

The Archives and Special Collections has the Map of the Missouri River: from its mouth to Three Forks, Montana, published by the Missouri River Commission in 1892-1895 on eighty-four sheets plus nine index sheets. With this mapping expedition, “modern mapping had arrived, and the river was now mapped with precision from its mouth to Three […]