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The following is a personal recollection by Dephane Hammond about a WWI fund-raising event that she attended in 1918 while she was teaching high school students in Salem, South Dakota. “We had been in session only a little while and one day they unloaded a small tank with a couple of soldiers to get people […]

For a time prospects for a park and artificial lake under a W.P.A. grant generated much interest in the southern part of the county. The idea first emerged in 1933 as a modest project involving a grant of $8,000 for work-relief purposes. During the following year the concept grew in proportion to culminate in a […]

The Royal Harders diary was recently added to the Chilson Collection in the Archives and Special Collections. Royal grew up close to Mission Hill (SD). In his diary, he describes his daily activities while in military training in the United States during World War II.

The following collections in the Archives and Special Collections have information about the Pathfinder Atomic Power Plant: Ralph Herseth papers, box 61 Herbert Samuel Schell Papers, box 17

On June 16, 2025, Dorothy Neuhaus passed away at the age of 101 years. Before coming to Vermillion, Dorothy was a scientist who had received a master’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Michigan. In 1966, Dorthy came to Vermillion with her husband, Otto Neuhaus, Ph.D. who was chair of the Department of Biochemistry […]

In preparation for July 4, 2026, the Archives and Special Collections staff are searching our collections for items related to the signing of the Declaration of Independence, previous anniversary celebrations, or the five research themes suggested by the American Association for State and Local History. (See 10-18-2024 blog post.) During United States’ Bicentennial celebration, a […]

cover of USD commencement program

A copy of the Declaration of Independence from the Allen H. Schell Collection of Campaign Buttons, Pins, and Political Ephemera, box 19.

The Mahoney Music Collection covers a wide range of musical subjects. Within the subject of musical instruments — construction is an unusual set of books, the Hough’s Encyclopaedia of American Woods. While the 1957 set in the Mahoney Music Collection is not complete, a complete set has 16 two-ring binders with samples of wood and […]

In the spring of 1927, U.S. Representative William Williamson found himself engaged in a local struggle between Republicans and businessmen over the McLaughlin Postmaster seat.

Our first issue of FromthePage Newsletter is now available. See what we are doing with transcription projects. https://libguides.usd.edu/fromthepage/newsletter

The University of South Dakota Archives and Special Collections has finished publishing an online finding aid for Albert J. Maag.

In preparation for July 4, 2026, the Archives and Special Collections staff are searching our collections for items related to the signing of the Declaration of Independence, previous anniversary celebrations, or the five research themes suggested by the American Association for State and Local History. Our latest find is a souvenir from the United States’ […]

While researching another topic, I recently found in a 1975 Volante student newspaper that the League of Women Voters established an all-volunteer recycling center in Vermillion SD, and it was in a restructured building below the bluff. The article does not mention when. If you know when this recycling center started and stopped, please let […]

“Filibuster is an extended debate, generally in the United States Senate, which, because of its rules, allows unlimited debate for those who can count votes well enough to know that their side will lose should a vote be taken on an issue.” Sen. James G. Abourezk (D-Sd.) In the 1970s the United States faced and […]

The Special Olympics, created in 1968, provides year-round sports training and athletic competition for special needs children and adults. The program was originally sponsored by the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation. Accreditation of programs in the United States was authorized by the founder of the Special Olympics, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, sister of Rose Kennedy who […]

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 […]

The South Dakota Oral History Project is transcribing thousands of digitized interviews to enhance accessibility and citation accuracy. The transcription process includes multiple listen-throughs for correcting grammar and understanding speech patterns, ensuring speakers’ voices are preserved. This meticulous approach culminates in a final review, promoting continuous growth in transcription skills.

Sperry, Kip. Reading Early American Handwriting. Genealogical Pub. Co., 1998. RICHARDSON COLLECTION Z115.A5 R43 1998.

The archivist and staff of the Archives and Special Collections write guides to our collections, papers, and records called finding aids and collection inventories. Some of the finding aids and collection inventories finished during 2024: Crow Creek Site collection Day (John) collection on Arthur Amiotte Fahsing (William Frederick) papers Gallup-Livingston (Mary) papers Holm (Richard) notebook […]