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We found a self-recorded 78 phonograph dated 1949 in our USD Phonograph collection. It was in Modern Electric Co.’s. bag. Did Modern Electric or the University of South Dakota have the equipment needed to record onto a blank phonograph?

Incipit laus Sancti Bernardi Abatis; Laus de Virgine Maria: Ave mater misericordie may be the oldest book in the Archives and Special Collections. I found this description of the book on a sheet of letterhead paper tucked into the book: “Manuscript on paper, written in a fine formal book hand. 28 lines. 12 leaves (the […]

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

Charles Burney’s and John Hawkins’s multi-volume histories were both published in London in the late 1700s (around 1776.) How are they different, and how are they similar? Why did the authors say negative comments about the other’s history?

Dr. Cable received B.A. (1926) and M.A. (1927) degrees from the University of South Dakota. She worked for the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries, later called the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, from 1927 to 1970.

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, […]

These are in the Archives and Special Collections. In the I.D. Weeks Library are the reports of the South Dakota Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights. The earliest one in the library is dated March 1963 and is about discrimination against Black airmen (especially with housing, restaurants, and bars) in Rapid […]

I would eat a cake decorated to look like concrete letters surrounded by green bushes. How about you? Click here for the location and history of the University of South Dakota hillside letters, This year marks the 162nd anniversary of the establishment of the University by the first Dakota Territory Legislature in 1862, 141th anniversary […]

La Chirurgie: Codex Sloane 1977 is a full color facsimile of a unique 13th century illuminated French medical atlas. At first glance, it looks like a medieval graphic novel. Many of its 28 pages contain a three panel by three panel grid of framed scenes with human figures on alternating blue and red background.. The […]

In 2026, the United States of America will observe its 250th anniversary. We will be searching our Archives and Special Collections for material to highlight the creation of the USA. So far, we have found material related to the Bicentennial. Contact us if you have suggestions. Follow this link for more information about Buell’s map.

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 archivist and the staff of the Archives and Special Collections write guides to our collections, papers, and records called finding aids. These are the finding aids we finished during October, November, and December 2023: Cathy Beard Correspondence with Linda Hasselstrom Beresford Train Depot records Tom Brokaw papers Bulow House records John Davidson Missouri River […]

Our bugs are symbols of a US presidential campaign and/or a federal monetary policy. Do you know which one? Check out the political ephemera in papers we have from various politicians. They often highlight issues important at that time.

The experiences and education offered by University of South Dakota (USD) provided springboards for hundreds of students to achieve world class accomplishments. One such student who took full advantage of USD was Ken Adlam Bode, from Hawarden, Iowa. According to the Coyote yearbook Bode attended USD majored in political science and philosophy, and graduated in […]

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 […]

In the summer of 1959, the W. H. Over Museum, founded in 1883, was situated in the basement of Slagle Hall., Dr. Wesley Hurt, director of the museum was also an associate professor of anthropology at the University of South Dakota. In 1957, according to the newsletter: Museum News (Vol 18 #7, part of the Chilson […]

If you have wondered what it is like to work in an archive, here is an opportunity to do one of our common tasks, which is researching for dates of undated material. Help us research when the attached maps were made. One way to assign dates to the maps would be to read an USD […]

One of DP’s favorite items in the Archives and Special Collections is this oblique map of South Dakota. It is a favorite because geographical information expressed in this slanted or skewed method is less common than a vertical overhead view, especially before computer mapping software. The map title is Physical Features State of South Dakota. […]