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The University of South Dakota (USD) Photography Collections contains hundreds of images depicting floats, bands, celebrities, politicians, and USD presidents during Dakota Day parades. In the 1950s elaborate Dakota Day floats constructed by fraternities, sororities, independent student groups, and clubs took considerable effort to build and used that year’s theme to convey a message, usually […]

Contact the Archives and Special Collections to read this entire poem about a hummingbird by Milford E. Shields in Lakota (translation by Wallace Little Finger), English, and an unidentified language. Poem from collection Milford E. Shields, “The Hummingbird”.

Some events are listed in this flyer from the Archives and Special Collection’s folder on the South Dakota State Fair.

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 […]

Is the figure chemistry related? The building was finished in 1915 and in 1957-1958, the building was repaired after a fire. It is now called the Pardee Estee Laboratory, and its current entrance features a chemistry-themed tile mural on the wall above the door. USD Photograph Collection contains many images of buildings on campus. These […]

“This book was created by the participants of the Oscar Howe Summer Art Institute held at the University of South Dakota in June 2004. This is number 17 of an edition of 24.” It contains fourteen b&w 14 x 14 cm linoleum prints. Its call number is SPECIAL BOOKS N7433.35 .U6 2004.

Images are from the South Dakota State Fair Collection, Archives and Special Collections, University of South Dakota. Also in this collection is a list of the 1923 Women’s Building events at the fair. The National Archives sponsors #ArchivesHashtagParty once a month, and July’s topic is #ArchivesVacay. They invite archives to submit information about summer vacation […]

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 […]

This sports extravaganza was held from June 22 to July 6, 1919, near Paris, France for the officers and men who had been in the Allied armies in WWI. They competed in 19 events in the Pershing Stadium and 4 events outside of the stadium. Special events for the military forces still occupying German territory […]

Caption on photograph is “Ben shooting the V.R. [Vermillion River] rapids. Image from University of South Dakota Photograph Collection and Digital Library of South Dakota. Identifier PO5878.

This collection is mainly correspondence about the Academy’s 1928-1930 annual meetings. The letters and programs make a stack of papers about an inch thick. This is one of the most fun collections I have processed. Members are so excited to tell each other what is new in science. At their 1928 banquet, they saw a […]

Several items from the 1893 Columbian World’s Fair South Dakota Building are at the University of South Dakota, but not the very large visitor’s register. The photograph is from South Dakota at the World’s Fair. The Commission, 1894. The book with this photograph and other books about world fairs and expositions are in the Archives […]

William H. Thomas was born on August 1, 1877, at Dodgeville, WI. He enlisted in the 1st South Dakota Volunteer Infantry Company C on May 14, 1898, at Yankton, SD as a private, and he mustered out on October 5, 1899, at the Presidio, San Francisco, CA. His military papers state that he lived in […]

In the late 1900s to the mid-twentieth century tuberculosis (TB) increased the morbidity and mortality of South Dakota residents especially those confined to asylums, hospitals, and reservations. A marked decrease in cases and deaths occurred by isolating TB patients in sanatoria, better diagnosis methods, and with the advent of chemotherapy agents by the late 1950s. […]

This is a 1943 drawing of the Pi Beta Phi Sorority House in Vermillion, South Dakota. I am unrolling and flattening one tube of drawings and floorplans every week and am hoping to have this donation ready for researchers next year.

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 […]

Are you interested in the Migratory Bird Conservation Act of February 18, 1929? Peter Norbeck, while he was an U.S. senator from South Dakota, sponsored this bill, and his efforts are detailed in the Peter Norbeck papers located in the Archives and Special Collections. Map from the Peter Norbeck papers.

While working on the University of South Dakota (USD) Photograph Collection: Historical Series, I noted an image of a house labelled Home Management House. With some research, I discovered that the Home Management House was used as part of the Home Economics curriculum from 1957 through the spring semester of 1966 for senior level students. […]

Southern Dakota was one of the first railroads in Dakota Territory, and the first to successfully operate in the area that would become the state of South Dakota. The tracks began in Sioux City in 1872 and reached Vermillion, Dakota Territory at the end of that year. In 1873, the tracks were completed to Yankton, Dakota […]