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Archives and Special Collections recently processed a collection of South Dakota Academy of Science papers.
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 […]
Doris Peterson
May 12, 20231 min read
Look at the size of those books (and the cute baby)! #ArchivesBabies
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 […]
Doris Peterson
May 5, 20231 min read
Archives and Special Collections recently processed the William H. Thomas papers, who was a US soldier in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War.
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 […]
Doris Peterson
Apr 26, 20231 min read
University of South Dakota President I. D. Weeks and the South Dakota Tuberculosis Association
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. […]
Kyle Gruhn
Apr 13, 20233 min read
Found this beauty while unpacking an architectural drawings and blueprints donation to the Archives and Special Collections
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.
Doris Peterson
Mar 17, 20231 min read
University of South Dakota Women’s Basketball: 1900s
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 […]
Kyle Gruhn
Mar 2, 20232 min read
Migratory Bird Conservation Act
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.
Doris Peterson
Feb 7, 20231 min read
The Home Management House
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. […]
Kyle Gruhn
Jan 26, 20232 min read
The railroad reached Vermillion 150 years ago.
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 […]
Doris Peterson
Jan 3, 20231 min read
Harold Edwin Brookman: A Beloved Engineering Professor
Harold Edwin Brookman was born on November 5, 1886, in Vermillion, Dakota Territory. He was the oldest of four sons born to Edwin and Anna Brookman. St. Claire Edwin (S.E.) Brookman and his twin brother Edgar were born in 1855 in New York and arrived in Vermillion in the early 1880s. The Brookman twins were […]
Kyle Gruhn
Dec 28, 20223 min read
South Dakota Governor Richard Kneip laying a wreath on December 29, 1971, in observance of the anniversary of the massacre at Wounded Knee.
Archives and Special Collections recently received 4 photographs of this observance.
Doris Peterson
Dec 21, 20221 min read
The 1950s to mid-1960s: University of South Dakota’s Building Boom and the Chesterfield Cigarette Salesman
As part of my work in Archives and Special Collections, I reviewed negatives and photographs from the mid-1950’s to mid-1960’s. Many images illustrated athletic events predominately football and basketball, although there were a few images of Dolphins, the women’s synchronized swimming team. Several images were associated with Dakota Day (D-Day) events including parades down Main […]
Kyle Gruhn
Dec 7, 20224 min read
Here’s a glittery book for #ArchivesSparkle.
Our book must have been striking when it was new in 1892 with its bright red velvet covers and shiny metal filigree corner embellishments. Title is Perlen aus der Instrumenten-Sammlung von Paul de Wit, Leipzig, published in 1892 and is in our Mahoney Music Collection. The English title is Pearls from the instrument collection of […]
Doris Peterson
Dec 2, 20221 min read
Politicians for Dakota Territory and South Dakota
On this election day, Archives and Special Collections has added a list of Dakota Territory’s governors and delegates and a list of South Dakota’s governors, U.S. senators, and U.S. representatives to its online site. If you notice any misspellings or other errors, please let us know. The link will take you to: The location of […]
Doris Peterson
Nov 8, 20221 min read
The University of South Dakota was on the South Dakota ballot in 1922.
On November 7, 1922, South Dakotans were asked to vote whether to move the University from Vermillion to Sioux Falls. This initiated law lost, and it had the lowest yes vote of any initiated law in the years analyzed by Alan Clem, i.e., 1889-1960 (page 35). Shown in the image are the constitutional amendments (CA) […]
Doris Peterson
Nov 1, 20221 min read
The mystery of the handwritten recipe
I found this handwritten recipe in a cookbook in the Archives and Special Collections. What does it make? Who put it there? Does cathup equal ketchup? Is there still shredded wheat in the breakfast food aisle? I must use it soon and find out what it makes. Meatloaf? Meatloaf Appreciation Day is October 18th. The […]
Doris Peterson
Oct 17, 20221 min read
The Forgotten Pool
The Forgotten Pool Few people remember a pool in the 1929 newly constructed two-story armory and gymnasium building at the University of South Dakota (USD). The New Armory, as the building was called, was designed by renowned Sioux Falls architects Hugill and Blatherwick to serve two purposes: as a military armory and a replacement for […]
Kyle Gruhn
Oct 11, 20222 min read
USD campus maps 1960-2016
Enjoy finding the changes in the University of South Dakota campus from 1960 to 2016. Campus maps are in the USD Catalogs. Almost all the graduate and undergraduate USD catalogs can be viewed at the Archives and Special Collections. The maps in this post are as close to 10 years apart as possible. USD campus maps […]
Doris Peterson
Oct 4, 20221 min read
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