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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 […]
Evelyn Schlenker
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 […]
Evelyn Schlenker
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 […]
Evelyn Schlenker
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
Celebrating Anniversaries of Two Vermillion Museums in 2023: The National Music Museum and the W. H. Over Museum
Although both the W. H. Over Museum and the National Music Museum (NMM) have distinctly different items they collect and the NMM is part of the University of South Dakota (USD), whereas the W. H. Over Museum resides on the USD campus, but is not part of USD, at one time both called the Carnegie […]
Evelyn Schlenker
Sep 26, 20223 min read
In 2023, Vermillion will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Prentice Park.
Do you see the park’s baseball field and the swimming pool on the postcard above? Vermillion is collecting stories about the park for the celebration. We will happily forward any stories you send to us to the committee collecting the stories. Help us assign a date to this postcard. We know it is after 1936 […]
Doris Peterson
Aug 15, 20221 min read
Visit the Corn Palace in Mitchell SD.
This year, make a trip to Mitchell to see the Corn Palace and/or visit our Archives and Special Collections to read about the once common Corn Palaces: 1976. Schutt, Robert. The Corn Palace Story: with a Description of Early South Dakota and Mitchell, and a Map Indicating South Dakota Indian Reservations. Dakota News. CHILSON COLLECTION. F659.M5 […]
Doris Peterson
Aug 4, 20221 min read
Archives and Special Collections received the research papers of a local historian and mapmaker.
The Nancy Carlsen Research Papers show her passion for local history, maps, and the Missouri River. The collection is mostly about Clay County cemeteries and the Clay County sites on the National Register of Historic Places. It also includes material about Clay County Preservation Commission, Spirit Mound Trust, Spirit Mound Cemetery Restoration, and River Honoring. […]
Doris Peterson
Jul 15, 20221 min read
View from our new Archives and Special Collections rooms
Come visit us and check out the view from our new space in the library at the University of South Dakota.
Doris Peterson
Jun 16, 20221 min read
Architectural Drawings of Vermillion (SD) Buildings
The Archives and Special Collections received 31 boxes of rolled architectural drawings, floor plans, and blueprints of buildings in Vermillion SD and the University of South Dakota. We are in the process of flattening and inventorying this gift. Projects date from 1920s to 2000s. Some of the projects are the Clay County Courthouse, Vermillion public […]
Doris Peterson
Jun 1, 20221 min read
Grand Old Maple, gone but not forgotten. #ArchivesTrees
On April 23, 1884, Arbor Day, students at the University [of South Dakota] planted a silver maple tree. One hundred years later on April 26, 1984, students and USD alumni celebrated the centennial birthday of South Dakota’s largest silver maple tree by planting 125 trees around campus. In an unfortunate storm on October 24, 1997, […]
Doris Peterson
May 6, 20221 min read
Please help find a Vermillion SD map. #MapMonday
Historian Everett Sterling wrote in Vermillion Story (1959) that there was “a 1910 map preserved in the City Building, on which every residence is shown and identified …” Does anyone know where the map is now? Sterling’s Vermillion Story is in the Chilson Collection. Other histories about Vermillion and Clay County SD are listed on […]
Doris Peterson
Apr 25, 20221 min read
To make Easter eggs, why would you turn out the light to cook eggs in the shell? #oldfashionedrecipes #recipes
This recipe is from Good Things to Eat and How to Prepare Them. Buffalo NY: Larkin Co., 1906. This book is in the Chilson Collection in the Archives and Special Collections.
Doris Peterson
Apr 13, 20221 min read
Does Clay County SD have ghost towns?
If ghost towns do not need to have standing structures, then Clay County has at least one – Lodi. Bloomingdale may turn out to be another one, but further research is needed to determine if Bloomingdale was a town. Both are now private land and used for farming. Peterson’s atlas can be viewed in the […]
Doris Peterson
Apr 7, 20221 min read
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