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Archives and Special Collections is pleased to announce that a small selection of material from the Larry Pressler Papers has been digitized and is now available in the Digital Library of South Dakota. These documents have been selected to coincide with the recent publication of Senator Pressler’s book, Neighbours in Arms: An American Senator’s Quest […]

On April 26, 1963, The University of South Dakota became the official name of our university here in Vermillion. It was called the State University of South Dakota in some documents and the University of South Dakota in others. The State Board of Regents of Education designated the latter. From “University of South Dakota Designated […]

In honor of the 50th anniversary of the I.D. Weeks Library building, the Archives and Special Collections has organized a special exhibit to display the changes of the USD library through the years, from the beginning of the university in 1882 through today. The first exhibit on the second floor of I.D. Weeks focuses on […]

Archives and Special Collections recently received a scrapbook created by A. L. Wilson. This scrapbook contains approximately 80 programs for voice student recitals, university choir, and other music groups from 1916 to 1965, plus a few news clippings. It complements another collection we have of music programs. Alvin Leroy (A. L.) Wilson taught […]

The USD alumni newsletters are fast becoming my favorite source for USD history. To be useful, these newsletters need an index or to be in a searchable format unless, like me, you are looking for random and interesting tidbits about USD. An example of a random and interesting article is “U.S. Naval Weapons Lab likes girls from South Dakota” in […]

Charles Trimble was born in Wanblee SD in 1935. He received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from USD in 2008 for his distinguished record of public service and was inducted in the South Dakota Hall of Fame in 2013. Below are listed some of the organizations Mr. Trimble has served: American Indian Press […]

You’ll want to read Civil Defense In-Shelter Guide for University of South Dakota (November 18, 1963) to find out what learning to love crackers has to do with bomb shelters. It is in the USD Archives collection General Publications. Do you know what movie title I am misquoting for my title? Hint, it came out in […]

The Archives and Special Collections has recently received five 1968 aerial photographs showing parts of Vermillion or areas close to Vermillion. These photos show that in 1968 not much of the town or the University of South Dakota was north of Cherry Street, and that the Mulberry Bend area looked very different before the construction […]

This year, one of my personal projects is to find out more about Fort Vermillion. When did it exist and where? Here is what I know so far: Fort Vermillion was a trading post established by Pierre Chouteau, Jr., and Company along the Missouri River in the vicinity of what is now Vermillion, South Dakota. […]

During the 1980s and 1990s, University of South Dakota commencement program covers often presented brief descriptions of USD buildings.

The South Dakota Oral History Project’s first year was described in a 1970 South Dakota History article. “This past summer an oral history project was inaugurated in South Dakota. Five thousand dollars was funded by the state legislature at the request of Dayton Canaday, State Historian, and Professor Joseph Cash of the University of South Dakota. Professor Cash and Mr. Canaday suggested to the state legislature that a project be initiated among white settlers while reminis

Today while working with the Oscar Howe Papers, I found the following short statement by Oscar Howe about Vincent Price, “…for forteen (sic) years, Vincent was commissioner of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board of the Department of the Interior. Just last year, he requested that he be replaced by a Native American, an Indian. […]

Herbert S. Schell Annual Lecture in History is Tuesday, November 3rd, 2015, in Farber Hall at 7:00 pm. The presentation is “Crescent City Girls: the Jim Crow Justice System and Black Girlhood in New Orleans” by LaKisha Simmons. She is an assistant professor of global gender studies at the University at Buffalo, SUNY. The lecture […]

The Student Activities Council, Program Council poster collection is now open to researchers. It consists mainly of posters advertising events at the University of South Dakota sponsored by the Program Council. The events include concerts, movies, lectures, speakers, Dakota Days, the opening of the Muenster University Center (MUC), Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and Wacipi. […]

This collection of letters between Gordon Aadland and Al Neuharth is now open for research. Aadland and Neuharth met at the University of South Dakota, where they both worked on the student newspaper the Volante. Aadland graduated in 1949 and Neuharth in 1950. After college, both worked on SoDak Sports, a statewide weekly newspaper on […]

Maganga By A.M. (Alfons Michael) Dauer Trephination, the act or process of making a hole in the skull by drilling and/or removing a piece of the bone, is believed by many to be an early form of brain surgery. It is found in Neolithic Europe, pre-Columbian America and in other places in the world during […]

Today is the 100th anniversary of Joe Foss’s birth. The following summary is from the guide to his papers at the Archives and Special Collections: Collection size 21 linear ft. “Joseph J. Foss remains an important figure in South Dakota history. He was born on a farm outside of Sioux Falls, South Dakota on April […]

We are honored to have a collection of Vietnam War veterans’ oral history transcripts in the Archives and Special Collections. This collection contains interviews with 33 veterans from central South Dakota gathered between September 1984 and December 1985. “Their service in Southeast Asia spans 1961 through 1975 and covers a wide variety of combat and […]

The Archives and Special Collections invites you to view our display featuring military-related pieces from the William J. Janklow Papers. Items now on display include: • Marine Corps Jacket, two USMC lapel pins, and business cards from Governor and Congress • Longlive Friendship Plaque, gifted to Janklow by the Republic of […]

Did you know that the Archives and Special Collections has a time capsule? It was filled with items related to the centennial of the University of South Dakota and is scheduled to be opened in 2082.