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Archives and Special Collections recently received a list of interviews with Clay County WWII military veterans done by Donna Schafer and published in the Vermillion Plain Talk newspaper. Aakre, Elmer “Sandy”. Vermillion Plain Talk. March 25, 2011, page 5. Anderson, Richard. Vermillion Plain Talk website says January 27, 2011, but we could not find it […]

In the 2000s, the USD Alumni Association offered Christmas ornaments based on University of South Dakota buildings. I found ornaments for Old Main, Belbas Center, Neuharth Center, East Hall, Inman House, and the Old Law School. Do you know of others? The Archives and Special Collections will be closed on December 24, 25, and 26.

cover of USD commencement program

Unfinished Revolutions Power of Place We the People American Experiment Doing History These themes are suggested by the American Association for State and Local History in their pamphlet “The Field Guide for the Semiquincentennial Making History at 250”. Happy Archives Month

We couldn’t find a photograph from the first South Dakota Legislative Session, but the Archives and Special Collections does have a picture from the fifteenth (1917) Session with the legislators’ names written right on the photograph. This photograph is from the William Lyon collection. Can you find him in this mosaic?

“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.

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 […]

Come visit us and check out the view from our new space in the library at the University of South Dakota.

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 […]

In recognition of Florence Nightingale’s 200th birthday and her contributions to health, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared 2020 as the “Year of the Nurse and Midwife”. This post is a continuation of another post that focused on midwives. Nurses have gone from being regarded as a menial profession to a respected field of study. […]

The Richard Deo Grass collection (MS 254) is now open to researchers. The 4.5 linear feet of material spans the years 1950’s-2010, with the bulk of the material dated 1980-2010. Richard Deo Grass was born on May 29, 1939 on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. He was raised off the reservation in Alliance, […]

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 […]

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. […]

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 […]

Introduction: Emmy-nominated screenwriter Dorothy Cooper Foote was born in Vermillion, SD in 1911. She was also a USD alum who graduated in 1933 with a degree in journalism. After moving to California, she soon began to work her way up the ranks at Universal Studios. Under the name Dorothy Cooper, she wrote such films as […]

The Faculty Woman’s Club collection has been processed and is available for research. The Faculty Woman’s Club was a group at USD that was formed for female faculty members and wives of professors. On a program cover letter from September 21, 1954, program chairwoman Edith M. Eyres states that the Faculty Woman’s Club’s “purpose is […]

What if everyone in South Dakota read the same book?” This is the premise behind One Book South Dakota. Dammed Indians Revisited by Michael L. Lawson is the 2012 One Book South Dakota selection. Discussions on this book will be held on campus March 18 and April 15, 2013. Dammed Indians Revisited and five of […]

Once again, Dakota Days has come. Though the festivities have begun early in the week, the parade is still an exciting highlight of Game Day. A screaming sea of red and white converges upon the Dome to cheer the Coyotes to victory. One lucky girl is crowned Miss Dakota. In the evening, merry USD students […]

Preliminary List of USD Campus Projects 1997-2011 For my first project as a volunteer at the University of South Dakota archives, I compiled a list of building projects that occurred from 1997-2011. This list will be added to for use in the Buildings, Other Structures, and Utilities collection at the archives. The main resource for […]

Gilbert C. Fite, Ph.D., a noted historian and USD alumnus, passed away on July 13, 2010. Dr. Fite, in 2002, arranged for the donation of his professional papers to the Archives and Special Collections. His son, James Fite, completed the donation in early 2011. The papers of Dr. Fite are a trove of correspondence, research […]