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The Archives and Special Collections has a 1937 atlas by the Clay County Planning Board. It depicts the county after the stock market crash of 1929 and during the Great Depression. The maps show parcels of land owned by private individuals, the Federal Land Bank, other banks, insurance companies, land associations, etc. "The Clay County Farm Ownership Atlas was sponsored by the Clay County Planning Board. The work of securing the data, drafting, blue printing, and all clerica

I find my joy browsing the library stacks. This month, I looked for books with fore-edge printing and fore-edge painting. These are methods of applying images to the edges of book pages. Sometimes the image is visible when the book is closed, and sometimes the image is only visible when the pages are fanned. Fore-edge is the edge of a book opposite the spine or the bound edge. I found fore-edge printing on a few art books and science fiction books in the I.D. Weeks Library, b

A library book that is 50+ years overdue is a common trope in books and movies. Though it is not common here, the library recently (and happily) received an overdue book that was checked out for 56 years. This image of the check-out slip for the overdue book shows that it was checked out in 1970. Guinness world record for the most years that a returned library book had been overdue is 288 years.

"Seven leaves of the first edition of the King James Bible which was published in 1611 and is the most famous of Bibles in the English language, have been given to the University by Alfred A. Frantz, ’26-’27 of New York City. The leaves comprise the book of Ecclesiastes, or the Preacher and the Song of Solomon both from the Old Testament. The individual pages are 11 inches by 16 inches and are printed in two columns, each wider than two columns of newspaper print. Their paper

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 […]

Help us transcribe our collections! https://fromthepage.com/usdarchives FromThePage is a software designed for transcribing documents. The platform enables users to view an image of a page and transcribe the corresponding text. More information https://libguides.usd.edu/fromthepage Questions? Email us at library@usd.edu Recently our work in FromThePage was featured on KTIV news. https://www.ktiv.com/2026/01/13/becoming-digital-archivist-vermillion-libraries-seek-volunteers-h

After you watch Ken Burn’s The American Revolution, these books will help you learn more about the signers of the Declaration of Independence: Waln, Robert, and John Sanderson. Biography of the Signers to the Declaration of Independence. 2d ed., rev.Improved, and enl., W. Brown and C. Peters, 1828. CHILSON COLLECTION / 3RD FLOOR ; E221 .S215. We […]

Please let us know if you find miniature books in the Herman P. Chilson Collection not shown in the image above. We know there are more. “Miniature books are books measuring 10 centimeters or less in height and 10 cm. or less in width. A book exceeding 10 centimeters in its longest dimension is not […]

For a time prospects for a park and artificial lake under a W.P.A. grant generated much interest in the southern part of the county. The idea first emerged in 1933 as a modest project involving a grant of $8,000 for work-relief purposes. During the following year the concept grew in proportion to culminate in a […]

The Royal Harders diary was recently added to the Chilson Collection in the Archives and Special Collections. Royal grew up close to Mission Hill (SD). In his diary, he describes his daily activities while in military training in the United States during World War II.

In preparation for July 4, 2026, the Archives and Special Collections staff are searching our collections for items related to the signing of the Declaration of Independence, previous anniversary celebrations, or the five research themes suggested by the American Association for State and Local History. (See 10-18-2024 blog post.) During United States’ Bicentennial celebration, a […]

In preparation for July 4, 2026, the Archives and Special Collections staff are searching our collections for items related to the signing of the Declaration of Independence, previous anniversary celebrations, or the five research themes suggested by the American Association for State and Local History. Our latest find is a souvenir from the United States’ […]

Do you want to serve a tasty Christmas meal that is not roasted turkey? We have a cookbook with great ideas for you in the Archives and Special Collections: The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen by Sean Sherman and Beth Dooley, call number CHILSON COLLECTION / 3RD FLOOR ; E98.F7 S54 2017. There are many cookbooks in the […]

These are some of the named automobile routes in South Dakota in 1920: Yellowstone Trail – Ortonville, MN to Hettinger, ND – marked on map with orange. Black and Yellow Trail – Tracy, MN to Sundance, WY – marked on map with yellow. Custer Battlefield Hiway – Sioux City, IA to Sundance, WY – marked […]

William Lyon was born and grew up in Vermillion, SD. His widow Winona Lyon donated the land containing the beautiful palisades to the state of South Dakota. Additional land will be added to the park during the summer of 2024, doubling the size of the park. Palisades State Park is one of the most unique […]

Incipit laus Sancti Bernardi Abatis; Laus de Virgine Maria: Ave mater misericordie may be the oldest book in the Archives and Special Collections. I found this description of the book on a sheet of letterhead paper tucked into the book: “Manuscript on paper, written in a fine formal book hand. 28 lines. 12 leaves (the […]

I would eat a cake decorated to look like concrete letters surrounded by green bushes. How about you? Click here for the location and history of the University of South Dakota hillside letters, This year marks the 162nd anniversary of the establishment of the University by the first Dakota Territory Legislature in 1862, 141th anniversary […]

The archivist and the staff of the Archives and Special Collections write guides to our collections, papers, and records called finding aids. These are the finding aids we finished during October, November, and December 2023: Cathy Beard Correspondence with Linda Hasselstrom Beresford Train Depot records Tom Brokaw papers Bulow House records John Davidson Missouri River […]

Bobby Penn graduated with a BFA from the University of South Dakota in 1974. While at USD and after his graduation, Penn worked as an art instructor and illustrator. Beginning in 1986, he pursued his painting career full-time. Penn lived and worked in Vermillion, South Dakota until his death in 1999. Penn’s work is in […]

One of DP’s favorite items in the Archives and Special Collections is this oblique map of South Dakota. It is a favorite because geographical information expressed in this slanted or skewed method is less common than a vertical overhead view, especially before computer mapping software. The map title is Physical Features State of South Dakota. […]