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The Archives and Special Collections has a compilation (i.e. bill book) of South Dakota Legislature House Bills from 1890. D. M. Inman’s signature is on the first page. South Dakota became a state in 1889, and the state's first session of the legislative assembly met in 1890. Darwin M. Inman (1838-1913) was a businessman, politician and educator from Vermillion. He served as a representative from Clay County to Dakota Territory and South Dakota Legislature in 1877-1878, 1881-

“Filibuster is an extended debate, generally in the United States Senate, which, because of its rules, allows unlimited debate for those who can count votes well enough to know that their side will lose should a vote be taken on an issue.” Sen. James G. Abourezk (D-Sd.) In the 1970s the United States faced and […]

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?

These are in the Archives and Special Collections. In the I.D. Weeks Library are the reports of the South Dakota Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights. The earliest one in the library is dated March 1963 and is about discrimination against Black airmen (especially with housing, restaurants, and bars) in Rapid […]

Our bugs are symbols of a US presidential campaign and/or a federal monetary policy. Do you know which one? Check out the political ephemera in papers we have from various politicians. They often highlight issues important at that time.

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.

Archives and Special Collections recently received 4 photographs of this observance.

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 […]

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) […]

The following summary is from the guide to his papers at the Archives and Special Collections: Frank L. Farrar was born April 2, 1929, in Britton, South Dakota. Farrar was the only Governor of South Dakota who was also elected governor at South Dakota Boys State. He attended and graduated from the University of South […]

Peter Norbeck’s papers (SD governor 1917-1921 and US senator 1921-1936) has a folder titled Thirty Hour Week. Archie Gubbrud’s papers (SD governor 1960-1964) has a folder titled Forty Hour Week. Was there a discussion about working thirty hours per week before there was a discussion about the forty-hour work week? Both sets of papers are […]

The Alan H. Schell Collection of Campaign Buttons, Pins, and Political Ephemera contains 2 watches in addition to nearly one thousand pins, buttons, and ribbons that date from 1884 to 2008. Can you tell which watch was meant to support a candidate and which one was meant to lampoon a candidate?

The Alan H. Schell collection of campaign buttons, pins, and political ephemera contains nearly one thousand pins, buttons, and ribbons that date from 1884 to 2008. While working with the collection this summer, I found surprises. There is a pin for Charlene Mitchell, very likely the first woman to appear on the general ballot as […]

From the Charles and Frances Dillon scrapbook. Mr. Dillon was a member of the US House of Representatives from South Dakota (1913-1919).

Mary Beaty Edelen served in the South Dakota House of Representatives from 1973 to 1980 and from 1983 to 1992, representing Clay and Union Counties and becoming the first woman legislator elected from her district. She was the president of the National Order of Women Legislators in 1986 and on the executive board of the […]

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 […]

One hundred years ago, South Dakota elected its first native-born governor; this governor, Peter Norbeck, proved to be one of the most progressive governors in South Dakota history. Norbeck was born in Vermillion, Clay County, on August 27, 1870. Though he did not receive an official degree, Norbeck attended the University of South Dakota in […]

Beginning to work at the Archives and Special Collections department at USD’s I.D. Weeks Library seemed to be a little mysterious at first. What would I find in that special back room? Will I be putting books back on shelves all day? Will I be able to listen to music?! These concerns were alive and […]

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 […]

Charles Hall Dillon was South Dakota’s representative to the U.S. Congress 1913-1919. He was also a delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1900 and 1908, a member of the state senate 1903-1911, and an associate justice of the state supreme court 1922-1926. He was born near Jasper, Indiana in 1853 and died in […]