Financial struggles between state and federal government are nothing new as both groups try to shift economic burdens onto the other but these struggles often left citizens in a bind, especially regarding payments. In the 19th Century, militias were often formed in response to periods of heightened tensions (perceived or real) between American settlers and their American Indian neighbors. Governments or individuals formed these militias with promises of payment at the end of the conflict. This agreement often ran into difficulties regarding who owed the soldiers their pay and required meticulous records or militiamen would be given nothing for their service, which can be seen in the Ghost Dance War, or the Messiah War. The Ghost Dance War sprang from attempts by Americans to assimilate American Indians into their culture by stifling attempts among Native Americans at self-expression, such as traditional dances. In 1882, US Secretary of the Interior Henry M. Teller issued the order to suppress the “heathenish dances.” However, secretly and sometimes openly, dances continued and waxed with the Ghost Dance in 1890. Wodziwob, a Paiute medicine man, started the Ghost Dance movement in 1869 around the communal circle dance before passing away in 1872. The movement became reshaped in 1889 by Wovoka, a Paiute Indian raised by Americans. Wovoka drew from Christian influences in his prophecies and encouraged the movement to spread to the Plains Indians. The Ghost Dancers believed that dead American Indians of the past would be resurrected alongside the restoration of their land and the American Indian’s way of life while whites would be driven from the land. Additionally, the practitioners believed that the dances, in which Indians would form a ring while holding hands and danced around a tree or pole, would hasten these events.1 However, the rhetoric of the Ghost Dancers alarmed settlers in the region, who believed that a war would occur. Additionally, a Sioux uprising in reaction to food shortages from a bad crop harvest and misappropriations by the government led to famine among the Sioux, bringing tensions to a boiling point. On November 13, 1890, President Harrison ordered the army into the Sioux Reservations to help uphold American orders, which soon escalated into the “Ghost Dance War” or by the settler term, “Messiah War.” A more well-known occurrence of this conflict happened on December 28, 1890 at Wounded Knee Creek, in which army personnel opened fire on a Lakota camp, an event known as the Wounded Knee Massacre.2 South Dakota also participated in this war when Colonel M.H. Day and V.T. McGillicuddy, at the request of Governor Arthur C. Mellette, organized 110 volunteers into Company A of the Spring Creek Volunteers to patrol the Cheyenne River, opposite a Ghost Dancer camp, to keep American Indians away from deserted settler homes. Frank Stanton and J.B McCloud’s ranches served as the headquarters for the militia while a third headquarters was established at Buffalo Gap. Colonel Day assumed overall command with George C. Cosgrove elected captain, P.S. McClelland as 1st Lieutenant, and Roy Coats elected 2nd Lieutenant. These volunteers provided their own equipment and fought skirmishes at Dan Phinney’s ranch and Daly’s ranch from 1890 to 1891.3 As U.S. troops arrived, some volunteers joined the army as scouts while Day assisted General Miles by helping to contain the American Indians south of the Cheyenne River. On January 15, 1891, Colonel Day dissolved Company A as the conflict drew to a close. In the aftermath of the war, J.B. McCloud and Frank Stanton both filed claims to the state ($2,926.40 and $2,937 respectively) for the company’s maintenance costs. The volunteers also called for their promised repayment, but Gov. Mellette denied the claims under the reasoning that, as the American Indians were wards of the federal government, it was their responsibility to compensate the volunteers.4 However, the federal government denied the responsibility as Mellette had called the militias on his own accord and had set the promised pay. Only Stanton was able to obtain some reimbursement through the state legislature. In 1928, Representative William Williamson and Senator Peter Norbeck tried to secure compensation for the volunteers as calls were re-raised following efforts to pass the 1924 Bonus Bill for WWI soldiers. Williamson noted in a letter to J.E. Reddick of Belle Fourche that as the claims were 39 years old at the time, it would be difficult to secure payment, but the reality was worse.5 The Bureau of Pensions noted that there was no record of Company A within the South Dakota State Archives or at the War Department. A muster roll was furnished to the department, but it was a copy on foolscap6 and had varying enlistment dates. However, the biggest issue centered around M.H. Day, who was never a commissioned colonel but was a civilian with the honorary title of Colonel. Moreover, there was no law calling for the establishment of a militia. Governor Mellette had raised the militias without going through the state legislature and the state had failed to present a bill of compensation to the federal legislature. This may have been due to a disagreement between the state and federal government as the compensation bill asked for $2 a day pay per man and $.40 a day per horse when other states just paid their militiamen $13 a month.7 In 1929, Senator J.A. Boland of Pennington County proposed a resolution calling on the federal government to compensate the volunteers for their time, use of their horses, and maintenance while in service. His call was supported with evidence gathered by Senator Peter Norbeck, State Historian Doane Robinson, and C.E. Feigel of Rapid City of a volunteer roster and statements made by Governor Mellette and Adjunct-General Carpenter in 1892 and 1893.8 In his farewell address, Mellette noted that Day had drawn state money for the militia but failed to pay them, while Carpenter had kept a meticulous account of expenditures for the militias in 1890. However, the group ran into the same problems as they did in 1928. They could not locate the original roster of the 110 volunteers, only a copy of the original 51 men sworn in on Stanton’s ranch. The matter ended in 1940, when Senator Francis Case made a final push with Congress, furnishing correspondence between Days and military commanders like U.S. Army Major General Nelson A. Miles, Colonel Eugene Asa Carr, Lieutenant Colonel R.H. Offley and Major Harry C. Egbert, who all addressed M.H. Day as colonel. However, General Frank T. Hines of the Department of Veterans Affairs dismissed the case as the volunteers were not on state or on federal payroll.9 The difficulties the 1890 volunteers had in obtaining compensation reflect the economic and political difficulties of the time. Both South Dakota and the federal government were unwilling to foot these expenditures and quickly passed the bill onto the other. The economic difficulties of the Great Depression in the 1930s added additional reasons to dodge the expense. Bad record management also took its toll as politicians struggled for the repayment but failed to provide adequate proof to the federal government. These conditions led to the failure of any type of compensation for the militiamen as WWII dwarfed any further efforts. Footnotes: 1. https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2017/11/james-mooney-recordings-ghost-dance-songs/ 2. Warren, Louis S. “The Lakota Ghost Dance and the Massacre at Wounded Knee.” PBS, 4/16/2021. 3. Securing Relief for Messiah War Veterans, 1893 – 1932, William Williamson papers (MS 175), Richardson Collection, Archives and Special Collections, The University of South Dakota. 4. P.S. McClelland. N.d. William Williamson papers (MS 175), Richardson Collection, Archives and Special Collections, The University of South Dakota. 5. Letter from William Williamson to J.E. Reddick, 1928, William Williamson papers (MS 175), Richardson Collection, Archives and Special Collections, The University of South Dakota. 6. Foolscap paper started in mid-fifteenth century Europe and was known for its large size (smallest being 16.5” by 13.25” compared to the modern American paper size 8.5” by 11”). The paper has a reputation of being poor quality but cheap. https://regencyredingote.wordpress.com/2008/10/31/oh-foolish-foolscap/ 7. Letter from Commissioner of Pensions Winfield Scott to Adjunct-General W. A Hassle, 3/8/1928. William Williamson papers (MS 175), Richardson Collection, Archives and Special Collections, The University of South Dakota. 8. Boland, J.A. Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 1. N.d. William Williamson papers (MS 175), Richardson Collection, Archives and Special Collections, The University of South Dakota. 9. Securing Relief for Messiah War Veterans, 1893 – 1932, William Williamson papers (MS 175), Richardson Collection, Archives and Special Collections, The University of South Dakota.

While working on the University of South Dakota (USD) Photograph Collection: Historical Series, I noted an image of a house labelled Home Management House. With some research, I discovered that the Home Management House was used as part of the Home Economics curriculum from 1957 through the spring semester of 1966 for senior level students. According to the course catalogue description, students taking the Home Management House course lived in the house for six weeks and dealt with “problems that arise in a home”. As part of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Department of Home Economics was started at USD in 1913. In the 1930s attempts to eliminate it were thwarted. However, in 1966 Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Elbert Harrington phased out the Departments of Home Economics and Applied Sciences, seeing them as vocational programs with possible duplications of programs at other schools of higher learning in South Dakota*. Although USD Archives Home Economic files described in detail that with the dissolution of these two programs, furniture and other items were dispersed to several departments within the University, what happened to the Home Management House was not noted. The picture of the building in this blog was taken in January 1966 at the time the Home Economics Department was in its last semester. Additional research indicates that the house currently exists as a single-family dwelling located 409 North Plum Street, not far from the USD campus. Few people remember that the structure was part of the Home Economics program of study at USD that lasted for over 50 years. Photograph of the Home Management House taken in 1966. USD Photograph Collection: Historical Series, 1524.7H. *Cedric Cummings, Robert C. Hildebrand, and Stephan R. Ward. The College of Arts and Sciences 1882-1982, A History. College of Arts and Sciences, 1982, University of South Dakota.

In the late 1900s to the mid-twentieth century tuberculosis (TB) increased the morbidity and mortality of South Dakota residents especially those confined to asylums, hospitals, and reservations. A marked decrease in cases and deaths occurred by isolating TB patients in sanatoria, better diagnosis methods, and with the advent of chemotherapy agents by the late 1950s. In response to health threat posed by TB, the National TB Association (NTA) was formed in 1907. A South Dakota chapter organization, the SDTA, was formed in 1925. Much of the funding in South Dakota to enhance TB case finding, health education of students and medical staff, maintain TB statistics, and rehabilitate TB patients was garnered through the sale of Christmas Seals and donations. In South Dakota the organization also ran Camp Wanzer (Pactola, SD, Pennington County) from 1926 until 1949 for underprivileged children to help prevent TB by exposing children to clean air, good food, and a clean environment. President I. D. Weeks was directly involved in the SDTA first as a board member, then as vice president and finally as president of the SDTA for twenty years from 1946-1966. Dr. Week’s files at USD Archives and Special Collections, describe his prominent role in the organization. During annual meetings sections were devoted to improving methods of preventing the spread of TB and diagnosing and treating patients with TB. An emphasis was placed upon the poorer health status among Native Americans that contributed to the spread of TB in reservations. A seminal meeting about the status of TB in the United States was held on November 29 – December 2, 1959 in conjunction with the US Public Health Service and the NTA at the Arden House Conference on Tuberculosis (Harriman, NY). The role overcrowding in urban settings was mentioned as well as the use chemotherapy to treat TB patients. Most importantly, the conference attendees recognized that “the social, psychological, and economic aspects of TB were sometimes drastically subordinated to the medical”. As an appreciation of this concept now known as the “social determinants of health” is recognized as contributory to health and disease. Thus, the health status of patients compromised by additional diseases, poverty, and poor access to health care faired worst. In South Dakota, cases of TB among Native Americans in 1958 were 8 times higher than among Caucasians. As the number of cases of TB plummeted in South Dakota by the 1950s (https://doh.sd.gov/documents/diseases/infectious/TB/2020TuberculosisControlProgram_AnnualReport.pdf), the SDTA morphed into the SD Tuberculosis and Health Association (SDTHA) focusing on lung diseases caused by infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi, as well as those related to behavioral consequences such as smoking and poor air hygiene associated with air pollution in environmental and work settings. Throughout this transition, I. D. Weeks, as president of the organization, promoted lung health through education, use of tuberculin tests and X-rays to detect TB, and the publication of the Health-O-Gram that provided information about cases and deaths associated with lung disease and progress made in fighting lung disease in South Dakota. In 1973 the SDTHA became the SD Lung Association, a chapter of the American Lung Association. The following year Dr. I. D. Weeks received the prestigious Agnes M. Holdridge Award for his long-term promotion of lung health. This highest award of the SD Lung Association was named after Agnes M. Holdridge who spent over 40 years promoting lung health in South Dakota. As USD president for 31 years, I. D. Weeks was known for his leadership in education and of the University of South Dakota. As documented in his files, I. D. Weeks also needs to be remembered and recognized as a leader in the fight against lung disease in South Dakota. President I. D. Weeks (Coyote Yearbook, 1940). Letterhead of the South Dakota Tuberculosis and Health Association (I. D. Weeks files). Chest X-raying of USD students (The University of South Dakota Photography Collection: Preserving our Past in Images, 1930-1999, Sarah Hanson, Curator, 2005)

This list is from Knutson, Wayne S. “A story of faith and endurance: The University of South Dakota.” In From idea to institution: higher education in South Dakota, edited by Herbert T. Hoover et al, page 32. Vermillion, SD: University of South Dakota Press, 1989, call number LA364.5 .F76 1989. name date of initial appointment academic areas Lewis E. Akeley 1887 Dean, School of Engineering, Physics Marshall McKusick 1902 Dean, School of Law Arthur L. Haines 1906 Chemistry Mabel K. Richardson 1907 Librarian Winfred R. Colton 1908 Dean, College of Fine Arts, Music Grace E. Burgess 1909 English Carl Christol 1909 History Clarence E. Lyon 1911 Speech Ella Lokken 1912 Music William H. Over 1913 Geology, Director, Natural History Museum Alvin Wilson 1917 Music William H. Batson 1919 Dean, School of Education Edward P. Churchill 1920 Zoology Arthur M. Pardee 1920 Chemistry, Director, Graduate School, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences M. Genevieve Truran 1920 Music Harold E. Brookman 1921 Engineering, Applied Sciences Gladys E. Leonard 1921 Physical Education Edgar P. Rothrock 1921 State Geologist, Geology Claude J. Whitlow 1921 Business Vincent E. Montgomery 1923 Coach Earle S. Sparks 1924 Economics, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, Dean of School of Business Charlotte Noteboom 1925 Education Herbert S. Schell 1925 Dean of Graduate School, History Elmer G. Trotzig 1925 Journalism Chester S. Ball 1926 Financial Officer Herman W. Frankenfeld 1926 Registrar J. Herndon Julian 1926 Vice-president, Administration Carl. B. Hoy 1927 Coach Thomas M. Risk 1927 Education Edwin H. Shaw 1927 Biochemistry Grace L. Beede 1928 Classics Claude Schutter 1928 Law Marjorie Dudley 1920 Music Harry Olson 1930 Business Marjorie Beaty 1931 Mathematics Edward Ehrensperger 1931 English Harry Gamage 1934 Coach Clark Y. Gunderson 1934 Law J. P. Jones 1936 Business William O. Farber 1937 Government, Founder of Bureau of Government Research Thomas Geary 1937 Government Warren M. Lee 1938 Theatre, Dean of the College of Fine Arts, Found of the Black Hills Playhouse William E. Ekman 1939 Mathematics Alexander Hartman 1939 Modern Foreign Languages Wilber M. Stilwell 1941 Art R. F. Patterson 1942 Dean of School of Business, History

Salute to Oscar Micheaux, who homesteaded near Gregory (SD) before becoming a film maker and author. The Archives and Special Collections at USD has many books by and about him. Books by Micheaux in the Herman P. Chilson Collection of Americana: Micheaux, Oscar. The Conquest: The Story of a Negro Pioneer. Lincoln, Nebr.: Woodruff Press, 1913. E185.97.M62 M6. First edition? Micheaux, Oscar, and C. W. Heller. The Forged Note: A Romance of the Darker Races. Lincoln, Neb.: Western Book Supply, 1915. PS3525.I1875 F67x. First edition? Micheaux, Oscar. The Wind from Nowhere. 1st Ed.]. ed. The Black Heritage Library Collection. New York: Book Supply, 1941. PS3525.I1875 W55x. Micheaux, Oscar. The Case of Mrs. Wingate. 3d ed. New York: Book Supply Co.: Book Supply, 1945. PS3525.I1875 C37x. Micheaux, Oscar. The Story of Dorothy Stanfield, Based on a Great Insurance Swindle, and a Woman! New York: Book Supply Company, 1946. PS3525.I1825 S76x. First edition? Micheaux, Oscar. The Masquerade: An Historical Novel. New York: Book Supply Company, Publishers, 1947. PS3525.I1875 M37x. First edition? Micheaux, Oscar. The Homesteader: A Novel. College Park, Md.: McGrath Pub., 1969. PS3525.I1875 H6x. Not the first edition, which is 1917. Books about Micheaux in the Herman P. Chilson Collection of Americana: Bowser, Pearl, and Louise. Spence. Writing Himself into History: Oscar Micheaux, His Silent Films, and His Audiences. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2000. PN1998.3.M494 B69 2000. Green, J. Ronald. Straight Lick: The Cinema of Oscar Micheaux. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2000. PN1998.3.M494 G74 2000. Green, J. Ronald. With a Crooked Stick: The Films of Oscar Micheaux. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2004. PN1998.3.M494 G76 2004. VanEpps-Taylor, Betti Carol. Oscar Micheaux: A Biography: –Dakota Homesteader, Author, Pioneer Film Maker. Rapid City, S.D.: Dakota West Books, 1999. PN1998.3.M53 V36 1999.

Dr. Frances Kelsey. In 1960, while at the Food and Drug Administration, she refused to approve release of thalidomide in the United States due to inadequate testing. For a portrait of Dr. Kelsey at the University of South Dakota, see the Digital Library of South Dakota.

"Archiving is not about history looking backward, but about storing and securing for the future. Archiving – all the activities from creation and management to the use of records and archives – has always been directed towards transmitting human activity and experience through time and, secondly, through space. It has the quality of the archive as a time machine." Eric Ketelaar, “Archival Temples, Archival Prisons” Quoted in Kristen Weld, Paper cadavers: the dictatorship in Guatemala. Durham NC: Duke University Press, 2014, p.236.

"To me every trip to a library or archive is like a small detective story. There are always little moments on such trips when the past flares to life, like a match in the darkness". Larson, Erik. The devil in the white city: murder, magic, and madness at the fair that changed America. New York: Crown Publishers, 2003, 395-396.

The image is from the Digital Library of South Dakota. Library of Congress sponsors #ArchivesHashtagParty once a month, and August’s topic is #ArchivesAthletes. LOC invites archives to submit tweets about athletes who broke records and barriers, famous sites for training and competition, patents for sport equipment, or historic moments that still give you goosebumps.

For the 250th birthday celebration of the United States of America, we are resharing this wonderful 2014 blog post by Archives and Special Collections' employee Abigail Proehl about our music book collection: American History in the Mahoney Music Collection This week we celebrate the birth of our nation, with this Friday marking the 238th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Throughout those two centuries, music has played a key role in shaping our American culture, and the Mahoney Music Collection is lucky to hold some of the best of our American music history. I poured through records, combed the stacks - and even got caught in the back room during a power outage! – to compile this feature on American music from the Mahoney Music Collection. The American Violinist, J. F. Hanks (mid-1800s) This is a beginners’ method book containing small exercises, music theory basics, and simple, two-part tunes. It gives information about the instrument’s construction, great violinists, playing in groups, and using the violin for teaching vocal music. Also has a supplement of Jacob Augustus Otto’s treatise. Fisher, William Arms. One Hundred and Fifty Years of Music Publishing in the United States : An Historical Sketch with Special Reference to the Pioneer Publisher, Oliver Ditson Company, Inc., 1783-1933. Oliver Ditson Co., 1933. Fisher traces music printing in the U.S. from through the centuries. The very first book of music, though "crudely-printed", was 9th edition of The Bay Psalm Book in 1698 Massachusetts (previous versions only contained text). Included are stories of prominent publishers such as Schirmer, Lyon & Healy, and Witmark, plus numerous maps, portraits, and other illustrations. Post, Charles Clement. Ten Years a Cowboy. Rhodes & McClure publishing company, 1908. With a forward by Carl Sandburg and almost a thousand pages of tales, this book is really a gem of Americana. It covers everything from Pecos Bill and Paul Bunyan to nursery tales and ghost stories. The reason it is part of the Mahoney collection is the large section of ballads and songs, arranged into chapters with titles like "Songs of Sailormen and Rivermen", "Cowboy Songs", and "Hobo and Jailhouse Songs". Each individual song has a verse and chorus written out on the staff, then printed lyrics for the (abundant) remaining verses. Some even have a brief history of the tune. I didn't recognize many of the titles, but just sight-reading some them was fun. McWhorter, Frankie, and John R. Erickson. Cowboy Fiddler. Texas Tech University Press, 1992. These two volumes are amazingly not about the same person. I was stunned to find Ten Years a Cowboy and learn about the legendary Tex Bender, and was even more excited to come across Cowboy Fiddler. Actually, there are four books in the collection about fiddling cowboys! Apparently there is an American tradition of cowboys playing the violin. Harmonica? - sure, they're rather portable. But violin...? Cowboy Fiddler is the memoir of Frankie McWhorter, a cowboy who played in Bob Wills's band. The other, Ten Years a Cowboy, is more mysterious. I couldn't track down who this legendary fiddler was, or how he got his nickname, but this is another beautiful example of Americana. Fantastic illustrations accompany "the story, romance and adventures of a life on the plains with the varied experiences as cow-boy, stock-owner, rancher". Shaffer, Karen A., and Neva Garner Greenwood. Maud Powell, Pioneer American Violinist. Maud Powell Foundation, 1988. Among all our musician biographies, I felt I had to include Maud Powell in this salute-to-America post. For, not only was she "America's first great master of the violin" when much of classical music was imported from Europe, but she was also a woman. Even today, there is a huge gender disparity in professional orchestras. At the turn of the 20th century, there was an even larger bias toward women performers. Maud Powell is a chapter in American history not only about music but also about feminism. She broke barriers to bring American musicians on par with European, and to bring female musicians on par with the men. One of my heroes. . . . . and FYI, the United States shares its birthday with Charles Burney's first history of music, A General History Of Music From The Earliest Ages To The Present Period. ACS