Atlas photographique de la lune by Loewy and Puiseux, a French atlas of the moon, is the largest book in the Archives and Special Collections. It is 83 cm by 63 cm (33 in. by 25 in.). This is a big book. The images of the moon were photographed through the Observatory of Paris’ telescope to produce negatives that were 180 mm (7 in.) in diameter. These images were enlarged by 8 to 15 times to produce 572 mm by 458 mm (22 in. by 18 in.) photogravure plates for the atlas. The images in the atlas were published in 12 installments (fascicles) of 6 plates each, except for the first which was 5 plates. The first installment was published in 1896, and the twelfth in 1910. Since this book was released in installments, complete copies are rare. The copy in the Chilson Collection appears to be complete or almost complete. Information from Parr, Martin and Gerry Badger. The Photobook: A History. Volume 1. New York: Phaidon Press, 2004, Page 54.

In 1665 “the English Royal Society published the first popular science book, Micrographia, (with the subtitle Or Some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies Made by Magnifying Glasses with Observations and Inquiries Thereupon). It was written by Robert Hooke, then a 30-year-old hunchbacked, cantankerous, neurotic hypochondriac who was also a brilliant natural scientist, polymath and an original fellow of the society that published the book.” "Micrographia captured many people’s imaginations. In it, along with dozens of beautiful engravings based on meticulous illustrations by the author, Hooke provided not only a clear description of the architecture of fleas, the seeds of thyme, the eyes of ants, the internal makings of sponges, microscopic fungi and the small building blocks of plants, but he also provided a detailed description of his own microscope.” A facsimile of this book is available in the Health Science Rare Book collection in the Archives and Special Collections. For more information on the history of microscopes and discovery of the microscopic world, see Paul Falkowski, “Leeuwenhoek’s lucky break: how a Dutch fabric-maker became the father of microbiology,” Discover, June 2015, p. 58-63. It is also the source of the quotes above.

The mound appears on this 1856 map as Little Spirits Hill. Warren, Gouverneur Kemble. Spirit Mound was described by local Indigenous people to the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1804. Twenty years ago in 2001, it was replanted with native grasses and joined the South Dakota state park system as Spirit Mound Historic Prairie. In 2010, a geologic survey determined the mound to be a rock-cored drumlin created by a glacier. Check out the websites for Spirit Mound Trust or the Spirit Mound Historic Prairie for more information. U.S. Geological Survey. Both maps can be viewed in the Archives and Special Collections. Information about the addition of Spirit Mound Historic Prairie to the South Dakota state park system can be found in the William J. Janklow papers at the Archives and Special Collections. Geologic survey by Cody Miller, Origin and Erosion of Spirit Mound, Spirit Mound Trust website (accessed November 8, 2021).

The following articles are from June 14, 1883, and July 19, 1883 issues of the Dakota Huronite newspaper. Typescript copies of some of the issues of this paper are in the Chilson Collection. Dakota Hutonite June 14, 1883 Dakota Huronite July 19, 1883 Dakota Huronite July 19, 1883 Does anyone know how long this steamboat operated?

Although the Oral History Project consists primarily of University of South Dakota interviewers’ tapes of South Dakotans, other institutions donated in their interview tapes to the University of South Dakota Oral History Center. This blog describes a 1968 interview by John Troth and Richard Cropp, Friends of the Middle Border Museum (now the Discovery Museum at Dakota Wesleyan University). They interviewed Yankton historian Joseph Vinateri and his daughter Mrs. Vanita Grimm about their famous relative Feliz Villiet Vinateri. As part of my work for the South Dakota Oral History Center, I am re-formatting text after converting a PDF scan of the original transcript of this interview to a digital document. My task is to stay as true as possible to the original transcript. I present selected excerpts of Mr. Joseph Vinateri and Mrs. Vanita Grimm’s words regarding Mr. Felix Vinateri from the transcribed interview in quotations. As a convention in transcripts of oral history interviews, I made no grammatical or spelling corrections. A space designated by a line (_____) indicates that the transcriber was unsure of what the interviewee said. Joesph Vinateri was the son of Felix Vinateri who was born in 1834 in Italy. At nineteen he received a degree in music from the University of Naples and became a noted bandmaster. Joseph stated that his father was a trained musician, composer, and conductor: “He came to the United States in 1859 and, uh, just as the, uh, Civil War broke out why he enlisted in the 16th Infantry as band master, and, uh, was sworn in.” Although Felix Vinateri got sick and was honorably discharged, Joseph continues,” “shortly after that he went back to Europe to his home and, uh, was finally disgusted with the conditions over there. And he came back to the United States and, uh, went up in New York State and enlisted in the 22nd Infantry as band master. And they, uh, took the 22nd Infantry plus the band down the Ohio River up in Mississippi, Missouri River to Fort Sully which is about 20 miles north of the present city of Pierre. Dad served there three years and came, when he was discharged came, came back, came down to Yankton, and started in his music business teaching and composing and arranging music.” After his army obligation ended, Felix Vinateri moved to Yankton, South Dakota, and in 1871 married Anna Frances Fejfar. About two years later in Yankton during an April blizzard, he conducted a band for an event that General George Custer and his wife Libby attended. Because Custer so admired the musical talents his, according to Joseph Vinateri “And finally Custer told father and asked him if he would like to join the 7th Calvary, band master of the 7th Calvary and he'd got out to Fort Abraham Lincoln. Dad said, ‘Well, I, I'll have to ask, go home and ask my wife and see what she says about it.' So, the next day why father asked mother if she cared that dad would enlist and, uh, Custer said, 'Well, now, you can take your family with you. As soon as we get the, our buildings up and quarters where you folks shall live why we'll let you know and you can have your family come up and live at Fort Abraham Lincoln.’ Felix Vinateri was Custer’s band director for two years travelling throughout the western part of Dakota Territory until Custer’s death at the Battle of Little Big Horn. The band did not accompany the soldiers to this battle, thus saving their lives. Felix Vinateri’s journeys to western Dakota Territory, inspired to compose music including the Black Hills Polka and two operas. Mrs. Grimms mentioned that Felix’s life as a musician necessitated frequent travel: “Grandfather Vinatieri, uh, did go to Chicago and Duluth. He went to Corpus Christi and Galveston and played. He traveled constantly. When he'd come home then he would have his music students and his band and then, uh, he would go again because he couldn't make enough money to support his family without those, uh, jobs playing. And he, he was a member of the Ringling Brothers band when they first started up.” The interviewers then asked about the opera Felix was working on called the “American Volunteer.” Mrs. Grimm recalled, “He was working on it when he passed away in 1891. He was preparing it for the, uh, Chicago _________World Fair. He was in Chicago trying to get the, uh, properties for it and the theatre lined up when he became ill and then he had to come home and he died.” Today, Felix Vinateri’s original music and manuscripts donated by his family reside in the National Music Museum (NMM) in Vermillion, South Dakota. For the 125th Anniversary of the Battle of Little Big Horn in 2001, The New Custer Band performed and recorded Vinatieri’s music gleaned from the NMM archives. In addition, the Mead Museum in Yankton, South Dakota possesses Felix Vinateri’s papers and items, including his E-flat coronet, donated by his family. Finally, in appreciation of Felix Vinateri’s important contributions to nineteenth century South Dakota music, in 1981 the South Dakota Hall of Fame inducted him posthumously. (https://www.sdexcellence.org/Felix_Vinatieri_1981). Below is a photograph of Felix Vinatieri from the nomination. Felix Vinateri References: 1. Stephan R. Ward. An Early Assessment of the South Dakota Oral History Project, South Dakota History Journal, Volume 1, Issue 1, 1970. 2. Tristan Irwin. Custer’s Last Band: Original compositions of Felix Vinateri, Custer’s legendary bandmaster To be he. Vermillion Plain Talk, June 8, 2001. 3. Ryan Landis. Doctoral Dissertation: Opera on the prairie: a biographical and musical analysis of Felix Vinatieri and the American volunteer. University of Alabama, 2017. https://ir.ua.edu/items/c888cca8-83ba-410e-b9f3-ccb34410ce7a/full

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 University of South Dakota music composer and USD musicians were honored at the “Bicentennial Parade of American Music” in Washington DC on September 9 and 10. 1976. The “Cantata for Percussion and Tenor” (also called the 3rd movement of “Cantata for a Dedication”) by Robert Marek was performed by the University of South Dakota Percussion Ensemble. Frank Aiello was the tenor soloist. Dennis Ondrozek was his piano accompanist. The picture below is from the Vermillion Plain Talk, January 30, 1975. Left to right, Dennis Ondrozek, Frank Aiello, Courtland Swenson, Larry Torkelson, and Robert Marek. Information from “College of Fine Arts Participates in Bicentennial Musical Event Sept. 9: Washington DC Tour Available to Alumni”, South Dakotan, July 1976 and from Michael Marek, June 18, 2025. Archives and Special Collections has the Robert C. Marek papers. We also archive back copies of the Vermillion Plain Talk and the South Dakotan.

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)

"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.