The earliest atlas of Dakota Territory in the Chilson Collection is Andreas’ Historical Atlas of Dakota published in 1884. Andreas’ atlas has county maps showing physical and cultural features, though the majority of the atlas is general thematic histories, county histories, biographies, and business descriptions. During the late 19th century, many state and county land ownership atlases were sold door-to-door through advance subscriptions, similar to the way dictionaries, bibles, and encyclopedias were sold. Some subscribers paid a higher rate to have their biographies, business notices, location of their farm, and pictures of themselves and their farm placed in the atlas. Often in areas with smaller populations, county maps were offered instead of county atlases. Alfred T. Andreas was not a surveyor or a cartographer, as were many involved in the atlas and map business. He was an entrepreneur who learned how to organize and to lead large and complex operations while in the army, skills that he used to produce numerous maps, atlases, and histories while employing salesmen, field surveyors, biographers, portrait takers, illustrators, and cartographers. From 1867 to 1884, he published 23 county atlases “illustrated in a lavish style, developed to a degree anticipated by none, and imitated by few,” three state atlases “on a grand scale seen neither before nor since,” and many county, state, and city histories. Many years after his state atlases, he published the less elaborate historical atlas of Dakota Territory. The entire Andreas’ atlas can be viewed on the Digital Library of South Dakota. Information and quotes from “Maps for the Masses: Alfred T. Andreas and the Midwestern County Atlas Trade,” in Chicago Mapmakers: Essays on the Rise of the City’s Map Trade, edited by Michael P. Conzen. Chicago: Chicago Historical Society for the Chicago Map Society, 1984, pp. 46-63.

Within the Mahoney Music Collection, is a wonderful collection of illustrated Lyon and Healy catalogs. The Lyon and Healy Company was started in 1864 in Chicago by George W. Lyon and Patrick J. Healy. They began with a sheet music store but soon expanded into instrument selling and manufacturing. In 1871, “Healy developed a new merchandising tool, a ‘picture book’ or illustrated catalog that went against the secret-price and sales-from-samples tradition of that era.” At the turn of the century Lyon & Healy was the largest music house in the world. During the 1970s, Lyon and Healy downsized their services and products to concentrate on their world-famous harps. Information from the Media Room \ Lyon & Healy http://www.lyonhealy.com/press.htm (accessed 2012 June 5) Catalogs can help identify an instrument while at the same time provide details such as specifications, prices, and types of material used in construction. They can show changes in styles and public tastes. They can also provide company history. For more information on the research value of product, manufacturers, or trade catalogs, see How to Find Trade Catalogs in the Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov/rr/main/trade.html (accessed 2012 May 19) and Smithsonian Institution Libraries’ Trade Literature Collection http://www.sil.si.edu/tradeliterature/ (accessed 2012 May 19). Most of our Lyon and Healy catalogs are on the Digital Library of South Dakota.

In addition to books, magazines, pamphlets, and ephemera, the Mahoney Music Collection also contains unpublished material such as the John Gould’s Violin Instrument Appraisals – 1945-1984. This collection is 2 linear feet of violin appraisal and identification forms. The Gould material is a “wealth of day-to-day material covering years in the life of an important regional early US luthier” (Mahoney 2012). John Alfred Gould, 1860-1944 was born in Windermere England in 1866, worked in Liverpool with W.F. Archer, went to Hamilton Canada in 1884, and settled in Boston where he worked for violin maker Orin Weeman in 1885. He opened his first shop in 1889. Four of his sons, Erik, Orin, Ronald, and Gilbert, and one grandson, Orrin Gould, worked for his company John A. Gould & Sons at various times. This company continued in Boston until the late 1980s. Gould designed his own violin model using solely American woods and using mostly oil varnish. His instruments were played throughout the United States. “Two of his violins were used in acoustic experiments conducted by Harvard University Professor Frederick Saunders in 1938, who compared them with Jascha Heifetz’s Guarneri del Gesu” (Mahoney 2012). Sources: Gould, John A. “The early violin makers of New England.” Journal of the Violin Society of America 16, no. 1 (1999): 1-76. Frequently Asked Questions. National Music Museum. http://orgs.usd.edu/nmm/FAQ.html#worth (accessed 2012 June 26). How to get a Musical Instrument Appraisal. Dwight Newton. http://mewzik.com/resources/appraisals.php (accessed 2012 June 9). John Alfred Gould. Johnson String Instrument. http://www.johnsonstring.com/american-collection/gould.php (accessed 2012 June 16). Mahoney, John. Email message to author, 2012 June 12.

Image above is from Andersen, H. C. (Hans Christian). Only a fiddler: and O.T. or life in Denmark. London: Richard Bentley, 1845. Here is a sample of the books about Denmark and the Danish culture in the Chilson Collection and the Mahoney Music Collection. Crichton, Andrew. Scandinavia, ancient and modern: being a history of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway: comprehending a description of these countries, an account of the mythology, government, laws, manners, and institutions of the early inhabitants, and of the present state of society, religion, literature, arts, and commerce. With illustrations of their natural history. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd, 1838. Chilson DL 46 .C75x 1838 Larsen, Anton Laurentius. Dansk-norsk-engelsk ordbog Kjøbenhavn, Gyldendalske boghandels forlag .F. Hegel & søn, 1880. Chilson PD 3640 .L18 Andersen, H. C. (Hans Christian). Only a fiddler: and O.T. or life in Denmark. London: Richard Bentley, 1845. Mahoney PT 8110. K8 E5 1845 Musikhistorisk museum. Das Musikhistorische Museum zu Kopenhagen: beschreibender Katalog. Kopenhagen: G.E.C. Gad; Leipzig: Kommissionsverlag von Breitkopf & Härtel, 1911. Mahoney ML 462 .C77 M84 1911 Hjorth, Arne. Danish violins and their makers. Copenhagen: E. Hjorth, 1963. Mahoney ML 404 .H55 1963 Happy Danish Days in Viborg South Dakota this July 20-22, 2012.

Recently the Archives and Special Collections initiated a project to convert the 16mm movie films in the Educational Media Film Collection to digital formats. We hope to digitally copy 5-10 films per year. These movie films were originally part of the Educational Media Center on the USD campus. Some of Ed Media’s 16mm films were transferred to the Archives and Special Collections when the film library disbanded in the early 1990s. Many of the films were produced for or by The University of South Dakota, and many of these are by Sanford Gray. The finding aid for this collection has recently been updated. The image below is from the movie What is the University?

In the Archives and Special Collections are watercolor reproductions of three University of South Dakota buildings: Slagle Auditorium (now called Aalfs Auditorium), the Carnegie Library (now houses the National Music Museum) and the Coyote Student Center (demolished in 2007, current location of the Muenster University Center). These images were created by Gray’s Watercolors. The Archives and Special Collections copies are in the Alumni Association Collection and the Buildings, Other Structures, and Utilities Collection. If you know when the images of the University’s buildings were made, please contact the Archives and Special Collections.

I recently attended the South Dakota State Historical Society 2013 History Conference. There were many great papers, but the one that stands out in my mind used maps plus a diary as primary resources. Graham Callaway talked about G.K. Warren’s 1856 maps of the Missouri River. These maps were only available at the National Archives, but are now published in the book by W. Raymond Wood and Graham Callaway from the State Historical Society of North Dakota. Hutton, a member of the expedition, also kept a journal of the expedition to map the river. Information from the diary helped the authors to interpret some of the symbols on the maps. There are 39 maps depicting the Missour River from what is now the Kansas-Nebraska border to the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers. Of special interest to me was the map showing the Vermillion area.

Corporal Walter Kasten, 1918, France. Image from Digital Library of South Dakota. The following collections in the Archives and Special Collections have content about the U.S. Military. Army Specialized Training Programs – WWII Austin, Horace– Civil War Beede Family – 1st Dakota Cavalry Bellamy, Paul E. – Spanish-American War Burton, Frederick – WWII Civil War Diary, Union Soldier, 1861-1863 Civilian Aeronautics Administration, USD Training Program, 1939-1945 Educational Media (Ed. Media) – VHS tape of “Citizenship, Leadership, and Character: The Korean War Generation, Then and Now” September 24, 2001 VHS tape of “Vietnam Experiences” April 27, 1995 Foss, Joseph Jacob – WWII Frost, A. S. – Spanish-American War Moses, Lloyd Roosevelt Command Papers – Korean War and WWII National Archives Tribal Records – WWI, Drafting of Indians 1918 and Indian Regiment 1918 Vietnam Veterans, South Dakota Oral History Check also our collections on photographs, publications, organizations, USD presidents, other USD administrators, alumni, and South Dakota politicians.

Fraser Harrison, British writer and author of speak on “A Visit to Yankton, the River City” at the W. H. Over Museum in Vermillion at 7:00 PM on Monday, June 17, 2013. In honor of his visit, I present the following travel and description books from the Chilson Collection. These books were written with a different purpose in mind. They were meant to entice emigrants to buy land in the territory. Armstrong, Moses Kimball. . Yankton, Dakota Territory: G.W. Kingsbury, 1866. Foster, James S. Yankton, Dakota Territory: M’Intyre & Foster, printers, Union and Dakotian office, 1870. Armstrong, Moses Kimball. [Sioux City, Iowa]: Sioux City Register printers, 1870. Cross, Fred J. . Yankton, Dakota Territory: Bowen & Kingsbury, printers., Press and Dakotaian office, 1876. Real Estate Association of the Corn Belt of South Dakota. . Yankton, SD: Press & Dakotaian printers, 1893. Batchelder, George Alexander. . Yankton, SD: Press Steam Power Printing Co., 1928. Reprint of 1870 original.

The Archives and Special Collections is acquiring digital copies of the 16mm films in the Educational Media Film Collection. We have just received this year’s DVDs from the company contracted to do the conversion. They are: The Great Lakes of South Dakota Happiest Gold Rush Ever Have You Really Seen South Dakota? Health Care: Crisis at Rosebud In the Interests of Time South Dakota Kaleidoscope Films converted last year are: Chiasma Snow Piece The University and You The Eternal Search Graduate Study: A Key to the Future University of South Dakota vs. South Dakota State University football game, unknown dates. These DVDs may be viewed in the Archives and Special Collections. The image above is from the movie What is the University?