Unfinished Revolutions Power of Place We the People American Experiment Doing History These themes are suggested by the American Association for State and Local History in their pamphlet “The Field Guide for the Semiquincentennial Making History at 250”. Happy Archives Month

This mosaic was compiled by the Remote Sensing Institute at SDSU in Brookings, SD, in 1973 using satellite images from the first human-made Earth-observing satellite designed to study and monitor our planet’s landmasses. The satellite carried a camera and a scanner sensitive to four spectral bands (green, red, and two infrared bands). This map is a negative print of ERTS Band 7 (IR). After the first unassuming images, the Earth-observing satellite system grew from one to a group of satellites providing information about the Earth that is difficult to obtain from ground. A few examples are weather and climate, volcano monitoring, environmental degradation, disease detection, and infrastructure development. This mosaic is at the Archives and Special Collections in the Warren M. Lee papers. Information about the satellite, first called ERTS 1 then renamed Landsat 1, is from Landsat 1, http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/satellites/landsat-1/ (accessed 11/08/2024).

I found this great birds-eye view the of the USD campus in the Bulletin of the University of South Dakota, Announcement of the College of Medicine 1910-1911 (July 1910), Health Science Archives W 19.5 AS8 U58c. Notice how the main buildings make a u-shape. University catalogs (which were sometimes published as part of the Bulletin of the University of South Dakota series) are a good source of campus maps and drawings.

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 Chilson Collection. You can find them by searching the I.D. Weeks Library catalog with the subject terms cookery or cookbook. Cookbooks are a valuable historical source because “the study of culinary history isn’t about food – it’s about the people who prepare and consume this food.” (Sarah Lohman. Eight flavors: the untold story of American cuisine. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2016, p. xvii.)

Y2K was a potential computer problem that could have occurred when the year changed from 1999 to 2000. The William J. Janklow papers contain information about the taskforce that was formed to solve any issues that may materialize in South Dakota.

While researching another topic, I recently found in a 1975 Volante student newspaper that the League of Women Voters established an all-volunteer recycling center in Vermillion SD, and it was in a restructured building below the bluff. The article does not mention when. If you know when this recycling center started and stopped, please let me know. Newspapers are a good source for historical events and learning about a community. You are invited to peruse our collection of Volante student newspapers in the Archives and Special Collections. We have issues of the Volante going back to the 1880s. The picture above is the Global Selfie. On Earth Day 2014, NASA invited people around the world to step outside to take a “selfie” and share it with the world on social media. NASA then created a mosaic image of Earth entirely from those photos.

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’ sesquicentennial (150th) celebration in 1926. The Virginia State Chamber of Commerce released a reproduction of the July 26, 1776, edition of the Virginia Gazette, which they claim was the first time the Declaration of Independence was published in a newspaper. Title in the library catalog: –In Congress, July 4, 1776. A declaration by the representatives of the United States of America, in general congress assembled. Collection: Herman P. Chilson Collection of Western Americana. Call number: E221 .U55x G39. Title: The Field Guide for the Semiquincentennial: Making History at 250.

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 a miniature book” (Library of Congress. Descriptive cataloging manual: B15; https://www.loc.gov/aba/publications/FreeDCM/DCM/B15.pdf; accessed 07/28/2025). The Miniature Book Society utilizes 3 inches instead of 10 centimeters (Miniature Book Society; https://mbs.org; accessed 10/01/2025). Miniature books occupy an interesting place in the history of bookmaking. A few reasons for printing miniature books are to make books easier to carry in your pocket or reticule and easier to use discretely (Miniature Book Society; https://mbs.org; accessed 10/01/2025). The Chilson Collection is a great place to find book examples of the history of constructing books. The books pictured above are: Thomas, Peter, and Donna Thomas. Celia Fiennes: A Record of 17th Century Papermaking. Santa Cruz, CA: Peter & Donna Thomas, 1990. CHILSON COLLECTION TS1095.G7 C45 1990. Hunter, Dard. Dard Hunter: A Short Biography. Santa Cruz, CA: Peter & Donna Thomas, 1989. CHILSON COLLECTION TS1098.H8 H87 1989. Ford, Alla T., and Dick Martin. The Musical Fantasies of L. Frank Baum. Hong Kong: Ford Press, 1969. CHILSON COLLECTION PS3503.A923 Z65 1969.

We are tracing the history of a troll figurine which stands on the top of a filing cabinet in the Archives and Special Collections. Because it is not associated with an archival collection, we think it belonged to someone who worked in the library or archives. Our first full-time archivist writes that it was here when she started in 1986. The troll has a sign around his neck stating, “The Norwegian Archive Troll” and “Art. No. 118”, and he is about 6 inches tall. Maybe it is a NyForm Troll #118. Please contact the Archives and Special Collections if you have information about this object, or if you have the perfect name for him.

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 have volumes 1, 3, and 5.