The Archives and Special Collections has a collection of 386 maps that we believe are associated with the Great Depression federal relief programs. All the maps are identified to a town or county in South Dakota. Most indicate the type of project they are associated with, such as street surfacing. Most have dates from 1939 to 1942, but some are undated. Some indicate that they are associated with a WPA project. During the Great Depression in the United States, several federal programs were created to stimulate the economy. These programs were both direct relief and work projects; impacted most of South Dakota’s counties, cities, and towns; and resulted in many construction projects. Some of the relief programs were: Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) Agriculture Adjustment Act (AAA) National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) Public Works Administration (PWA) Civil Works Administration (CWA) Work Progress Administration (WPA) National Youth Administration (NPA) Subsistence Homesteads and the Resettlement Administration Federal Art Projects The author of Federal Relief Construction in South Dakota 1929 – 1941 classified the structures funded wholly or partially by these relief programs into the following subtypes: post offices courthouses municipal buildings police stations, fire departments, and jails military facilities waterworks power and heating plants storm sewers and sewage treatment plants sanitary privies telephone lines libraries and museums primary and secondary schools college and university buildings lakes, dams, and waterways wildlife refuges and fish hatcheries forestry stations fire lookouts shelterbelts, terraces, contour lines, and pasture furrows auditoriums and community buildings fairgrounds and rodeo grounds structures sports and recreation structures swimming pools and bathhouses parks, campgrounds, and picnic grounds resorts and lodges scenic byways hospitals county poor farms and welfare offices housing projects work camp buildings and structures highways, streets, and sidewalk projects bridges airport facilities Information is from: Dennis, Michelle L. Federal Relief and Construction in South Dakota, 1929 – 1941. Pierre, SD: South Dakota State Historic Preservation Office, 1998.

Edna and Mabel Townsley Women’s History The following collections in the Archives and Special Collections are by or about women: American Association of University Women Anderberg, Ina Anderson, Rebecca Collection on Whiteclay, Nebraska Beede Family Breeden, Jane Rooker Broughall, V.V.H. [textiles] Cooper-Foote, Dorothy (Wright) Cramer, Petrea Diaries Dillion, Charles H. and Frances J. Scrapbook Dimmick, Lauretta Edelen, Mary B. Egge, Ruth March Faculty Woman’s Club Hammond, Dephane Jones, Mildred McEwan Lommen, Grace D. Eldridge Mills, Ellen S. [In Single Folder Collection] Moses, Ruth West National Organization for Women (NOW), Vermillion Chapter Presidents Series (USD), Asher, Betty Turner, 1989-1996 Pyle, Gladys, 1890- Pyle, Mamie I (Shields), 1866-1949 Rubida, Ruth Shoemaker, Gretchen Gall Smith, Effie Farris [In Single Folder Collection] South Dakota Advocacy Network for Women South Dakota State Fair [In Single Folder Collection] Townsley, Mabel Visser, Audrae, [In Single Folder Collection] Wasesa Club, Vermillion, South Dakota Weeks, I.D. and Virginia Wheeler, Anna Johnson Pell Williams, Elizabeth Evenson [In Single Folder Collection] Women’s Research Conference – USD Worthen, Bill [In Single Folder Collection] Yellow Robe, Rosebud [In Single Folder Collection] Some of the collections by women do not contain material that is gender related. Other collections are not about women but contain some material about women. Check also our photograph collections, publication collections, organization records, alumni records, family histories, and genealogies. Image is from the Mabel Townsley papers

The Richard Deo Grass collection (MS 254) is now open to researchers. The 4.5 linear feet of material spans the years 1950’s-2010, with the bulk of the material dated 1980-2010. Richard Deo Grass was born on May 29, 1939, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. He was raised off the reservation in Alliance, Nebraska and Scottsbluff, Nebraska. He served in the United States Marine Corp from March 3, 1957, to March 5, 1963. Grass was an activist for the rights of indigenous peoples. He represented the Lakota Nation at the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) and at the United Nations. He spoke at international conferences and universities in the Netherlands, Denmark, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Canada, Alaska, and Geneva. Grass spoke for the Lakota Dakota Nakota (LDN) Tribal Nation at the United States Supreme Court in defense of Native American claims to the Black Hills. He played a pivotal role in persuading his people to reject the Black Hills monetary award dockets A and B. The collection is organized into eight series: Correspondence, Biographical and Personal Files, Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), Tribal and Court Records, News Clippings, Ephemera, Media, and Photographs. Grass died on December 23, 2010, in Rapid City, South Dakota and is buried at the Black Hills National Cemetery in Sturgis, Meade County, South Dakota. Contact the Archives and Special Collections for a copy of the guide to the collection. Richard Grass 17 Years old in U.S.M.C

Although Edith Wharton may be best known for her novels analyzing New York’s upper crust, the author lived in France from 1907 until her death in 1937. There, she witnessed the ravages of World War I, especially the hardships endured by refugees. She helped by establishing The Children of Flanders Relief Committee and The American Hostels for Refugees. To raise money for her charities, she edited this work of poems, essays, and pictures. Contributors include some of the brightest names of the time — Joseph Conrad, Jean Cocteau, Paul Claudel, Thomas Hardy, Henry James, Maurice Maeterlinck, George Santayana, Igor Stravinsky, and W.B. Yeats. Theodore Roosevelt provided the introduction, in which he wrote: We owe to Mrs. Wharton all the assistance we can give. We owe this assistance to the good name of America, and above all for the cause of humanity we owe it to the children, the women and the old men who have suffered such dreadful wrong for absolutely no fault of theirs. EDITH WHARTON (1862-1937) is the author of The House of Mirth, Ethan Frome, The Custom of the Country, and The Age of Innocence, for which she won the Pulitzer Prize. For her charitable work, she was awarded the French Legion of Honor and other decorations. Quote from the publisher comments on Powell’s Books website http://www.powells.com/biblio?inkey=61-9781596050600-2 (accessed 2013 January 30). This book can be found in the Chilson Collection at the University of South Dakota, call number D526 .W5 1916b.

The object is from the Tom Brokaw papers. The archivist and the staff of the Archives and Special Collections write guides to our collections, papers, and records called finding aids. These are the finding aids we finished during October, November, and December 2023: Cathy Beard Correspondence with Linda Hasselstrom Beresford Train Depot records Tom Brokaw papers Bulow House records John Davidson Missouri River Law collection Ella Erickson Scrapbook James R. Legg papers William Selz notebooks William H. Thomas papers Tri-State Polio Survivors Valencia and Vermillion: an artists’ exchange portfolio John Willis. Mni Wiconi and Requiem for the Innocent Content Descriptions: Cathy Beard Correspondence with Linda Hasselstrom This collection is correspondence between Linda Hasselstrom and Cathy Beard. These are Cathy’s critiques of poems sent to her by Linda. Cathy Beard is an artist living in Vermillion, South Dakota. Linda Hasselstrom is an author living on a ranch near Hermosa, South Dakota. Beresford Train Depot records This collection consists of material related to the Beresford, South Dakota Train Depot, mainly correspondence about goods arriving and leaving the depot from 1941 to 1949. The paper in this collection is brittle and fragile. Copying or scanning may be restricted. Tom Brokaw papers This collection consists of awards and objects given to Tom Brokaw between 1996 to 2011. Mr. Brokaw is a retired NBC television network news anchor. He is also the author of several books. Tom Brokaw was born in 1940 and graduated from the University of South Dakota in 1962 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science. Bulow House records This collection consists of documents related to the ownership of Bulow House in Beresford, South Dakota. William J. Bulow was Governor of South Dakota from 1927-1931 and U.S. Senator from 1931-1943. Formats include correspondence, photographs, and printed documents. The paper in this collection is brittle and fragile. Copying or scanning may be restricted. John Davidson Missouri River Law collection This collection is documents and books (1985-2018) pertaining to water resource law and policy as it relates to the Missouri River. Dr. Davidson was a professor at the University of South Dakota Law School. Ella Erickson Scrapbook This collection consists of an USD Alumna scrapbook, dated 1914 to 1918, containing photographs and general university related ephemera. The scrapbook is fragile. Copying or scanning may be restricted. James Legg papers This collection is focused on James Russell Legg Jr., a BIA official during the 1973 Wounded Knee Occupation, and contains documents from 1900-2012. Two important series are photographs Legg took under the supervision of the FBI in the immediate aftermath of the Occupation of Wounded Knee and a comprehensive collection of the Oglala Lights Newspaper from 1903-1920. William Selz notebooks This collection consists of notebooks that contain William Selz’s thoughts and reactions to books and ideas. Also included id his experiences surrounding his wife’s death. William Selz was a professor of English at the University of South Dakota 1959-1974. William H. Thomas papers This collection consists of personal correspondence, photographs, writings, and ephemera related to William H. Thomas who served with the 1st South Dakota Volunteer Infantry in the Spanish-American War. He enlisted in the 1st South Dakota Volunteer Infantry Company C on May 14, 1898 at Yankton, SD. Tri-State Polio Survivors This collection contains the administrative and office documents for Tri-State Polio Survivors, Inc., a non-profit organization with the purpose of creating resources, education, and support centers for polio survivors and their families. Often shortened to TSPS in documents and newsletters, the organization existed to provide support and information to survivors of polio and those experiencing Post-Polio Syndrome in South Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa. Valencia and Vermillion: an artists’ exchange portfolio This collection contains artists’ works donated to the University Libraries from artists from the Departamento de Dibujo (Department of Drawing), Facultad de Bellas Artes de Valencia (Faculty of Fine Arts), Universidad Politécnica de Valencia (Polytechnic University of Valencia – UPV), Valencia, Spain. Also, in this collection are materials documenting the exhibitions and exchange. John Willis. Mni Wiconi and Requiem for the Innocent This collection contains 15 inkjet photographs from the series Mni Wiconi, which depicts a protest movement against an energy pipeline project in 2016. This collection also contains Requiem for the Innocent, which is an inkjet photograph portfolio centering on the mass shooting in an El Paso, Texas Walmart in 2019. John Willis is a photographer whose personal work and teaching typically fall within the social documentary genre.

The archivist and staff of the Archives and Special Collections write guides to our collections, papers, and records called finding aids and collection inventories. Some of the finding aids and collection inventories finished during 2024: Crow Creek Site collection Day (John) collection on Arthur Amiotte Fahsing (William Frederick) papers Gallup-Livingston (Mary) papers Holm (Richard) notebook Johnson (John A.) Alumni photographs McKusick (Marshall B.) papers McMaster (William Henry) papers Northern Great Plains Resource Program Pommersheim (Frank) papers Williamson (William) papers Willman (Ron and Lois) ephemera Content Descriptions: Crow Creek Site collection This collection contains material related to the osteological lab analysis of a Plains Coalescent archaeological site. Date range of lab work 1978 – 2012. Day (John) collection on Arthur Amiotte The John Day collection on Arthur Amiotte was collected by John Day. It contains mostly documents pertaining to the creation of the Arthur Amiotte: Retrospective Exhibition, Continuity and Diversity book and exhibition. Date range 1962 – 2010. Fahsing (William Frederick) papers This collection pertains to William Fahsing and his work with the Technology Training Program and the Electro Technical Education Company on the Yankton Indian Reservation and at Greenwood, SD. Date range 1948 – 1974. Gallup-Livingston (Mary) papers This collection is composed of books on Whitewood, SD. Date range 2013-2014. Holm (Richard) notebook This collection is Richard Holm’s class notes from Gross Anatomy class, fall 1971-spring 1972. Johnson (John A.) Alumni photographs The John A. Johnson Alumni Photographs contain articles and photographs related to Vermillion, SD, and specifically the University of South Dakota, during the 1910s. McKusick (Marshall B.) papers The Marshall B. McKusick papers are comprised of notes and correspondence centered around the University of South Dakota and its School of Law from 1899 to 1949. The papers reflect two passions in McKusick’s life: law and sports. McMaster (William Henry) papers This collection contains materials primarily related to the work of William Henry McMaster during his time as South Dakota governor and US senator from South Dakota. Date range of most of the material 1923 – 1929. Northern Great Plains Resource Program The Northern Great Plains Resource records contain material from studies submitted by the Northern Great Plains Resource Program. The material related to resource development and Native American land rights. Date range 1974 – 1975. Pommersheim (Frank) papers The Frank Pommersheim papers revolve around two individuals. The first is Frank Pommersheim, a judge, lawyer, and teacher who has spent almost 40 years in the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in a legal capacity and a law professor at USD for almost 30 years. The second is Frederick Nichols papers during his time as a judge during the Wounded Knee trials from 1974-1975. Date range 1973 – 2008. Williamson (William) papers The Williamson Papers consist of manuscripts, typescripts, and print materials including correspondence, diaries and items relating to Indian jurisdictional legislation, reclamation, and the Mount Rushmore National Memorial. The materials range from 1892-1958. The material revolves around party politics (sometimes involving the Homestake Company) in the early 20th Century, local legal cases in Pennington County and regarding Native Americans, voting among Pine Ridge Indians, and the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Committee. Willman (Ron and Lois) ephemera The collection contains 2 fossils from the Missouri River, a bottle containing 2 bullets from the Civil War, a Calvary Patch, and a military belt buckle.

An outdoor theatre begun at the close of [WWI] by Clarence Lyon was formally inaugurated in June, 1920, with a commencement play. Located in a former wasteland back of the Science Hall [and between the Pardee Estee Laboratory and the National Music Museum] it emerged throughout the next ten years as a moderately attractive facility. A sloping grass amphitheater faced westward toward an elevated leveled stage, both surrounded by linden trees and buckhorn hedges supplied by the Women’s Art Club and honeysuckle bushes donated by [USD President] Slagle. From Cedric Cummins, The University of South Dakota, 1862-1966, 1975, page 167. 1917-1918 USD campus map. The outdoor theater was located near the yellow star. Number 3 was the Science Building, and that building is now gone. Number 6 is now the National Music Museum. Number 8 is now the Pardee Estee Laboratory. The first commencement play in 1920 was Prunella. The principal parts were played by Professor Clarence Lyon and Mrs. Lyon. From the Alumni Quarterly, July 1920, page 59. Prunella The second commencement play in 1921 was Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night or What You Will performed by the Shakespearean Playhouse Players of New York City. From the Alumni Quarterly, July 1921, page 68.

Thirty years ago this month, the World Archaeological Congress gathered at the University of South Dakota and crafted the Vermillion Accord on Human Remains. All six principles of the accord emphasize respect. 1. Respect for the mortal remains of the dead shall be accorded to all, irrespective of origin, race, religion, nationality, custom and tradition. 2. Respect for the wishes of the dead concerning disposition shall be accorded whenever possible, reasonable and lawful, when they are known or can be reasonably inferred. 3. Respect for the wishes of the local community and of relatives or guardians of the dead shall be accorded whenever possible, reasonable and lawful. 4. Respect for the scientific research value of skeletal, mummified and other human remains (including fossil hominids) shall be accorded when such value is demonstrated to exist. 5. Agreement on the disposition of fossil, skeletal, mummified and other remains shall be reached by negotiation on the basis of mutual respect for the legitimate concerns of communities for the proper disposition of their ancestors, as well as the legitimate concerns of science and education. 6. The express recognition that the concerns of various ethnic groups, as well as those of science are legitimate and to be respected, will permit acceptable agreements to be reached and honoured. Archives and Special Collections has material from this meeting in the World Archaeological Congress and Anthropology/Archaeology Department collections.

Have you seen the concrete USD letters? They can be found by going to lower Vermillion and turning east on Burbank Road. The letters are in the vicinity of the golf course. This project “… was a successful effort by the Vermillion Association of Women’s Clubs (Civic Council) to construct large white USD letters on the hillside east of town, visible from the railroad and main highway. By means of a jubilee celebration during commencement week of 1921 and other activities, the women netted $1,200. On June 9, 1922, therefore, they proudly presented the completed letters to the school. That fall, a yearly tradition was born when the upperclassmen rounded up freshmen from the campus and marched them in the dark to the hill where they applied a fresh coat of paint, finishing about midnight.” Quote the from Cedric Cummins’ The University of South Dakota, 1862-1966. Vermillion, SD: Dakota Press, 1975. Pages 169-170. USD Archives, in its Buildings, Other Structures, and Utilities collection, has an architectural drawing of the concrete letters. Image by William Ranney. For information on other hillside letters, see Evelyn Corning’s Hillside Letters A to Z: A Guide to Hometown Landmarks. Mountain Press Publishing Company. 2007

William Lyon was born and grew up in Vermillion, SD. His widow Winona Lyon donated the land containing the beautiful palisades to the state of South Dakota. Additional land will be added to the park during the summer of 2024, doubling the size of the park. Palisades State Park is one of the most unique areas in South Dakota. Split Rock Creek, which flows through the park, is lined with Sioux quartzite formations varying from shelves several feet above the water to 50-foot vertical cliffs. The description of the park is from State Parks web site, https://gfp.sd.gov/parks/detail/palisades-state-park/ (accessed 11/12/2022). The Archives and Special Collections has the William H. Lyon papers. The postcard is from South Dakota postal cards. A collection of cards of early South Dakota, Chilson Collection, University of South Dakota, F656 .S63x. This collection has about 150 postcards showing towns, buildings, tourist spots and scenery, animals, trains, boats, agricultural activities, pasque petals, etc.