There are no seas in the middle of the North America continent, so this is how we play on the water in South Dakota. #ArchivesUnderTheSea

Caption on photograph is “Ben shooting the V.R. [Vermillion River] rapids. Image from University of South Dakota Photograph Collection and Digital Library of South Dakota. Identifier PO5878.

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Look at the size of those books (and the cute baby)! #ArchivesBabies

A number of items from the 1893 Columbian World’s Fair South Dakota Building are at the University of South Dakota, but not the very large visitor’s register.

The photograph is from South Dakota at the World’s Fair. The Commission, 1894. The book with this photograph and other books about world’s fairs and expositions are in the Archives and Special Collections.

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Do you like the bird bookplates from our Herman P. Chilson Collection? They reflect Chilson’s love for birds and ornithology. #ArchivesForTheBirds

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Here’s a glittery book for #ArchivesSparkle.

Our book must have been striking when it was new in 1892 with its bright red velvet covers and shiny metal filigree corner embellishments.

Title is Perlen aus der Instrumenten-Sammlung von Paul de Wit, Leipzig, published in 1892 and is in our Mahoney Music Collection. The English title is Pearls from the instrument collection of Paul de Wit, Leipzig (Saxony).

The National Archives sponsors #ArchivesHashtagParty once a month, and December’s topic is #ArchivesSparkle. NARA invites archives to submit tweets about anything that glitters in their archives.

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Visit the Corn Palace in Mitchell SD.

Undated postcard from: South Dakota postal cards. A collection of cards of early South Dakota, CHILSON COLLECTION. F656 .S63x.

This year, make a trip to Mitchell to see the Corn Palace and/or visit our Archives and Special Collections to read about the once common Corn Palaces:

1976. Schutt, Robert. The Corn Palace Story: with a Description of Early South Dakota and Mitchell, and a Map Indicating South Dakota Indian Reservations. Dakota News. CHILSON COLLECTION. F659.M5 S39x.

1981. World’s Only Corn Palace. Goin Co. CHILSON COLLECTION. F659.M57 W67 1981.

2005. Nygard, Travis E. Oscar Howe and the Metaphorical Monarchy on Maize: Indigenism and Power in the Mitchell Corn Palace Panels, 1948-1971. Thesis (M.A., Art History). University of Pittsburgh. SPECIAL BOOKS. NA6750.A2 U62 2005.

2010. Nygard, Travis E., and Pamela H. Simpson. “Indians at the Corn Palaces : Race and Reception at Two Midwestern Festival Buildings.” Buildings & Landscapes. SPECIAL BOOKS. NA6750.A2 U63 2010.

2012. Simpson, Pamela H. (Pamela Hemenway). Corn Palaces and Butter Queens: a History of Crop Art and Dairy Sculpture. University of Minnesota Press. SPECIAL BOOKS. NA6750.A2 U6 2012.

Check out this online story about Oscar Howe, the painter, and the Corn Palace:

2016. Zimny, Michael. Gallery Documents Oscar Howe’s Long Legacy at the Corn Palace. South Dakota Public Broadcasting. https://www.sdpb.org/blogs/arts-and-culture/gallery-documents-oscar-howes-long-legacy-at-the-corn-palace/ (accessed 07/29/2022).

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Grand Old Maple, gone but not forgotten. #ArchivesTrees

On April 23, 1884, Arbor Day, students of the University [of South Dakota] planted a silver maple tree. One hundred years later on April 26, 1984, students and USD alumni celebrated the centennial birthday of South Dakota’s largest silver maple tree by planting 125 trees around campus. In an unfortunate storm on October 24, 1997, the Grand Old Maple suffered severe limb damage, and University officials deemed it necessary to cut down the South Dakota landmark. Students, faculty, staff, and community members said farewell to the Grand Old Maple at 9:00 a.m. on November 25, 1997.

Digital Library of South Dakota, ID P006056.

Library of Congress sponsors #ArchivesHashtagParty once a month. May’s topic is branching out and and celebrating trees.

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We love our Mahoney Music Collection. #ArchivesBookLove

This comprehensive music-related collection is mainly books, largely centered around stringed instruments, was created by John Mahoney, and is housed in the Archives and Special Collection at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, SD.

Library of Congress sponsors #ArchivesHashtagParty once a month. November’s topic is #ArchivesBookLove.

D’Alembert Diderot: Encyclopedie Raisonne Metiers, 1767

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A basketball team with members from two South Dakota colleges broke barriers by going to post-revolution Cuba in 1977 to play a Cuban national basketball team. #ArchivesAthletes

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.

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Tire chains will help your wheels go around and around – our contribution to #ArchivesOnWheels.

This advertisement is from the Official Automobile Blue Book, 1920. Vol. 10. This book is in our Special Collections Books collection and it is just full of maps, advertisements, and advice. I love this book for all that it tells us about traveling by car in 1920.

Library of Congress sponsors #ArchivesHashtagParty once a month, and June’s topic is #ArchivesOnWheels.

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Our contribution to #ArchivesYouAreHere is the Atlas photographique de la lune by Loewy and Puiseux, 1896-1910.

At 33 inches by 25 inches and weighing more than 50 pounds, this lunar atlas is the largest book in the Archives and Special Collection at USD. The moon was photographed through the Observatory of Paris’ telescope in the late 1890s, and the photographs used to produce photogravure plates for the atlas.

Library of Congress sponsors #ArchivesHashtagParty once a month, and March’s topic is #ArchivesYouAreHere. LOC invited groups to share their maps, astrolabes, star charts, tidal maps, compasses, globes, visitor guides, treasure maps, city plans, or even architectural drawings.

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