#AskAnArchivist Day is October 1!

On Thursday October 1, 2015, archivists around the country will join you on Twitter to answer all questions archival. Sponsored by the Society of American Archivists, you can learn more about how archivists are working every day to preserve historical materials like photographs, documents, audio and video and digital materials. If you have always wondered what archivists do all day or how you should preserve all your computer files, #AskAnArchivist Day is the perfect opportunity to get your questions answered. You can get to know more about your local archives or pose a question for archivists everywhere.

USD Archives and Special Collections is home to the rare books, manuscripts and archives department of the University Libraries with our manuscript strengths in South Dakota political, cultural and economic history and USD history. Our book collections focus on South Dakota history, Native American culture and the Western expansion of the United States as well as the history of the violin family of instruments.

The South Dakota Oral History Center collects and preserves the voices of the people of the Northern Plains. Included are over 5,500 interviews preserving the historical, social and cultural history of the state with the two largest collections pertaining to preserving indigenous memories and experiences from 1890s to present as well as interviews with South Dakotans from every county in the state.

How does it work?
To participate, tweet your questions and include the hashtag #AskAnArchivist. You can ask your question directly to USD Archives and Special Collections by including @USD_AandSC or to the South Dakota Oral History Center @SDOHC.

So get your questions ready and join us on Twitter on October 1 at #AskAnArchivist.

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The Gilbert C. Fite Papers

Gilbert C. Fite, Ph.D., a noted historian and USD alumnus, passed away on July 13, 2010. Dr. Fite, in 2002, arranged for the donation of his professional papers to the Archives and Special Collections. His son, James Fite, completed the donation in early 2011. The papers of Dr. Fite are a trove of correspondence, research files, and writings from his distinguished career as a professor of history at the University of Oklahoma and the University of Georgia. The collection also reflects his service to the profession of history as president of the Western Historical Association, the Agricultural Historical Association, and the Southern Historical Association.  The Farmers’ Frontier, 1865-1900 and Peter Norbeck, Prairie Statesman stand among his scholarly works that earned him high regard in the field of history. The Archives and Special Collections is honored to serve as the home for his papers.  In 1975, USD conferred an Honorary Doctor of Literature upon Fite.  .

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