Archives & Special Collections

The Mabel K. Richardson Collection is made up of distinct manuscript collections focusing primarily on South Dakota and the surrounding region. These papers include correspondence, photographs, journals, scrapbooks, maps, and other manuscript materials. The Richardson Collection covers a wide variety of subjects but concentrates on the people, places, and events in South Dakota's cultural, political, and economic history.

The papers of many South Dakota elected officials are found in the collection, including governors, state legislators, U.S. Representatives, and U.S. Senators. Highlights include the papers of Governor Richard F. Kneip (1971-1978), Governor Peter Norbeck (1917-1936), Dakota Territorial Legislator and U. S. Senator Horace J. Austin (1865-1867, 1891-1891), U.S. Representative William Williamson (1921-1933), and U.S. Senator James Abourezk (1971-1979).

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The Herman P. Chilson Collection includes books, journals, maps, pamphlets, and print materials relating to local histories, South Dakota history, Native American cultures, and United States western expansion. Rare books by national and international authors are held in the Chilson Collection as well. Among the items in the Chilson Collection are books in the Norwegian language, Lakota and Dakota dictionaries, and one of the first translations of the Bible into the Dakota language by Stephen Return Riggs. Included are first edition works by South Dakota authors such as Ole Rolvaag, Native American authors such as Vine Deloria, Jr. and regional authors such as Willa Cather and John G. Neihardt. There are extensive materials on General George Custer and the Battle of Little Bighorn as well as both historical events at Wounded Knee.

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The USD Photograph Collection comprises negatives, prints, postcards, and slides. Works by student photographers, Coyote yearbook photographers, Volante photographers, News Bureau photographers, official campus photographers, as well as professional photographers hired on a special project or temporary basis are included in the collection. Alumni and others have donated materials to the collection. 

Major subjects are academics, alumni, athletics, buildings and campus views, events, offices and programs, organizations and activities, South Dakota, staff, students, and Vermillion. 

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The USD Archives holds the records of the academic and administrative departments of USD as well as materials relating to the history of USD and the activities of its students, faculty, and alumni. The primary purpose of the USD Archives is to collect and preserve records pertaining to the origin and history of the University of South Dakota. The collection materials date back as far as the 1862 founding of the University.

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Holding more than 4,800 books, periodicals, pamphlets, and ephemera, the Mahoney Music Collection is one of the most complete collections in the United States pertaining to stringed instruments, particularly the violin family of instruments. The collection not only provides a wealth of research and teaching opportunities for faculty and students, but also offers a chance for outside researchers to access a large range of rare materials in one location.

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The Lommen Health Sciences Rare Books is a small collection of rare medical texts, objects, and films. Materials in this collection range from 1735-1980 and cover a variety of health and medical sciences topics including human anatomy, pharmacopeia, and virology.

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The Health Sciences Archives holds the administrative records and history of the USD School of Medicine.

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Special Collections Books houses monographs and bound volumes that have been selected for preservation for having historical and cultural significance. Items in this collection include titles from the University Libraries’ general collections, books donated with manuscript collections, and publications from university faculty and alumni.

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Documents and publications issued by South Dakota state agencies are retained permanently for the purpose of historical research.

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