South Dakota Oral History Center

The South Dakota Oral History Center collects and preserves voices of the people of the Northern Plains through a collection of more than 5500 interviews.

Contact Us

I.D. Weeks Library, Room 322
414 E. Clark St.
Vermillion SD 57069

Office Hours

Monday - Friday
9 - 5 p.m.

605-658-3382

sdohc@usd.edu

website

The Collections

The South Dakota Oral History Center currently houses six unique collections containing nearly 6000 recordings and growing.

With its first 1,100 recordings funded by a grant from Doris Duke in 1966, this collection has grown to contain approximately 1,800 recordings pertaining to Native American history, especially that of the northern Great Plains. More than fifty tribal nations are represented in the AIRP. USD gathered the majority of these oral history recordings in the 1960s and 1970s through the work of Joseph Harper Cash and Herbert T. Hoover, both longtime professors at the University of South Dakota. The gathering of recordings for the AIRP was not discontinued at the end of the grant, but has continued into the twenty-first century, ensuring the continued growth and usage of this important collection.

Search the AIRP Collection

With more than 3200 recordings, this large collection covers a wide range of topics. The project's original charge was to interview people from every county in South Dakota, which led to over 2,450 taped interviews collected between 1970 and 1977.

Search the SDOHP Collection

This is the Oral Diary of Father Stanislaus Maudlin, as well as many other recordings he made at Blue Cloud Abbey, a Catholic mission near Martin, South Dakota.

An independently collected group of recordings that was generously donated to the South Dakota Oral History Center, it contains nearly 300 recordings collected between the late 1950s and early 1980s.

Dating back to the early 1950s, this independently collected body of nearly 300 recordings contains a large amount of Native American music.

The most recent addition to the center, this collection contains recordings detailing the lives and experiences of people in the Northern Plains and was made possible thanks to the generous funds provided by Carina Lindley.

Request an Interview or Transcript

If you are interested in using an interview or transcript for your research, please fill out this form. This link is for oral histories only. Individuals seeking academic record transcripts should contact the USD Office of the Registrar.

Interview & Request Form

Policies & Fees

The South Dakota Oral History Center is a resource to the university and a larger external community. Please review the policies and procedures below to familiarize yourself with the cost and requirements associated with our materials.