The South Dakota State University Archives and Special Collections contains the university archives and material related to South Dakota history and life. The collections include manuscript and archival materials, books, serials, audiovisual materials and photographs.
Collections
Senator Thomas A. Daschle Congressional Papers
Acquired in 2005, the Thomas A. Daschle Career Papers Collection consists of more than 2,000 linear feet of materials and over 0.5 Tb of digital objects. The collection includes correspondence and records, photographs, audiotapes, videotapes and other materials covering Daschle's professional life.
University Archives
South Dakota State University's historically significant records consist of administrative, departmental, and student organization records. Also included are university publications, faculty papers, photographs and audio-visual materials.
Manuscript Archives
Collections contain noteworthy materials that document the lives and activities of SDSU alumni, as well as the development of the region surrounding the university, including local organizations, businesses and community members.
Regional Collections
The collection features historical materials about the Brookings area, with the majority coming from the George and Evelyn Norby Collection. This includes local newspapers, photographs, telephone directories and promotional materials from area businesses.
Digital Archives
The South Dakota State University Archives and Special Collections holds a vast array of historical materials. We are actively working to digitize these items, making them easily accessible online. Our collections can be viewed on the Digital Library of South Dakota and Open PRAIRIE, SDSU’s institutional repository.
Rare Books and Artifacts
The SDSU Archives houses a collection of rare books, artifacts, and other unique materials. Rare books, including those with special content, format, or historical value, are preserved due to their fragile or valuable nature.
Notable items include Dakota Tawaxitku Kin (1850-1852), one of the earliest Dakota language publications, as well as Vera Way Marghab's Rare Book Collection, an Evelyn T. Hubbard painting of the Old Central and Old North buildings at SDSU, four Gray's watercolors depicting SDSU scenes, illuminated manuscript pages from the 13th to 15th centuries, and the Cuneiform Tablet Collection consists of five Sumerian Cuneiform tablets from 2350-2000 BCE.
South Dakota Collection
The South Dakota Collection consists of books and other materials related specifically to South Dakota, including works by South Dakota authors. Highlights include biographies, county and town histories, plat books, and South Dakota poetry books. Permanently housed in the Archives Reading Room, these items cannot be checked out and must be accessed on-site.
South Dakota Community Cookbook Collection
The South Dakota Community Cookbook Collection features cookbooks created by schools, churches, hospitals, families, and various organizations across the state. This collection preserves the cultural and food history of South Dakota's communities.
Prairie Striders Running Club
In 1969, Bob Bartling and a group of like-minded individuals founded the Prairie Striders Running Club to promote running, fellowship, and health. Bartling began collecting books and magazines related to running and track and field, leading to the establishment of the Prairie Striders Running Club Library in 1978. The library now holds over 600 books, around 5,000 periodicals and newsletters, and includes race results from 16 annual events.
Jim Koch Amateur Wrestling Collection
The Jim Koch Amateur Wrestling Collection features wrestling books and bound volumes of Amateur Wrestling News, the nation's oldest and most respected wrestling publication. The collection once belonged to Jim Koch, a South Dakota State University graduate and esteemed college wrestling coach. In 2017, Koch’s family donated the collection to Briggs Library, facilitated by library volunteer Bob Bartling, who also created an index for issues of Amateur Wrestling News.