Ralph Vandercook Collection
Content Description
The collection consists of items relating to Ralph Vandercook and family of Fort Pierre (S.D.). Ralph Vandercook was born at Springfield (IL) on December 14, 1879. In 1907, he graduated with a degree in civil engineering from the University of Kentucky. That same year he came to South Dakota and lived at Fort Pierre where he worked in real estate and farming. He was assistant state engineer from 1909 to 1912 and served in the state House of Representatives from 1923 to 1926 representing Stanley and Haakon Counties. He was also president of the South Dakota Realtors Association. Mr. Vandercook died in Pierre on June 14, 1954. The collection consists of various items including: Vandercook family photos, school children photographs, Vandercook home images in Fort Pierre, Order of the Eastern Star certificate, Vandercook real estate agent brochure titled, “Farm and Ranch Property in Central South Dakota,” a reprint photo of the Vandercook brothers, Oahe Dam closure ceremony postcard and brochure, color family photos from 1951, Pierre High School diploma for Betty Vandercook from 1936, South Dakota Association of Realtors annual convention brochure, certificate and medal from 1953 for Mr. Vandercook, a South Dakota Legislative Handbook from 1923 and a South Dakota Family Tree certificate for Ralph Diggins. The collection also includes two photo albums of images (FB 520) with various topics. Topics in the first album include family camping scenes, Bear Butte, Bear Butte Creek, images labeled “Chinese in Sturgis” and homestead images. The second album includes wheat field scenes in Stanley County in 1942, Vandercook family scenes, Mount Rushmore and parade scenes from the Pierre Days of ’81 parade in Pierre. The map folder (MD 329) includes a map from Pierre, ca. 1960s which includes written in land notes in northwester Pierre and a copy of the Pierre Daily Signal dated September 30, 1883 with the main story on the laying of the cornerstone of the Hughes County Courthouse in Pierre.
Acquisition Type
Gift
Restrictions Apply
No
Dates
- ca. 1930s-1950s
Extent
0.5 Cubic Feet
- Bear Butte (Mountain) -- South Dakota Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Bear Butte Creek (S.D.) Subject Source: Local sources
- Certificate Subject Source: Local sources
- Chinese Americans -- South Dakota Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Diploma -- High School Subject Source: Local sources
- Family Scenes -- Photographs -- South Dakota Subject Source: Local sources
- Fort Pierre (S.D.) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Graduation -- Eight Grade Subject Source: Local sources
- Graduation -- High School Subject Source: Local sources
- Hughes County Courthouse (Pierre, S.D.) Subject Source: Local sources
- Legislative Handbook Subject Source: Local sources
- Map Collections Subject Source: Local sources
- Mount Rushmore National Memorial (S.D.) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Newspaper Subject Source: Local sources
- Oahe Dam (S.D.) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Order of the Eastern Star -- South Dakota Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Pamphlets/Brochures Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Photo Album Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Photograph Collection -- Manuscript Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Pierre Days of '81 Parade (Pierre, S.D.) Subject Source: Local sources
- Pierre High School (Pierre, S.D.) Subject Source: Local sources
- Postcards Subject Source: Local sources
- Real Estate Agents--South Dakota Subject Source: Local sources
- South Dakota -- Stanley County Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- South Dakota Association of Realtors
- Wheat Fields--South Dakota Subject Source: Local sources
Source
- Vandercook, Ralph, 1879-1954 (Person)