Digitized Oral Histories
Dates
- 1968-1985
Use Restrictions
Requests for copies of audio files and transcriptions or permission to use a part of the collection must be approved by the Oral History Center staff at USD, or the Director of the State Archives
Scope and Contents
These oral history recordings were produced as joint projects between the University of South Dakota in Vermillion and the South Dakota State Historical Society. The South Dakota Oral History Project (SDOHP) focused on collecting interviews with South Dakota residents whose recollections dated back to 1900 and before. The emphasis of these interviews was placed on pioneer recollections of life on the prairie, but also included topics of current interest. For example, a series of interviews with survivors of the 1972 Rapid City flood were recorded during the summer of 1972. There are also several recordings of South Dakota musicians playing and discussing their work.
The American Indian Research Project (AIRP) focused on collecting interviews with Native Americans; teachers from reservation schools; monks, priests, and nuns involved with the Marty Mission and other mission schools; and individuals involved in the 1973 Custer Courthouse incident and Wounded Knee protests. Common topics in the interviews include tribal government, the Indian Reorganization Act, the American Indian Movement, experiences at boarding schools, reservation life, Sioux culture, prejudice and paternalism, and medicine men.
In 2010 it was discovered that neither USD nor the State Archives had a complete set of the interviews, so plans were made to digitize the tapes and share the files. The tapes were digitized by the Oral History Center and sent to the State Archives in 2013 and 2014. The digital audio is saved in uncompressed WAV files. Any supporting documentation, such as release forms and interview transcripts, were also scanned and saved as PDF files. All file names contain the oral history tape number.
- American Indian Movement (AIM) -- South Dakota Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Boarding School Students -- Native Americans -- South Dakota Subject Source: Local sources
- Custer County Courthouse -- History -- Riot, 1973 Subject Source: Local sources
- Flood of 1972 (Rapid City, S.D.) Subject Source: Local sources
- Frontier and pioneer life -- South Dakota Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Homesteading -- South Dakota Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Indians of North America -- Oral Histories Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Oral History -- South Dakota Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Pioneers -- South Dakota Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- South Dakota Oral History Resource Center (Vermillion, S.D.) -- Management Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- St. Paul's Mission (Marty, S.D.)
- Wounded Knee (S.D.) -- History -- Indian Occupation, 1973 Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Repository Details
Part of the South Dakota State Archives Repository
900 Governors Dr
Pierre South Dakota 57501 USA
605-773-3804
605-773-6041 (Fax)
archref@state.sd.us