The Charles F. “Fritz” Gritzner Papers span 1871 to 2014 and document his career in geography and geographic education, including teaching, service to professional organizations, curriculum and standards work, and outreach to K–12 educators. The collection contains annotated calendars (1987 to 2008), professional activity and experience lists (1984 to 2009), an honors and awards list (1980 to 2010), and phone, letter, and activity logs covering 1979 to 2006. Awards and recognition are represented through certificates and plaques, including the South Dakota State University Distinguished Professor plaque (1993) and additional teaching and service awards.

The collection includes substantial organizational records from the Association of South Dakota Geographers and Planners dating primarily from 1981 to 1990. These files include constitutions and bylaws, mailing lists, newsletters and newsletter items, presidential notebooks, and related administrative records, as well as materials associated with the GIFT (Geographic Information For Teachers) program. Extensive records of the National Council for Geographic Education span the 1960s through 2011 and include minutes, executive board agendas, constitution and governance materials, officer and committee files, membership documentation, newsletters, reports, correspondence, planning calendars, publications, and historical data, including a file on Gritzner’s involvement with the organization.

Geography standards and social studies materials document work on national and state standards and related curriculum efforts. These files include publications such as Geography for Life: National Geography Standards (1994), guidelines for geographic education, national assessment framework materials, documentation of other states’ standards, and South Dakota geography standards files dating from the 1990s into the 2000s. Additional standards-related records include working papers and resource materials spanning multiple decades.

A large portion of the collection documents the South Dakota Geographic Alliance and its programs from the late 1980s through 2011. These records include administrative, grant, budget, and fundraising files; correspondence; newsletters; meeting files; teacher lists; institute and workshop materials; evaluations; field trip documentation; and materials related to Geography Awareness Week. Program files also cover teacher-focused offerings such as summer geographic institutes, seminars, and short courses, and include extensive documentation related to Advanced Placement Human Geography initiatives, including promotional materials, teaching packets, course descriptions, and institute records. Related materials include student correspondence and ephemera associated with “Adventures with Boov,” along with photographs and a photo album.

South Dakota Geographic Bee materials span 1987 to 2013 and include media coverage, participant and program files, winners lists, and annual state-level competition kits from 1989 through 2013, as well as later archival and history files. Additional topical groupings include records related to the Rocky Mountain Region Japan Project, including correspondence, course materials, newsletters, resource files, and travel documentation.

Instructional materials document geography courses and teacher training offerings and include syllabi, exams, lecture notes, handouts, and reference files for subjects such as climatology, conservation, Latin America, the Caribbean, and other regional and thematic topics. Research files are extensive and organized by geographic region and subject area, with materials spanning the mid-twentieth century through the 2000s and including maps, clippings, tear sheets, correspondence, and reference literature. Writings and publishing files include drafts, proofs, correspondence, and agreements for works produced for a range of publishers and projects, including contributions associated with “Panorama” and book-length and instructional publications.

Visual materials consist largely of slides, with sets documenting geographic regions, landforms, maps, travel, and instructional topics, including both undated groupings and dated series from the 1960s through the 1990s. Photographs and related visual documentation are also present within program files and outreach activities. Together, the records provide documentation of geographic education initiatives, professional service, instructional practice, and related research and publishing activity.