The Subject Files series of the Norby Collection consists of topical files compiled and maintained by George and Evelyn Norby documenting the history and development of Brookings, South Dakota, and Brookings County, with limited material relating to South Dakota and communities outside Brookings County. The series includes clippings, publications, reports, ephemera, maps, directories, and related reference material organized by subject. City focused files document municipal government and administration, elections and officials, utilities, public services, ordinances and city code revisions, planning and development, historic preservation activities, parks and recreation, transportation including the airport and railroads, public institutions such as the library, schools, and hospital, and community events and commemorations including centennial materials and local responses to the September 11 attacks. County focused files include commissioner proceedings, courthouse and jail records, officials, census and atlas materials, early residents, fairs and festivals, towns and townships, veterans materials, weather, welfare, and local newspapers and newspaper history.

The files also contain substantial documentation on local organizations and clubs, including fraternal, civic, genealogical, and women’s groups, and extensive church files for Brookings and surrounding communities. Business files include materials on banks, local and regional companies, advertising, retail and service businesses, and community commerce, along with files on the Brookings commercial and residential historic districts, National Register applications, walking tours, and documentation of specific blocks and buildings. Education files include area schools and district materials, reorganization documentation, newsletters, and school related ephemera. South Dakota State University files include campus buildings and inventories, institutional events and traditions, alumni, athletics, museums, tours, and campus landmarks. Additional topical files cover named individuals, military service and wars, state government and elections, maps and travel materials, and cemetery, burial, and obituary reference resources including burial registers, cemetery locations, and plot maps. Researchers are advised to consult both the Brookings City and Brookings County files, as related material may be found in either grouping.

The Subject Files provide a locally compiled documentation set supporting research on civic administration, community development, historic preservation, education, religious life, commerce, and social organizations in Brookings and Brookings County. The combination of municipal and county materials, together with organizational, church, business, cemetery, and South Dakota State University documentation, offers contextual sources for local history and genealogical research and helps trace changes in the built environment and community institutions over time.

The Photograph collection is composed of images of Brookings, South Dakota. There is also a considerable amount of images related to towns in Brookings County, South Dakota; Sinai, Elkton, White, Arlington, Bruce. Images of South Dakota State University, ranging in topic from Hobo days to images of campus, can also be found in the collection. Most of the images are negatives, 35mm and 4 x 5. There are also photographs ranging in size and several sheets of slides. These images are arranged numerically by identification number.

See staff for assistance in researching material in this collection.

The Norby Newspapers collection consists primarily of issues of the Brookings Register collected and preserved by George and Evelyn Norby. The newspapers span the years 1879 to 2003, with substantial annual coverage from 1890 through 2003. Early volumes are generally arranged by individual year, while later volumes and supplemental groupings include multi year spans and partial runs. The collection documents local, regional, and state news, including community events, agricultural developments, political activities, business growth, social organizations, and daily life in Brookings and surrounding areas. In addition to the Brookings Register, the collection includes a series of miscellaneous newspaper issues that supplement gaps or represent related local and regional publications. Materials are arranged chronologically by title and year within the Norby Newspapers series.

The Norby Newspapers collection provides a comprehensive and long term record of community life in Brookings, South Dakota, and eastern South Dakota from the late nineteenth century through the early twenty first century. The breadth and continuity of the Brookings Register holdings support research in local history, genealogy, journalism, agriculture, politics, and social change. Preserved through the sustained collecting efforts of George and Evelyn Norby, the collection represents a significant privately assembled archive that enhances institutional newspaper holdings and preserves fragile print materials that document over a century of regional history.

This series consists of materials related to George and Evelyn Norby and the stewardship, interpretation, and use of the Norby Collection. Records include South Dakota State University Archives documentation concerning collection proposals, processing activities, and the public opening of the collection, as well as materials related to fundraising and support activities. The series also contains files associated with the Images of the Past program, including research files, articles about the Norbys, exhibit guest registries, stationery and signage, and documentation of the Preservationists of the Year award. Personal materials include correspondence, household related items, and photographs. Dates range from approximately 1965 to 2006, with some materials undated.

This series documents the transfer, processing, and public presentation of the Norby Collection and provides contextual information about the individuals responsible for assembling it. The materials support research on archival stewardship, local history programming, and the role of private collectors in preserving community history, while also offering limited personal context for George and Evelyn Norby.

The Ephemera series of the Norby Collection consists of printed and manuscript items primarily related to Brookings, South Dakota, and Brookings County. Materials include business cards, business envelopes, signs, calendars, bumper stickers, matchbooks, postcards, ribbons and badges, tokens, steno books, miscellaneous notes, and an appointment book containing excerpts from the Brookings Register. The series also includes framed ink drawings depicting Brookings, South Dakota State University, area towns, and county and farm scenes, as well as a framed photograph of the Sylvan Theatre at South Dakota State University and a framed poem. Dates range from approximately 1910 to 1998, with some materials undated. Items are arranged by format across two boxes.

This series provides evidence of everyday commercial, civic, and social activity in Brookings and surrounding areas across much of the twentieth century. These materials document local businesses, events, advertising practices, and community identity, and complement more formal records by preserving transient printed items that reflect daily life, local commerce, and visual culture.

The Directories series of the Norby Collection consists primarily of telephone directories documenting Brookings, South Dakota, and surrounding rural service areas. The series includes a Brookings city directory from 1901 and an early listing of business places from 1908, followed by an extensive run of Brookings telephone directories covering city and rural subscribers from 1909 through 2003, with some years absent. Additional directory types include farm directories for Brookings County, regional telephone directories serving broader geographic areas such as Northeast Lake, Deuel, Brookings Lake, and East Central Dakota, and official telephone directories issued by Interstate Telecommunications Cooperative, Inc. The series also includes city directories published by Johnson’s and the Directory Service Company, business locator directories, and a Yellow Book directory covering Sioux Falls, Brookings, Vermillion, and Yankton. Campus directories for South Dakota State University are present for multiple academic years from 1968 to 2003. Materials are arranged chronologically by directory type and year across five boxes.

The Directories series provides a reference record for identifying residents, businesses, and institutions in Brookings and the surrounding region across the twentieth century and into the early twenty first century. The combined coverage of city, rural, farm, regional, and campus directories supports research in local history, genealogy, business history, and community development, and documents changes in service areas and telecommunications providers over time.

The Database series is composed of material compiled by George Norby documenting topics related to Brookings, South Dakota. The material includes information on local businesses, historic homes, churches, city and county government, and South Dakota State University.

As noted by George Norby, the information contained in these compiled databases was gathered from multiple sources and reflects the most accurate data available to him at the time of compilation. Sources used include the Brookings County Press, the Brookings Register, the Brookings County Sentinel, Brookings telephone and business directories, Brookings city publications, Brookings County election returns, Brookings County Commission minutes, and records from the Brookings County Register of Deeds office.

Although the compiled data is extensive, researchers are encouraged to verify information using more than one source when conducting research.

The Compiled Data series of the Norby Collection consists of reference data compiled by George and Evelyn Norby and recorded into various databases. The material documents the city of Brookings with limited coverage of Brookings County and the state of South Dakota. The series includes compiled information on city and county officials, appointed officials, elections, mayors and commissioners, attorneys, governors, and public offices such as police, fire, sheriff, and post office. It also contains extensive data on streets, avenues, homes, apartments, mobile homes, building permits, businesses, churches, health care providers, newspapers, and civic services. Additional components include birth, death, and marriage data, obituary indexes, cemetery and church burial records, census information, city charters, historical summaries, business chronologies, National Register documentation, and records related to South Dakota State University buildings. Telephone books spanning the early twentieth century through the mid twentieth century are also included. Materials date primarily from 1871 to 2003 and are organized by subject across multiple boxes.

The Compiled Data series provides a reference resource documenting the administrative, geographic, social, and economic development of Brookings over more than a century. By aggregating information drawn from newspapers and other local sources, the series supports research in local history, genealogy, urban development, governance, and community studies. The data reflects sustained private documentation efforts that preserve contextual information not consistently available in official municipal records.

The Norby Collection documents the history, development, and daily life of Brookings, South Dakota, and Brookings County, with limited coverage of South Dakota more broadly, from the late nineteenth century through the early twenty first century. Assembled by George and Evelyn Norby, the collection is organized into multiple series reflecting their sustained efforts to collect, compile, and preserve local historical documentation.

The collection includes extensive runs of the Brookings Register newspaper, providing long term coverage of local news, community events, politics, agriculture, business, and social life. Complementing the newspapers are compiled data files created by the Norbys that aggregate information drawn from newspapers and other local sources. These compiled records document city and county officials, elections, businesses, streets and addresses, homes and housing, churches, public services, cemeteries, schools, South Dakota State University buildings, and other aspects of municipal and community history.

Topical subject files form a substantial portion of the collection and include materials related to Brookings city and county government, organizations, churches, businesses, historic districts, education, South Dakota State University, named individuals, military service, railroads, public safety, cemeteries, and statewide topics. These files consist of clippings, publications, ephemera, maps, directories, reports, and reference materials and reflect both official activity and community life. Researchers are advised to consult both city and county subject groupings, as related material may appear in either.

The collection also includes a large body of directories, primarily telephone directories serving Brookings and surrounding rural areas, along with city directories, farm directories, regional directories, and campus directories for South Dakota State University. These directories document residents, businesses, institutions, and service areas over time. Ephemera within the collection includes business cards, envelopes, signs, calendars, bumper stickers, postcards, ribbons and badges, matchbooks, tokens, framed images, and other transient printed materials associated with local commerce, events, and organizations.

Materials related to the Norbys themselves document the acquisition, housing, processing, and public presentation of the collection, including South Dakota State University Archives records, Images of the Past program materials, and limited personal correspondence, photographs, and household items. Together, the series span approximately 1871 to 2006, with some undated material, and are arranged by series and subject to reflect the structure of the Norbys’ collecting activities.

File Names

• 2003-Luncheon Plan
• 2004 AAUW Luncheon Guests
• Aramark thanks 2005
• BEGGLET-1998
• Fundraiser 2004 Plan
• Joe Firman thanks 2005
• Luncheon list
• Luncheon2004 Invitation

File Names

• Fair Tax Editorial-2003
• Fair Tax Statemnt of Principles-1-15-03
• Fair Tax Trade Offs- 2003

This collection documents the operations, governance, and dissolution of the Faculty Housing Company, Inc., which provided housing for faculty members. The records span the organization’s founding through its termination and include corporate, financial, administrative, and promotional materials.

Materials include articles of incorporation, deeds, meeting minutes (including annual and board of directors), correspondence with and letters to stockholders, leases, legal instruments, and financial statements. Architectural records such as floor plans and building documents are also present, along with brochures, posters, and information related to appliances used in housing units. The collection includes project photographs and documents pertaining to the company's dissolution. President’s bulletins, quarterly reports to the State Securities Commission, and miscellaneous items further reflect the company’s activities and compliance practices.

Painting by Evelyn T. Hubbard; Oil on Panel, of Old Central and Old North at South Dakota State University;

The painting is a ‘legacy’ in the archives. A handwritten note in the Greater Federation of Women’s Clubs collection from Chuck Cecil (Nov. 3, 1967) reads “Contact Mrs. Earl Washburn of Fulton, S.D. regarding painting by Mrs. Evelyn Hubbard of Old North & Old Central. They desire the painting go to the Art Center.