In 1965, Paul McConaughy sought an inexpensive method for producing limited-edition watercolor prints. He tested his idea at his alma mater by creating a series of prints depicting buildings at Cornell University. The prints were immediately popular, leading to the formation of the College Watercolor Group. The group soon expanded production to include affordable watercolor prints of college buildings from across the United States.
Modeled after the nineteenth-century approach used by Currier and Ives, the process began with a pen-and-ink drawing of a building, which was reproduced as an 8 x 10 lithograph on watercolor paper. Artists then hand-colored each print. The group offered limited-edition sets of four scenes as well as larger individual prints, available framed or unframed.
As professional artists joined the staff, the overall quality of the work improved significantly. One artist, E. B. Walden, began signing his prints using the surname Gray, derived from the watercolor pigment Davy’s Gray. Other artists adopted the same surname while using different first names, with Walden signing as Davis Gray. More than a dozen artists eventually used the Gray name, and this naming convention led to the business becoming known as Gray’s Watercolors.
Nels H. Granholm (born 1941) is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Biology, Microbiology and Global Studies at South Dakota State University. He earned a biology degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and pursued doctoral study in developmental biology at Iowa State University, followed by a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at Yale. During his scientific training he participated in Antarctic research as a U.S. Antarctic Research Program biologist at Hallett Station (1967–1968); Mount Granholm in Antarctica was named for him by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names. Granholm taught at South Dakota State University for forty-one years, initially in zoology and entomology and later also teaching philosophy and bio-ethics; he taught in the Honors College for twenty-five years and later coordinated SDSU’s Global Studies program for six years. SDSU recognized him as a Distinguished Professor (2004).
Edwin C. Graber was a poet from Freeman, South Dakota. Active primarily between the late 1930s and late 1940s, he produced a series of chapbooks featuring original poetry that explored themes of nature, solitude, time, and spirituality. His works, including Stars Are My Parade and Nature the Peerless Colorist, reflect a lyrical and reflective style rooted in the landscape and sensibilities of the Great Plains. Graber’s chapbooks are preserved in the Edwin C. Graber Poetry Collection at South Dakota State University, which documents his creative output and contribution to regional literature.
JoAnn Goodale, originally from Huron, South Dakota, earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from South Dakota State College in 1959. She later completed a master’s degree in rehabilitation administration and management at DePaul University. Throughout her career, JoAnn remained active in nursing and community service. Alongside her husband, Eugene, she supported nursing education through the establishment of the Goodale Nursing Scholarship at South Dakota State University.
Eugene Goodale graduated from South Dakota State College in 1957 with a degree in civil engineering. He built a successful career in engineering and remained a dedicated supporter of his alma mater. Gene and his wife, JoAnn, contributed to student success at SDSU through scholarship support and alumni engagement. He passed away in Brookings, South Dakota, in 2022 at the age of 86.
William Ray (Bill) Gibbons was born on January 5, 1958, in Winner, South Dakota, and grew up in Brookings, South Dakota. He graduated from Brookings High School in 1976. Gibbons attended South Dakota State University from 1976 to 1987, earning a B.S. in Microbiology and Chemistry in 1980, an M.S. in Microbiology in 1982, and a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Agronomy in 1987.
Gibbons joined the faculty of South Dakota State University in 1987 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology and Microbiology. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1991 and to Professor in 1997. During his tenure at SDSU, he held several administrative and leadership roles, including Associate Director of the Center for Bioprocessing Research and Development, Director of the South Dakota Oilseed Initiative, and Interim Director of the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station.
His research focused on applied microbiology and biotechnology, particularly the use of microbial processes to develop value-added products from biomass and agricultural materials. A central area of emphasis was the development of sustainable fuels and chemicals intended to reduce reliance on petroleum-based products. His work frequently involved collaboration with regional universities, federal laboratories, and research institutions, including the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, North Dakota State University, the University of Minnesota, and the USDA National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research.
Gibbons received numerous awards and honors recognizing his contributions to research and education. He was named SDSU Microbiology Club Teacher of the Year in 1990 and became a Golden Key Honorary Member in 2003. In 2006, he was part of the team that received the College of Agriculture and Biological Sciences Dean’s Team Award for developing a Center for Excellence in Bioprocessing. In 2007, he was named the College of Agriculture and Biological Sciences Distinguished Researcher of the Year and received the Gamma Sigma Delta Researcher of the Year award. He also received the Pat and Jo Cannon Intellectual Property Commercialization Award in 2011 and 2012 and the F.O. Butler Award for Excellence in Research in 2014.
Propaganda has played a significant role in German history, especially during the 20th century. During World War I, Germany, like other major powers, used posters to rally support for the war effort, promote enlistment, and encourage public sacrifice. These early posters often employed patriotic symbols, appeals to duty, and anti-Allied sentiment.
In the years leading up to and during World War II, the Nazi regime elevated propaganda to a central tool of state control. Under the direction of Joseph Goebbels, Minister of Propaganda, the Third Reich developed a vast propaganda machine that controlled newspapers, films, radio, and visual media. Posters became one of the most accessible and effective forms of communication, used to:
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Glorify Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP)
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Promote Aryan supremacy and German nationalism
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Justify military aggression and territorial expansion
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Encourage total war and public sacrifice
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Spread antisemitic, anti-communist, and anti-Allied messages
Reinforce loyalty, discipline, and obedience among civilians and soldiers
Nazi war posters used bold visuals and emotionally charged slogans to shape public opinion and suppress dissent. Many were designed with dramatic imagery, heroic figures, and symbolic color schemes (especially red, black, and white). Messaging focused on unity, strength, sacrifice, and fear of external and internal enemies.
After the war, Allied forces confiscated and studied Nazi propaganda materials as evidence of psychological warfare and totalitarian control. Today, these posters are analyzed by historians as powerful tools of indoctrination and as cautionary examples of how propaganda can manipulate public consciousness in authoritarian regimes.
The Geography Club (Gamma Theta Upsilon) began organizing at South Dakota State University in 1967 and was officially established as the Delta Zeta chapter in March 1970. The organization’s purpose is to promote professional interest in geography by providing a common forum for those engaged in the field. It aims to enhance both student and professional training through academic experiences beyond the classroom and laboratory, elevate geography’s status as a cultural and practical discipline, encourage high-quality student research, offer publication opportunities, and manage funds to support graduate study and research in geography.
Membership eligibility requires completion of at least three geography courses, a B average in geography, ranking in the top 35% of the class, and completion of a minimum of three semesters or five quarters of college coursework. In 1970, this chapter initiated the South Dakota State Geography Convention to foster collaboration among geographers from diverse perspectives.
The General Federation of Women’s Clubs (GFWC) traces its origins to 1868, when Jane Cunningham Croly founded the Sorosis Club in New York City. In 1889, she united women’s clubs nationwide to form a national federation.
In South Dakota, the women’s club movement was spearheaded by Clara D. Coe, founder of the Round Table Club of Deadwood (1887). Coe organized the Black Hills Federation of Women’s Clubs in 1897, which joined the national GFWC in 1898. As the appointed Federation organizer for South Dakota, Coe convened a meeting on December 8, 1899, in Deadwood, and reconvened it on January 15, 1900, where the South Dakota Federation of Women’s Clubs (now GFWC of South Dakota) was formally established. The group affiliated with the national GFWC on March 1, 1900. Its first state convention was held June 14–15, 1900, in Aberdeen, with thirteen clubs represented and Winona Axtell Lyon elected president.
The organization aims to unite non-partisan, non-sectarian women’s clubs throughout South Dakota to foster collaboration and promote intellectual, moral, and social advancement. It is divided into six districts and governed by elected officers and board members, including the editor of The South Dakota Clubwoman and the Director of Junior Clubs. Committees and departments mirror national GFWC priorities in areas such as arts, education, conservation, international affairs, and public policy.
The Brookings Civic League was founded on April 12, 1912, by forty local women responding to civic needs in partnership with Mayor A. A. Harris and the Commercial Club. Early initiatives included organizing waste collection and enhancing public sanitation. The League affiliated with the South Dakota Federation in 1914 during the women’s suffrage campaign and contributed to wartime efforts by establishing the Brookings Chapter of the American Red Cross. In 1919, it helped form the City Federation of Women’s Clubs to coordinate local women’s organizations.
Throughout the 20th century, the Brookings Civic League led local improvement projects, including health campaigns, urban beautification, tree conservation, and educational support like school milk programs. It also operated a rest area for rural women and played a foundational role in creating the South Dakota Art Museum at South Dakota State University.
As municipal services expanded in the later 20th century, the League shifted focus to social and philanthropic activities. It continues this legacy through events such as the annual Craft & Collectibles Fair, which supports the South Dakota Art Museum.
GFWC Brookings was founded on March 24, 1977, as Community Federated Women and formally affiliated with GFWC in 1983. Its members were active in the City Federation and structured the club according to GFWC departments. Projects have included youth leadership programs, wellness initiatives, legislative awareness, and fundraising for South Dakota Public Broadcasting.
The concept for a state art center was first proposed under the presidency of Mrs. Herbert Kenyon (1947–1949). In 1950, the South Dakota Federation endorsed the creation of a Memorial Art Center, building on its decades-long promotion of cultural enrichment through circulating art collections. The South Dakota Board of Regents approved the placement of the center at South Dakota State University in Brookings. Fundraising yielded nearly $350,000, supplemented by a federal grant and a $55,000 contribution from the Federation. Construction began in 1969, and the Memorial Art Center—now the South Dakota Art Museum—was dedicated in May 1970.
Robert Brewster Gay was an American architect active in South Dakota. He became a member of the American Institute of Architects in 1964 and was a partner in the architectural firm Gass & Gay from approximately 1961 to 1967. Gay’s work focused on civic and institutional design during the mid-20th century. He died in 1985.
Gartner earned a B.S. in Range Science from the University of Wyoming, Laramie, in 1950, an M.S. in Range Science from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1956, and a Ph.D. in Range Science from the University of Wyoming, Laramie, in 1967. He began his career as a Veterans Instructor in Agriculture in Newcastle, Wyoming, from 1950 to 1952. After serving in the U.S. Army from 1952 to 1954, he worked as a Junior Specialist in research at the Experiment Station, School of Forestry, University of California, Berkeley, from 1954 to 1955. From 1956 to 1964 he was an Assistant Professor of Range Management at South Dakota State University in Brookings. In 1967 he served as a Research Assistant in the Plant Science Division at the University of Wyoming, Laramie, and later that year joined Colorado State University, Fort Collins, as an Associate Professor of Range Science for the 1967–1968 academic year. In 1968 he moved to the National College of Business in Rapid City, South Dakota, where he was Chairman of the Division of General Education until 1969. He then joined the Department of Animal Science at South Dakota State University’s Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Rapid City as an Associate Professor of Range Science, a position he held from 1969 to 1975. Since 1975 he has served as Regional Coordinator for the Society for Range Management and the Old West Regional Commission range resource program.
He has been a life member of the Society for Range Management and served as its Director from 1972 to 1975. He was Vice President of the South Dakota Section of the Society in 1962 and President in 1963. Since 1970 he has been Newsletter Editor for the South Dakota Section of the Society for Range Management. He is also a member of Alpha Zeta (since 1949), Chi Gamma Iota (since 1966), Gamma Sigma Delta (since 1965), and Sigma Xi (since 1965). His research expertise includes plant ecology, fire ecology, range plant physiology, range soils, and range improvement and management.
Gordon Richard Garnos was born on April 6, 1935, in Presho, South Dakota, to Carl and Louise (Schnert) Garnos. He served in the United States Air Force from 1954 to 1958, and earned a B.S. degree from the University of South Dakota in 1964. Garnos began his journalism career as a reporter for the Watertown Public Opinion, later leaving to serve as Executive Vice President of the American Cancer Society of South Dakota for two years. He returned to the Public Opinion in 1968, advancing through various editorial roles, including Area Editor and News Editor. In 1980, he was named Editor, a position he held until his retirement in 2002.
Following his retirement, Garnos continued to contribute to journalism by writing the weekly opinion column Seeing South Dakota, which was syndicated in nearly a dozen newspapers across the state. He continued the column until his death in 2016.
Garnos received numerous honors for both his journalism and civic service. He was named South Dakota Newsman of the Year in 1981, received several Golden Apple awards from the South Dakota Education Association, and was recognized as a Lusk Fellow by the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at South Dakota State University. He was inducted into the South Dakota Newspaper Hall of Fame in 2007 and the South Dakota Hall of Fame in 2010. In addition to his journalistic contributions, he served on the Watertown City Council from 2002 to 2010.
He married Elizabeth McFarland in Chester, England, on September 7, 1958. They had four children: William, Heather Simmonds, Richard, and Christopher. Gordon Garnos passed away on December 9, 2016.
Wayne Scott Gardner was born January 11, 1920, and died April 19, 2014. He served three years in the United States Army Air Corps during World War II, including a tour of duty on Guadalcanal. He married Leona Oberly in Clifton, Colorado.
Following his military service, Gardner pursued higher education under the GI Bill, earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in botany and plant pathology from Utah State Agricultural College in Logan. He was subsequently employed as a civilian researcher by the United States Army in Utah and later conducted environmental and crop research for U.S. Steel Corporation in Utah and Pennsylvania.
At the age of 43, Gardner returned to academic study under a Regents Fellowship at the University of California, Davis, where he earned a Ph.D. in plant pathology in 1967. His doctoral research focused on barley stripe mosaic virus, and he received recognition for outstanding accomplishment in electron microscopy at UC Davis.
Gardner was hired as an associate professor at South Dakota State University in Brookings, where his teaching and research emphasized the use of the electron microscope in plant pathology. He also served on a United States Agency for International Development mission to Botswana. While living in Brookings, he participated actively in Toastmasters and the Pitchblenders Barbershop Chorus. Gardner retired from South Dakota State University in 1985.
Field of Activity: Geography
Delta Zeta Chapter (South Dakota State University)
Gamma Sigma Delta, also known as the Honor Society of Agriculture, is a professional agricultural fraternity. The South Dakota State University chapter was established on May 27, 1958, to encourage and recognize high standards and achievements in agriculture. In 1974, SDSU hosted the national Gamma Sigma Delta conclave, themed “Agriculture in the Modern World.” The chapter was the bronze runner-up for the Outstanding Chapter Award in 2010 and received the Chapter Enrichment Grant in 1998. Notably, Dr. Oscar E. Olson, a chapter member, won the International Distinguished Service to Agriculture Award in 1979.
Dr. Norman Paul Gambill was born on April 3, 1941, in Dade City, Florida, to George Washington Gambill IV and Dorcas (Darling) Gambill. He was raised in Florida and Georgia.
A scholar of art history and film studies, Gambill earned degrees from Emory University, the University of Iowa, and Syracuse University. He also graduated from Emory at Oxford, a preparatory school in Atlanta.
Gambill served as an art history professor at the University of Illinois and South Dakota State University, where he chaired the Visual Arts Department for 26 years before retiring in 2010. Over a 48-year teaching career, he educated thousands of undergraduate students and mentored graduate students in areas including Asian art, film art and design, women artists, and international cinema.
An enthusiastic admirer of Oscar Wilde and Orson Welles, Gambill was particularly known for his lectures and writings on Welles’s Citizen Kane, which inspired many to pursue film studies. His scholarly work took him across the country and around the world, culminating in his participation in the Oxford Roundtable in 2010.
He published extensively in academic journals and respected film magazines. His research on 1930s American cinema and its cultural impact is featured in his book, Ritz and American Mediocrity. In recognition of his academic achievements, he was inducted into Phi Kappa Phi in 2006.
Gambill was also deeply involved in fundraising and arts advocacy. He founded the annual ""Evening for the Arts"" dinner and auction and organized the popular Valentine’s Day ""Chocolate Auction,"" both of which raised scholarship funds for art students. He also co-founded the DVAGI (Design and Visual Arts Group Inc.) fundraiser, which supported student travel to national art and design events through the auction of professional design services.
Known for his hospitality, Gambill frequently hosted gatherings in his 19th-century home in Brookings, showcasing his art collection and entertaining friends with generous food and wine.
Dr. Norman P. Gambill died of heart failure on July 12, 2016, at the Neighborhoods at Brookview in Brookings, South Dakota.
The Scotland, South Dakota chapter of the Future Farmers of America (FFA) is an active organization dedicated to promoting agricultural education and leadership among high school students. Established in the mid-20th century, the chapter has a long-standing tradition of excellence in FFA judging competitions, community service, and student leadership development. Under the guidance of dedicated advisors, the Scotland FFA has produced numerous state contest winners and alumni who have gone on to leadership roles in agricultural education and industry. The chapter remains a vital part of the Scotland School District and continues to participate in local, state, and national FFA programs.
The Freemasons. Grand Lodge of the State of South Dakota is the governing body for Freemasonry in South Dakota. Established shortly after South Dakota achieved statehood in 1889, the Grand Lodge oversees the activities of local Masonic lodges across the state, setting regulations, granting charters, and organizing statewide events and communications. Freemasonry, a fraternal organization with historical roots in medieval stonemason guilds, emphasizes moral and spiritual development, brotherhood, charity, and civic responsibility.
In South Dakota, the Grand Lodge publishes materials such as proceedings of annual communications, newsletters, ritual guides, and historical summaries, which document the administrative and ceremonial activities of Masons in the state. These publications also often include member directories, lodge reports, and commemorative content related to Masonic anniversaries and public service. The Grand Lodge has historically played a role in community leadership and philanthropy throughout South Dakota.