Showing 1865 results

The Dakota Agricultural College Board of Regents was established in 1881 by the Dakota Territory to oversee the founding and governance of a land-grant college in Brookings, later known as South Dakota State University. During the territorial period, the Governor of Dakota Territory served on multiple institutional boards, including that of the agricultural college, actively shaping educational policy between 1883 and 1889.

The board appointed George W. Lilley as the college’s first president in 1884, under whose leadership the first permanent buildings were erected and academic programs were initiated. In 1885, James Plummer Day, a Civil War veteran and legislator, was appointed to the college's Board of Trustees and remained involved through the transition to statehood.

Following South Dakota’s admission to the Union in 1889, the newly formed South Dakota Board of Regents assumed oversight of all state higher education institutions, including Dakota Agricultural College. Day and other early trustees continued their service under the restructured governance model. This early board laid the foundational policies for curriculum, facilities, land use, and administrative structure that would shape the development of the institution for decades to come.

Founded in 1881, the college opened its first building, Old Central, in 1883. During these formative decades, campus infrastructure was limited, and student housing options were modest. In many land-grant institutions of the era, boarding clubs were student-organized cooperatives in which members pooled resources to secure lodging and meals at lower cost. These arrangements often operated independently of formal university oversight and were created out of economic necessity, particularly for students from rural backgrounds.

The Dakota Farmer was established in 1881, eight years before North and South Dakota achieved statehood. It was first published in Alexandria, in what is now Hanson County, South Dakota, by founder James Baynes. Within its first year, Baynes sold the publication to Augustine Davis, who relocated operations to Huron, South Dakota. In 1883, Davis sold a half-interest to William Bushnell, who became sole proprietor by 1885.

Under Bushnell’s leadership as editor and manager, The Dakota Farmer gained early prominence. The publication relocated to Aberdeen in 1893 and became a vocal supporter of agricultural development in the region. It advocated for improved livestock, crop quality, and the advancement of local farm organizations. Bushnell’s influence extended beyond publishing—he was active in public affairs and later served as state statistician for South Dakota.

Over the following century, The Dakota Farmer continued to evolve with its readership, providing trusted agricultural news and guidance through changing economic and environmental conditions. In 1979, the magazine was acquired by Webb Publishing, which viewed it as a natural complement to its flagship title, The Farmer.

Today, The Dakota Farmer is part of Farm Progress Companies, a leading publisher of agricultural media. Farm Progress oversees 18 state-specific farm magazines and operates eight major farm shows across the country, including the nationally recognized Farm Progress Show.

Dakota Rural Action (DRA) is a grassroots, nonprofit organization founded in 1987 in South Dakota. Its mission is to build leadership and promote social, environmental, and economic justice by organizing rural citizens around issues that directly affect their communities.

DRA supports sustainable agriculture, environmental protection, responsible energy development, and local control of natural resources. Over the years, the organization has been active in campaigns against corporate farming, uranium mining, and the Keystone XL pipeline. It advocates for local food systems, family farms, clean water, renewable energy, and public participation in policy decisions.

The organization operates through a network of local chapters across South Dakota and emphasizes member-led decision-making. Through education, lobbying, and community organizing, Dakota Rural Action empowers individuals to engage in the democratic process and influence policies that shape the future of rural life in the state.

Daktronics, Inc. was founded on December 9, 1968, in Brookings, South Dakota, by South Dakota State University electrical engineering professors Dr. Aelred Kurtenbach and Dr. Duane Sander. Initially focused on biomedical instrumentation, the company shifted direction in 1970 after developing an electronic voting system for the Utah Legislature. In 1971 Daktronics produced its first scoreboard, the three-sided “Matside” wrestling scoreboard, which led to the development of the widely used “All Sport” line and the company’s expansion into electronic display systems for sports venues, commercial spaces, and public events.

The Daktronics Records document the company’s growth from a regional startup to an international leader in electronic scoreboards and digital display technology. Materials include newsletters, reports, and promotional publications that reflect product development, corporate culture, and public relations activities. The collection also documents Daktronics’ involvement in major international events, including the 1980 Winter Olympics and the Holmenkollen Ski Festival.

The collection illustrates the technological and economic impact of a South Dakota–based company closely connected to South Dakota State University and provides research value for the study of regional entrepreneurship, corporate communications, and the development of electronic display systems used in sports and public venues.

Linda Hall Daschle was born on May 15, 1955. She was the 1976 Miss Kansas, and married Congressman Thomas Andrew Daschle on April 21, 1984.

Daschle began her career in the aviation industry as a certified weather observer and worked her way up to the position of director of federal affairs for the Air Transport Association. She was the first woman to direct the Civil Aeronautics Board Office of Congressional, Community and Consumer Affairs in Washington, D.C. and in December of 1987 was also the first woman to be named vice president of federal affairs for the American Association of Airport Executives. President Clinton nominated Daschle in 1994 to be Deputy Administrator for the Federal Aviation Administration. Her responsibilities included helping administer the FAA’s nearly nine-billion-dollar budget and assessing the FAA’s multibillion-dollar Advanced Automation System. She was only the second woman to have held the post.

Linda Daschle served as chair of the Oglala-Lakota College Foundation and also held committee positions on Women Against Violence, Families for the Homeless, Congressional Spouses Speaker’s Bureau, and the Aero Club of Washington.

Senator Tom Daschle is one of the longest serving Senate Democratic Leaders in United States history and the only individual to serve two separate terms as both Majority and Minority Leader. As Democratic Leader, he co-managed the impeachment trial of President William Jefferson Clinton, the second presidential impeachment trial in the nation’s history. He also directed the Senate’s response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and to the anthrax attack on his office on October 15, 2001.

Daschle was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1978, winning by fewer than 200 votes. He was reelected three times before winning election to the U.S. Senate in 1986. He served three Senate terms before his defeat in 2004. Viewed as a populist Democrat, he helped his party remain competitive in a predominantly Republican state. Daschle rose quickly in congressional leadership, becoming Senate Democratic Leader in 1994 and serving in that role until 2004, making him the second longest serving leader in party history. During his congressional career, he served on numerous committees, including the Senate Finance Committee, the Democratic Policy Committee, the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, the Veterans and Indian Affairs Committees, and the Finance and Ethics Committee.

Family Background

Thomas Andrew Daschle was born December 9, 1947, in Aberdeen, South Dakota, the eldest of four sons of Sebastian C. and Elizabeth Meier Daschle. He attended public and parochial schools in Aberdeen and was active in Scouting. At Aberdeen Central High School, he played basketball, served as student council president, and was elected senior class president. His interest in politics grew through participation in American Legion Boys State, and he was influenced by Senator George McGovern, who spoke at his high school graduation.

Daschle became the first member of his family to graduate from college, earning a political science degree from South Dakota State University in 1969. While in college, he participated in Air Force ROTC and the Political Science Club and ran unsuccessfully for sophomore class president in 1965.

He is married to Linda Hall Daschle and has three children: Kelly, Nathan, and Lindsay.

Henry DeLong was born December 9, 1905, in Spink County, South Dakota. He graduated from Redfield High School in 1924. DeLong earned a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture from South Dakota State University in 1928 and a Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural engineering in 1938. He completed a Master of Science degree in agricultural engineering at the University of Minnesota in 1941. DeLong married Mary M. Louise Franks on July 28, 1933, in Fulton, South Dakota.

DeLong’s professional career was almost entirely associated with South Dakota State University. He began as a student research assistant and advanced through the faculty ranks, retiring as professor emeritus in 1973. His responsibilities included teaching, research, and departmental administration. DeLong served as head of the department from 1946 to 1956. He was among the first agricultural engineers recognized at the Fifth Annual Distinguished Engineers Banquet at South Dakota State University. DeLong gained international recognition for his classification of rammed earth, a construction method originally developed for affordable poultry housing. He credited this work to his collaboration with R. L. Patty and Patty’s research on pisé de terre, the French term for rammed earth.

Professor Henry DeLong died on November 22, 1988, at Brookings Hospital.

Delta Kappa Gamma is an international honorary society of women educators founded in 1929 in Austin, Texas, by educator Annie Webb Blanton and eleven colleagues. The organization was established to promote professional and personal growth among women educators and to support excellence in education through scholarship, leadership, and service. From its beginnings, Delta Kappa Gamma developed a structure of local chapters organized within state organizations and connected through an international body, allowing members to participate in professional activities at the local, state, and international levels.

The society expanded rapidly during the mid-twentieth century as chapters were organized across the United States, including in South Dakota. The Delta Kappa Gamma Society of South Dakota was formed as part of this broader growth, bringing together women educators from schools, colleges, and universities across the state. Through local chapters and statewide meetings, members have promoted fellowship among educators, supported professional development, and recognized distinguished service in education. The South Dakota organization has also sponsored scholarships and educational initiatives while providing opportunities for members to engage in educational leadership and advocacy within the state and the larger international society.

Franklin Edward Denholm was born on November 29, 1923, to John J. and Laura Anna (Mathias) Denholm on his family’s homestead in Scotland Township, Day County, South Dakota. He worked as a farmer, operated an interstate trucking business, and became a well-known auctioneer after completing his public school education. He married Mildred T. Niehaus on June 12, 1950, in Webster, South Dakota. From 1950 to 1952, he served as Day County Sheriff and was a delegate to the South Dakota State Democratic Conventions during the same period.

Denholm earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from South Dakota State College in 1956, with additional coursework in economics, history, and speech. While at SDSU, he won first place in Men’s Oratory at the South Dakota Intercollegiate Forensics competition and national honors at Redlands University in California. He was active in several student organizations, including Delta Sigma Alpha, Toastmasters, the Ag Econ Club, and International Relations, and served as president of the Blue Key National Honor Society. In his final year, he was named to Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities.

He began graduate studies at the University of Minnesota, which were interrupted by his appointment as a Special Agent in the FBI by Director J. Edgar Hoover. He served in the Bureau from 1956 to 1961 in Washington, D.C.

Denholm received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of South Dakota and was admitted to the South Dakota Bar in 1962. He practiced law in Brookings as corporate counsel for the cities of Brookings, Volga, and White from 1962 to 1971. He was authorized to practice before the U.S. District Court (Southern Division), U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, the District of Columbia courts, the U.S. Supreme Court, and the U.S. Tax Court. From 1962 to 1966, he taught economics, law, and political science at South Dakota State University and was a delegate to the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

Denholm was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for the 92nd and 93rd Congresses, serving from 1971 to 1975. Among the legislation he supported and saw enacted were the Rural Telephone Act of 1971, the Rural Development Act of 1972, and the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974. The Senate version of his so-called “Denholm Bill” reinstated the Rural Electrification Act in 1973 after its enforcement had lapsed under the Nixon administration.

Following an unsuccessful re-election campaign in 1974, Denholm returned to his legal practice in Brookings. He remained active in civic and professional organizations, including Phi Kappa Delta, the American Bar Association, the American Trial Lawyers Association, the South Dakota Peace Officers Association, the Izaak Walton League, and St. Thomas More Catholic Parish. He also served as president of the Kiwanis Club and as a trustee of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Denholm was recognized in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in Government, Personalities of the West and Midwest, and Men of Achievement.

He died on April 7, 2016, in Brookings, South Dakota.

Jay Dirksen graduated from General Beadle High School in Madison, South Dakota, where he won the State Class B Championship in the mile.

He attended South Dakota State University, earning a bachelor’s degree in Physical Education in 1968 and a master’s degree in 1969. Following graduation, he served as the men’s cross country and track coach at South Dakota State University, where he also established a women’s cross country program. In 1977, he became the assistant men’s track coach at the University of Illinois. In 1982, he accepted a position as the head women’s track and field coach at the University of Missouri. After one year at Missouri, Dirksen joined the University of Nebraska–Lincoln as head cross country coach and assistant head track coach, overseeing distance runners. He spent 29 seasons at Nebraska before retiring in 2011.

Jay Dirksen married Diane Stewart in 1972. They have two children, a son, Derek, and a daughter, Kristi.

David Benton Doner was born July 7, 1895, in Sully County, South Dakota, to Benton and Harriette L. (Hunt) Doner. He enrolled at South Dakota State College in 1913 as a member of the first four-year class to graduate from the School of Agriculture for high school students. His freshman college year was interrupted by World War I. In 1919 and 1920, he taught agriculture at the College to returning soldiers. In 1920, he became assistant secretary of the College while continuing his education and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1928. On April 24, 1918, he married Edna Pearl Beals, and they had three children: Valeria, Dean, and Keith.

Doner devoted forty-two years of service to South Dakota State College, later South Dakota State University. He served as Registrar from 1922 to 1953 and became Director of Admissions and Records in 1953. In 1932, he was appointed Dean of Men. From 1936 to 1961, he served as Secretary of the Alumni Council and as editor of the Alumnus. Following the establishment of the SDSC Alumni Foundation in 1945, he served as its Treasurer until 1964. In recognition of his service, the Alumni Foundation named him a Distinguished Alumnus in 1964, the year of his retirement, and in 1973 the university awarded him an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree. During his career, he served under nine presidents and signed 12,693 diplomas. Doner was also active in civic and professional organizations, including service with the Boy Scouts, the Brookings School Board, the South Dakota State Associated School Boards, Kiwanis, and fundraising efforts for the Crippled Children’s Hospital and School in Sioux Falls. He died in September 1978.

James Norman Dornbush was born February 16, 1928, in Aberdeen, South Dakota, to Isaac Henry and Beatrice (Yocum) Dornbush. He grew up in Pollock, South Dakota, where he graduated from high school. He received his bachelor’s degree from South Dakota State College in 1949 and taught for two years at the college. On August 7, 1952, he married Maxine Biggar in Brookings. Shortly after, he served in the U.S. Army from July 18, 1952, to September 7, 1953.

Dornbush earned a master’s degree in public health and sanitary engineering from the University of Minnesota in 1959 and a doctorate in environmental and sanitary engineering from Washington University in St. Louis in 1962. In 1964, he and his family returned to Brookings, where he joined the Civil Engineering Department at South Dakota State University as a professor. His career was devoted to research and consultation in water pollution control and sanitary engineering.

He was an active member of the First Presbyterian Church, Rotary International, the Elks, and several professional organizations.

Amy Dunkle spent nearly 20 years working in community journalism as a reporter, news editor, and managing editor. She later worked as a freelance writer for newspapers, magazines, and trade journals for over a decade. Dunkle is the author of The College on the Hill, an anecdotal history of South Dakota State University. She also served as communications coordinator for Rhode Island NSF EPSCoR, writing about research and education initiatives funded by the National Science Foundation.

Poet David Dwyer grew up just north of New York City and commuted to Manhattan for high school. He later settled in Lemmon, South Dakota, with his wife, writer Kathleen Norris, after she inherited her maternal grandparents’ farm.

Dwyer’s debut poetry collection, Ariana Olisvos: Her Last Works and Days, received the Juniper Prize and was published in 1976 by the University of Massachusetts Press. His second collection, Other Men and Other Women, was supported by a $20,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and published in 1988 by Sandhills Press in Ord, Nebraska. His work also appeared in leading literary journals and anthologies, including The New York Quarterly, The Agni Review, and The Virginia Quarterly Review.

David Dwyer died in 2003 at the age of 57 after a long illness, leaving a legacy of reflective and evocative poetry.

Anthony S. Dylla was born on December 21, 1924, in Andover, South Dakota, to Julius and Lucy Dylla. Raised on a farm, he entered the U.S. Army in 1946 and served in Japan until 1948. Following his military service, Dylla attended South Dakota State University in Brookings, where he earned both a bachelor's and a master's degree in agricultural engineering. From 1959 to 1982, he worked as an agricultural engineer with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, conducting irrigation research in Reno, Nevada; Morris, Minnesota; and Columbus, Ohio. He retired in 1982 and settled in Pueblo, Colorado. Dylla married Colette Lathrop of Sioux Falls in 1955. He passed away on January 7, 2006, in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Established in 1955, the Eastern South Dakota Science and Engineering Fair (ESDSEF) has served as a regional showcase for student research at South Dakota State University. Held each spring, the fair invites students in grades 6 through 12 to present independent scientific investigations across a wide range of disciplines. As an affiliated regional event of the International Science and Engineering Fair, projects are evaluated according to established scientific review, safety, and ethical standards, with top competitors advancing to national and international levels of competition.

Administered by a Fair Director and committee in collaboration with the SDSU chapter of Sigma Xi, the fair reflects a longstanding partnership between the university and the broader scientific community. Sponsorship has included Sigma Xi, South Dakota State University, the Division of Continuing Education, the Greater State Fund, and the SDSU Foundation. Over time, the event has been hosted in various campus venues, including Club 71 at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium, accommodating hundreds of student participants and judges.

Through medals, trophies, scholarships, and sponsored awards, the fair promotes STEM education and encourages young scholars to pursue scientific inquiry. For more than half a century, it has functioned as both an academic competition and a significant outreach initiative, strengthening connections between SDSU and schools across eastern South Dakota while fostering the next generation of researchers and innovators.