The Mary Jo Benton Lee Papers document her work in teaching, program development, diversity initiatives, and outreach at South Dakota State University from 1987 to 2010. The collection is composed of four main areas: the Promotional Techniques for Engineers class, student class projects, personal files, and the SDSU–Flandreau Indian School Success Academy.

The Promotional Techniques for Engineers class, created in 1987 by Dean of Engineering Ernest Buckley and Benton Lee, was designed to train engineering students in journalism and public communication. Students promoted university and statewide events, managing substantial budgets to design publicity campaigns, advertisements, news releases, and promotional materials. Records include class lecture notes, campaign notebooks, audio-visual materials, assignments, and proceedings of the American Society of Engineering Education describing the course.

The Class Projects series contains files related to student-led promotional campaigns, including the Impact ’87 Trade Fair, the Making Connections ethics seminar, and the Expanding Horizons Together entrepreneurship workshop. Materials include promotional reports, news clippings, media kits, advertisements, event programs, and evaluation documents that illustrate how engineering students applied communication skills in real-world projects.

The Personal Files series includes Benton Lee’s professional records while serving as graduate assistant for the South Dakota Space Grant Consortium (1992–1998), during which South Dakota’s tribal colleges were incorporated into the consortium, and her role as Diversity Coordinator for the College of Engineering (1998–2010). These files reflect engineering diversity initiatives, faculty meetings, scholarship programs, recruitment and retention activities, management and leadership training, and national organizations promoting women and minorities in STEM.

The Flandreau Indian School Success Academy files document the development of an early and intensive college preparatory program for American Indian high school students co-founded by Benton Lee. Materials include program reports, annual evaluations, histories of the Flandreau Indian School, commencement materials, and ten-year program reviews spanning 2000 to 2010.

This collection provides a record of teaching methods that combined communication and engineering, highlighting how students were engaged in leadership and professional skill-building through public relations campaigns. It also illustrates the broader efforts of South Dakota State University to support diversity and inclusion in engineering education, particularly through partnerships with tribal colleges and the Flandreau Indian School. The papers reflect Benton Lee’s career as a scholar, teacher, and administrator who shaped engineering outreach, diversity initiatives, and early college preparatory opportunities for underrepresented students.

slides

The collection documents research conducted by William Ray Gibbons on the development of renewable fuels and related products derived from agricultural biomass. Materials date primarily from the late 1970s through the 2010s and focus on ethanol production using feedstocks such as fodder beets, corn, sweet sorghum, and agricultural byproducts. The collection includes scholarly articles, technical reports, economic feasibility studies, energy analyses, draft manuscripts, correspondence, and supporting data related to small scale, farm scale, and commercial scale fuel alcohol production.

Also included are draft and final versions of Gibbons’ master’s thesis and doctoral dissertation addressing the technology and economics of ethanol production from fodder beets, along with supplementary research data, tables, and figures. Visual materials such as photographs, slides, transparencies, posters, and charts document experimental procedures, fermentation systems, distillation equipment, and pilot plant operations. Conference papers, seminar materials, and presentations illustrate the dissemination of research findings within academic, agricultural, and industry settings.

The collection further contains newspaper and magazine clippings reflecting public and policy discourse on ethanol and renewable energy over several decades, as well as draft legislative testimony, notes, and briefing materials related to ethanol tax incentives and renewable fuel policy. Additional subject areas include mushroom cultivation using agricultural waste products, energy balance studies, and economic impact analyses of ethanol production in regional and national contexts.

This collection is significant for documenting South Dakota State University’s long term research contributions to renewable energy, applied microbiology, and agricultural biotechnology. It provides detailed evidence of early and sustained investigations into ethanol production technologies, economic feasibility, and energy efficiency at small and community scales. The materials support research into the historical development of the ethanol industry, agricultural innovation in the Upper Midwest, and the role of land grant universities in advancing alternative energy research and informing public policy.

6 color postcards of Cambridge, United Kingdom
38 color photographs

article, correspondence with publisher

Photos from bridge

Deuel County, South Dakota

Deuel County, South Dakota

Orchid Meadows

The E.S. McFadden Papers document the career, research, and legacy of Edgar Sharp McFadden (1891–1956), a pioneering American plant breeder best known for developing Hope Wheat, the first variety resistant to stem rust. McFadden’s work in genetics and agronomy spanned South Dakota and Texas, and he contributed significantly to agricultural science through federal and academic research programs, including with the USDA and Texas A&M.

The collection spans McFadden’s professional life and includes research notebooks, writings, correspondence, photographs, honors, and biographical materials. Of particular note are research materials related to wheat breeding and rust resistance, including field data, experimental notes, and correspondence concerning Hope Wheat. Writings include published and unpublished scientific and popular articles, speeches, and autobiographical pieces. Also included are awards and certificates from scientific societies, clippings about McFadden’s achievements, and documentation of public recognition such as “McFadden Appreciation Day.” The papers provide insight into 20th-century advancements in crop improvement and agricultural science in the United States.

Articles, clippings, notes

Signed permission form

South Dakota Humanities Council

Butler, South Dakota, Frank Farrar

This collection was compiled by Lawrence Hunt’s daughter, Gayle (Hunt) Matz, and documents aspects of Hunt’s personal history and family legacy. It includes a short biography written by Matz, an audio cassette recording titled Grandy Hunt 1918–1989, in which Lawrence Hunt shares memories of the Great Depression and his World War II service, and seven digital photographs. The cassette was recorded by Hunt’s granddaughter, Erin, as part of a school project. Materials offer insight into 20th-century American family life and military service through a personal narrative lens.

• includes 65 hand-annotated snapshots (5 x 3 1/2 color) plus newspaper clippings
• covers Pierre, South Dakota and Washington, D.C.

The Bill Nibbelink Papers documents Nibbelink’s involvement in the development and promotion of alcohol fuels in South Dakota, reflecting his collaboration with Congressman Tom Daschle and regional organizations during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The collection includes a range of government and industry publications on ethanol, such as materials produced by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Department of Agriculture, the Solar Energy Research Institute, and local advocacy groups like the South Dakota Alcohol Fuels Association. These materials illustrate a critical moment in the push for renewable energy solutions in the Midwest and highlight Nibbelink’s role in distributing and producing outreach materials to support the cause.

In addition to energy policy materials, the collection contains assorted campaign memorabilia and planning documents, including a 1978 recount handbook from the contested congressional election in Moody County. These records offer insight into grassroots campaign operations, local political strategy, and the resourcefulness of early campaign efforts with limited funding. The presence of "Get Out The Vote" materials and memorabilia spanning from 1978 to 2004 captures the longevity of Nibbelink’s political engagement.

Also included are constituent correspondence files known as robo letters, which detail how Daschle’s congressional office handled communication with constituents during his early terms. These are complemented by logistical materials such as South Dakota trip schedules, contact lists, and a congressional telephone directory, providing a fuller picture of day-to-day congressional operations.

Photographs, press clippings, and a 2015 interview with Nibbelink round out the collection, adding visual and personal context to the professional and political records. Altogether, the collection serves as a valuable resource for studying early renewable energy advocacy, political campaigning in rural America, and the evolution of constituent service in congressional offices.

The Oscar and Alice Simonson Papers offer an unusually detailed and continuous financial and operational record of a South Dakota family farm from 1941 to 1979, a period that spans World War II, postwar agricultural expansion, and major changes in rural economies. The Farm Family Record Books serve as a rare primary source documenting everyday economic decisions, household consumption, and farming practices in the northern Plains.

Alice Simonson’s precise and sustained recordkeeping provides insight into the role of women in farm management and the intersection of domestic and agricultural labor. Additionally, the accompanying photographs, oral history interview, and personal correspondence contextualize the lived experience of mid-20th-century farm families, enriching research in rural history, agricultural economics, women's studies, and social history.

This collection is valuable for scholars studying rural life, the evolution of federal agricultural policy, and the social fabric of family farming communities in the Midwest.

The Frank E. Denholm Papers primarily document Denholm’s service as U.S. Representative for South Dakota’s First Congressional District from 1971 to 1975. The collection reflects his advocacy for rural America, particularly through his work to reinstate the Rural Electrification Act and support legislation on agriculture, rural water systems, and rural development. It includes extensive press releases, congressional reports, financial disclosures, and newspaper clippings related to his legislative activities.

Campaign materials feature prominently, with county-level organizing documents, bumper stickers, advertisements, and memorabilia spanning multiple election cycles. The collection contains correspondence, including exchanges with political figures such as George McGovern, Richard Kneip, J. Edgar Hoover, and Tom Daschle.

Denholm’s earlier and later careers as an FBI agent, sheriff, auctioneer, and attorney are also represented. Non-congressional files include his work in law enforcement, his private business ventures, and his involvement in regional civic life.

Visual documentation includes nearly 1,500 photographs and slides, many related to campaigns, official travel, and public events, as well as oversized items such as campaign posters and scrapbooks. Audio-visual materials include reel-to-reel recordings and 2-inch quad video tapes of campaign advertisements and congressional work.

The collection also features materials related to Denholm’s wife, Mildred Niehaus Denholm, who was active in his campaigns and participated in Congressional Wives’ organizations. Born May 9, 1927 in Andover, South Dakota, Mildred Denholm was a teacher and trained secretary with additional studies in music. The papers include her biographical information, correspondence with Frank Denholm, and documents relating to her role in the Congressional Women’s Club. She passed away on August 14, 2014.

Additional material includes Denholm’s autobiographical writings, family history, South Dakota State University coursework, speeches, public statements, and memorabilia such as awards, plaques, and a pen from the Nixon White House. The papers offer insight into South Dakota political history and mid-20th century rural policy advocacy.

The Denholm Papers serve scholars of political science, rural history, South Dakota state politics, and 20th-century congressional history by preserving a detailed account of one legislator’s efforts to shape federal policy to better serve rural constituencies.

This collection includes materials related to the personal and professional lives of Elmer and Cecile Sexauer, such as postcards, diaries, scrapbooks, and essays written by Cecile during her college years. It also contains items like agricultural reports presented to Elmer, certificates from their 50th college reunion, and various family papers. Travel diaries and over 400 postcards document their trips across the U.S., Mexico, the Caribbean, Europe, Canada, and Japan.

The collection offers valuable insight into the lives of Elmer and Cecile Sexauer, highlighting their family history, travels, and involvement in organizations like the Grain and Feed Dealers National Association. It serves as an important resource for understanding their personal experiences and social networks in the early 20th century.

The general material consists mainly of essays written by Cecile Welch Sexauer during her college career. Also included is a Christmas card list of the Sexauer's for 1971, scrapbooks containing newspaper clippings, a book of Agricultural Department Reports presented to Elmer Sexauer in 1947, and certificates presented to the Sexauer's on the anniversary of their 50th college reunion. Some examples of their personal stationery, grade school papers from Elmer's youth, and a language paper of Laura Sexauer, Elmer's sister are also included.

A scrapbook of Elizabeth Anne Baker, age 9 weeks, chronicles her first visit to her grandparents’ home during Easter 1947. It was prepared by Jeannette Gagnon-Abbey for the Sexauer's.

The scrapbook was presented to Elmer Sexauer by the Grain and Feed Dealers National Association as a permanent reminder of the Forty-fourth Annual Convention held at Louisville, Kentucky October 13-15, 1940. Elmer was president of the Association at that time.
The postcards are composed of postcards from the United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean that the Sexauer’s collected on their travels. There are over 400 postcards in this collection.

The Travels series consists of travel diaries hand-written by Cecile Sexauer. These diaries contain information about where the Sexauer's traveled and the customs, history and items of interest of these places. Some of the places the Sexauer's traveled to Europe, Canada, and Japan. Also included is a souvenir book of the Queen Elizabeth cruise ship.

The South Dakota Dairy Association records document its role in shaping the state's dairy industry from the early 1900s to the early 2000s. This collection includes ledgers, administrative materials, financial records, and publications that provide insight into the association's governance, advocacy, and industry impact. Annual reports, meeting minutes, and convention programs spanning a century highlight efforts to promote dairy farming practices, support producers, and establish industry standards.

Significant materials include governance documents such as the association's constitution, amendments, and certificate of incorporation, as well as financial records detailing operations and contests. Convention programs from 1911 to 1999, along with reports on industry regulations, illustrate the association's efforts to foster professional development and policy discussions. The collection also includes medals, photographs, and newspaper clippings, offering a connection to the association's legacy.

These materials provide context for understanding the evolution of South Dakota's dairy industry, reflecting broader agricultural trends, economic contributions, and the collaborative efforts that shaped the state's dairy sector.