Vigil in South Dakota Records

Identity elements

Reference code

MA 094

Level of description

Records

Title

Vigil in South Dakota Records

Date(s)

  • 1992-2005 (Accumulation)

Extent

0.42 linear feet (1 document case)

Name of creator

Administrative history

The Vigil in South Dakota was founded as a nonprofit organization in 1992 by Mary Perpich and Norman Gambill. The collection mainly includes the organization’s involvement with the issue of censorship of “The Portrait of a Marriage” by Educational Telecommunication and responses to the debate over censorship in South Dakota.

Name of creator

Biographical history

Name of creator

(1941-2013)

Biographical history

Norman Paul Gambill was born April 3, 1941 in Dade City, FL, to George Washington Gambill IV and Dorcas (Darling) Gambill. He grew up in Florida and Georgia.

He was a scholar in art history and film studies with degrees from Emory University, the University of Iowa and Syracuse University. His also graduated from Emory at Oxford prep school in Atlanta.

He was an art history professor at the University of Illinois and South Dakota State University where he headed the Visual Arts Department for 26 years, retiring in 2010.

During his 48-year career, he taught thousands of undergraduate students to love art and understand its importance in world history. He also worked with graduate students on courses in Asian art, film art and design, women artists, and international films.

He was an ardent fan of Oscar Wilde and Orson Welles. His lectures and writings about Welles’s groundbreaking film “Citizen Kane” inspired many to take up film studies. His work as a scholar took him around the country giving lectures and around the world sharing his expertise with academics, particularly those who attended the Oxford Roundtable in 2010.

He published articles in scholarly journals and respected film magazines. His work on 1930s films and their importance in the cultural history of the United States is being published in his book, “Ritz and American Mediocrity.” He was initiated into Phi Kappa Phi, the national honor society for those with notable academic accomplishments, in 2006.

His innovative fund-raising events raised money for his department and the Brookings community. With the help of the Visual Arts Group of local volunteers, he founded the annual Evening for the Arts dinner and art auction. The yearly Chocolate Auction held on or around Valentine’s Day raised funds by with an auction of chocolate desserts donated by restaurants and local bakers. Proceeds provided scholarships for art students.

He also co-founded the annual DVAGI, Design and Visual Arts Group Inc., fundraiser in collaboration with the SDSU departments of Visual Arts, Apparel Merchandising and Interior Design, and Horticulture, Forestry and Landscape Design. Money from an auction of designers’ services raised money for students to travel to art and design events across the country.

His reputation for lavish parties carried over to his private life where he served abundant food and wine to friends from Brookings and across the country in his 19th Century house, a showplace for his extensive art collection.

Dr. Norman P. Gambill, died from heart failure on July 12, 2016, at the Neighborhoods at Brookview in Brookings.

Content and structure elements

Scope and content

This collection includes the organization's mission and goals statements and views on censorship. Information about Educational Telecommunication including mission, goals, policies, and board minutes. Correspondence, newspaper articles, and other organizations responses to potential censorship issues in South Dakota especially within Public Broadcasting.

System of arrangement

Conditions of access and use elements

Conditions governing access

This collection is open to researchers without restrictions. The materials in the Archives do not circulate and may be used in-house only.

Researchers conducting extensive research are asked to make an advance appointment to access archival material. Please call or e-mail prior to visiting the collection and indicate as much detail as possible about a particular topic and intended use.

Physical access

Technical access

Conditions governing reproduction

South Dakota State University supports access to the materials, published and unpublished, in its collections. Nonetheless, access to some items may be restricted as a result of their fragile condition or by contractual agreements with donors.

Languages of the material

  • English

Scripts of the material

    Language and script notes

    Finding aids

    Acquisition and appraisal elements

    Custodial history

    Immediate source of acquisition

    Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information

    Accruals

    Related materials elements

    Existence and location of originals

    Existence and location of copies

    Related archival materials

    Related descriptions

    Notes element

    Specialized notes

    Alternative identifier(s)

    ID

    MA094

    ID

    MA 94

    Description control element

    Rules or conventions

    Sources used

    Access points

    Place access points

    Name access points

    Accession area