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"Preserving
the Past...Serving the Future"
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In the Classroom
Find out about the resources available in the Archives that can help you in your
historical research. Learn about the SDLN
online catalog and how it and other finding aids
will help you in your research. Solve the puzzle of your family tree by using
genealogy
resources. Read headlines from South Dakota newspapers printed on the day you were born.
Study maps drawn by the first explorers who charted the state in the 19th century. Examine
photographs of the Custer Expedition into the Black Hills in 1874 or steamboats frozen
into the ice of the Missouri River in Yankton in the 1880s. Transport yourself back in
time as you read the diaries and letters of people before us. Read a book or watch a video
in which resources from the archives are used to document history today. These and many
other exciting adventures await you at the South Dakota State Archives!
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Coming Soon: History Topics
Ideas to help you get started on
your research project.
Especially for Teachers
Archives collections contain original documentation
of the past that even the best written source cannot convey. By using primary sources you
will expose your students to important historical concepts.
Students will realize that written history is merely
the author's interpretation of the past. Rather than viewing history as a series of facts
and dates in their textbook, students will realize that their book is just one
interpretation of the events described by the author. Historians have biases created by
their own personal situations and the social environments in which they live. Students
will begin to form their own opinions based on evidence and original sources.
Primary sources humanize history. Students are
fascinated by the human emotions and the values and attitudes of the past reflected in
personal writings. Primary sources add color and excitement to history as they link
students directly to individuals from the past.
The use of primary sources develops important
analytical skills. History trains students to gather, sift, and evaluate evidence.
Students learn how bias and point of view affect evidence, what contradictions exist
within a source, and how reliable their sources are. Development of these skills are
important to students in all aspects of their lives, including historical research.
Top
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South Dakota State
Historical Society, 900 Governors Dr., Pierre SD 57501-2217
phone
605-773-3458 fax 605-773-6041 |
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