Waggoner, Josephine Papers (H75-57 and H75-17) 15 items

"The Bells of Yates" and fourteen handwritten notebooks containing Ben Arnold’s reminiscences of life in the American West, ca. 1864-1890, written by a Lakota woman of mixed descent. Waggoner was born at Grand River Agency, DT, in 1872 to Joseph McCarthy and a Hunkpapa woman of the Kiglaske band, she later married Benjamin Monroe Connor (a.k.a. Ben Arnold). After attending Hampton Institute for six years Waggoner returned to Standing Rock to serve as an interpreter in the church at St. Elizabeth Mission near present day Wakpala. Waggoner is also noted in the Susan Bordeaux Bettelyoun Papers listed above.

War Bonnet, Alice Manuscript (H94-60) 1 item

Reminiscences of the Wounded Knee Massacre and aftermath, December 1890. The manuscript is in Lakota, as told to and written down by Alice’s son, John William War Bonnet. An English translation was prepared by Vernon Ashley of Pierre.

W.E.B. Water Development Association Records (H95-1, H96-15) 3 cubic feet

Minutes, correspondence, news clippings, newsletters, and pamphlets, 1974-1994, collected by Mrs. A.D. (Mae) Zemlicka, one of the founders and the first executive secretary of WEB Water Development Association. She also served as Aberdeen City Finance Commissioner; assisted in organizing and was a member of the Aberdeen Citizens Water Advisory Board; an officer of the South Dakota Municipal League; vice-president of Elected Women in Municipal Government of the National League of Cities; and local and state president of the League of Women Voters.

Weeks, Isabell May Papers (H87-15) 1 folder, 58 items

Letters written by Mrs. Weeks to her parents in Michigan, 1872-1909. There are a few letters to and from other family members. The letters Weeks wrote from Yankton to her parents describe conditions and experiences of her life in Dakota Territory and South Dakota. Isabell May Weeks came to Yankton, DT, in 1872, as the bride of John A. Weeks. Mr. Weeks was a manufacturer and dealer in boots and shoes.

Welsh, Emma S. Papers (H93-22, H95-6) 16 items

Photographs, clippings, and a manuscript. The 167-page manuscript of Welsh’s memoirs titled, "We Pioneers," describing her experiences as a homesteader in Stanley County in 1902 and teaching in various South Dakota schools prior to 1902. Welsh remained in Stanley County until 1931 when she and her husband Edward moved to Madison, South Dakota. She was an original member of the Rustic Writers Club and enjoyed creative writing, publishing many of her poems. In 1995 a photograph of the Edward and Emma Welsh homestead west of Fort Pierre, South Dakota, ca. 1905, was added to the collection.

White, Dorothy Manuscript (H75-122) 1 item, 6 pages

Undated manuscript entitled, "Pioneer Days in Oelrichs, South Dakota" describing ranching and homesteading in the Oelrichs area by the granddaughter of John White, who settled in the area in 1890. White offers a sketch of ranching operations, the effects of the blizzard of 1888, a mock battle of Indians for a 4th of July celebration, and of the early and brief conflict between homesteaders and ranchers.

Williams, Anna E. Papers (H75-144) 4 items

A short biographical sketch of Ann Williams, a photograph taken of her in 1936 when she was 77 years old, and two photographs of her marriage certificate signed by Preacher Smith. The marriage of Miss Anna Card, then 16, and Edward Williams in 1876 was conducted in Deadwood by Preacher Henry Weston Smith. Edward Williams was a teamster and lumberjack from Laramie, Wyoming, and his wife was from Colorado. In 1881 the Williams moved to Miles City, where Mrs. Williams was a resident as late as 1936. Her husband died in 1907 in British Columbia.

Willy, Margaret and Milo Letter (H75-354) 1 item, 7 pages

Letter written June 8 and 11, 1888. The Willys were residents of Appomattox, Potter County, Dakota Territory. Margaret Willy taught school and her husband apparently practiced medicine. Their letter, addressed to William Spencer of Davidson, Potter County, deals with crops and gardens, county elections, and the band of Potter County politicos known as the "Gettysburg Ring."

Wilmart, Addie M. Photographs (H88-101) 21 items

Photographs of Pierre in the 1930s. Included are photographs of Mrs. Hyde, Mrs. Karcher, Mrs. Schubert, Alice Gerlach, Viola Maulding, and Mrs. Holden, wife of the Baptist minister.

Wilson, Irene Cushman Diary (H76-22) 19 items

Copies of various programs, clippings, and diary transcripts (111 typewritten pages) written 1890-1891, 1893, and 1908. Cushman’s family settled in Deadwood in 1878. She was a member of the first graduating class of Deadwood High School in 1886. In 1890 she married Albert D. Wilson. Diary entries detail Irene’s social activities.

Woman Suffrage Movement Papers (H74-16) 1 cubic foot

Letters, minutes, publications, misc. items, 1889-1925. These items were donated at various times by various people. Many of the papers come from the files of the South Dakota Universal Franchise League, and equal suffrage clubs in Pierre and Fort Pierre. Much of the correspondence is to or from Mrs. Ruth B. Hipple, one of the officers of the SDUFL, and editor of The South Dakota Messenger, an equal suffrage newspaper.

Woman's Christian Temperance Union Records (H92-128, H90-122, H90-7 through H90-12, H95-46, H96-9, H99-020) 6.25 cubic feet

Records of the SDWCTU historian, 1890-1991, including: histories of the World, National, State, and Local levels; newspaper clippings; regional district WCTU organizational, financial, and membership records; songbooks and sheet music; speeches; publications; and annual convention reports. Also includes records of the Prairie City, South Dakota treasurer, 1960-1986 and minutes of the Rapid City WCTU, 1891-1906.

Woman’s Relief Corps. Department of South Dakota Records (H74-15, H74-30, H74-45) 5 1/2 cubic feet

Minutes, ledgers, cash books, receipts, requisitions, letters, 1884-1927. An affiliate of the Grand Army of the Republic, a civil war veterans organization. The Lake Madison Veteran Association Ledger, 1887-1916, includes a list of WRC members who attended an annual encampment. The GAR collection also contains information about the WRCDSD.

Women Accepted in Volunteer Emergency Service, US Navy Photographs (H88-94) 10 items

Photographs of 1st WAVES reunion at San Francisco, California, 1948.

Women’s Clubs Yearbooks (SC 31) 29 items

Yearbooks from women's clubs in various South Dakota towns, 1908-1909, 1944-1956. Included are Big Stone City Round Table Club, Blunt Tuesday Club, Canton Woman’s Study Club, Chamberlain Travelers Club, DeSmet Woman’s Study Club, Deadwood Round Table Club, Draper Woman’s Club, Edgemont Study Club and Thursday Study Club, Faulkton Study Club, Gettysburg Woman’s Literary Club, Hot Springs Traveler’s Club, Irene Civic Club, Kennebec Woman’s Welfare Club, Letcher Civic Study Club, Milbank Makocha Study Club, Mobridge Arts and Travel Club, Sturgis Woman’s Literary Club, Vermillion Nautilus Club, Music Club, and Faculty Woman’s Club of the University of South Dakota, Wagner Woman’s Club, and the Wakonda Monday Club. The yearbooks contain lists of officers, members, committees, and other details about the groups.

Woonsocket Area China Painters Club Records (H99-143) 0.5 cubic feet

The club was organized in 1979 in Woonsocket by those interested in the art of china painting. The collection includes the club charter, program schedules and officers, newspaper clippings, memorials and photographs; 1979-1999.

Wuillemin, Jeanne L. Letter (H75-356) 1 item, 13 typewritten pages

Wuillemin recounts a homesteading trip which she and others made to Stanley County, South Dakota, in June 1906. The letter deals with such subjects as claim surveying, social life in Pierre, Hayes, and Manila, South Dakota, and railroad travel between Elgin, Illinois, and Pierre, South Dakota.

Wyman, Walker D. Frontier Woman Manuscript (H82-4) 1 item

The first draft of Wyman's book, "Frontier Woman: The Life of a Woman Homesteader on the Dakota Frontier, Retold from the Original Notes and Letters of Grace Fairchild, a Wisconsin Teacher Who Went to South Dakota in 1898," published by the University of Wisconsin-River Falls Press in 1972. The manuscript is heavily marked with editorial notes.