FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  July 11, 2007
CONTACT:  Jeff Mammenga, (605) 773-6000, Jeff.Mammenga@state.sd.us

Lyman County residents invited to visit SD Cultural Heritage Center

PIERRE, SD – Residents of Lyman County are invited to discover South Dakota’s history and heritage at the South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre during “Lyman County Week” July 15-21.

The Cultural Heritage Center houses the museum of the South Dakota State Historical Society. It contains over 28,000 objects documenting an overview of the “South Dakota Experience.” It recreates the cultural history of South Dakota. At your visit you will learn the stories of the American Indians who inhabited South Dakota before statehood; experience the stories of the explorers, trappers, settlers, missionaries and early town builders; and relive the changes that the building of the dams and the installation of electricity, telephones and television made in the South Dakota homes of the 20^th Century.

“We extend this invitation to Lyman County residents to make a day trip to Pierre and discover a little more about their hometown or just learn more about our great state,” said Jay D. Vogt, South Dakota State Historical Society Director.

As you wander through the museum, items from two prominent Lyman County politicians – both Republicans from Kennebec -- are displayed in the “Changing Times” gallery. A political button of Gov. Merrill Q. Sharpe, who led the state from 1943-47, is displayed. There are also two James Abdnor political buttons – one from when he was a U.S. Congressman from 1973-80 and the other from the 1980 U.S. Senate race in which Abdnor defeated Democratic incumbent George McGovern.

Approximately 10 percent of the museum’s collection is on display in the permanent exhibits at any one time. In addition to the items on display, the museum has many Lyman County items stored in its permanent collection, including more items from Sharpe and about 60 artifacts associated with Abdnor. There is also: 

n      a Lyman County delegate pin from the 1904 Republican State Convention in Sioux Falls;

n      a railroad ticket from the 1910s for a one-day pass from Chamberlain to Oacoma on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad;

n      a case with pull-out maps used since the 1920s in a rural schoolhouse near Vivian (the last teacher to use them was Mary Stolley);

n      a U.S. Marines uniform belonging to Jerry Howard Fenenga of Reliance, who died in the Vietnam War;

n      a first-place ribbon for writing/spelling won in 1937 by Marilyn King at the 8^th Annual Lyman County School Rally Day;

n      a wedding dress worn by Josephine Tevca when she married Melvin Ohlson in 1901 in Presho; and

n      a telephone switchboard used in Kennebec in the 1940s.

The Cultural Heritage Center also houses the State Archives of the South Dakota State Historical Society. The archives collects and preserves permanently valuable government and organizational records, personal papers, publications, photographs, maps, and sound and video recordings which document the history of South Dakota, and makes them available to the public, for the benefit of state agencies and the people of South Dakota.

Among Lyman County items included in the archives are materials from the Les Helgeland Collection, relating to the 1922 battle between Kennebec and Oacoma for the county seat. There is also:

n      homesteading papers from Fanny Malone and Alice Smith;

n      Presho American Lutheran Church congregational records from 1892-1983;

n      club records from the Lyman County Cooperative Extension Service;

n      county maps and atlases;

n      individual town maps;

n      Sanborn Fire Insurance & Fire Underwriters maps, and

n      Works Progress Administration cemetery records from 1940.

Historic photographs from Presho, Vivian, Kennebec, Lyman, Reliance and Oacoma, and National Youth Administration construction projects in Presho can be viewed.

The archives has a large selection of Lyman County newspapers on microfilm. In addition to the current Lyman County Herald in Presho, microfilmed newspapers include the Lyman County Advocate, Argus, Argus-Leader, Democrat, Journal, Record, Republican and Settler; the Kennebec Advocate-Leader, the Central Dakota Times, the Highland Herald, the Oacoma Gazette-Leader, the Prairie Sun, the Presho Herald and Post, the Reliance Record, the Reservation Wand, the Vivian Wave and the Westover Wave. People having copies of past editions of these newspapers can contact the archives at (605) 773-3804.

Selected historic photos, city maps and newspaper pages from Lyman County are on display in the archives research room of the Cultural Heritage Center.

The Cultural Heritage Center is open 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1 to 4:30 p.m. Sundays and most holidays. The archives is open 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and the first Saturday of each month. There is no charge to use the archives. The admission fee to the museum is $4 for those ages 18-59, $3 for senior citizens, and free to Society members and children 17-and-under.

The public is encouraged to donate items to the collections of either the museum or archives. Contact the society at (605) 773-3458 or visit www.sdhistory.org.