FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  July 4, 2007
CONTACT:  Jeff Mammenga, (605) 773-6000, Jeff.Mammenga@state.sd.us

Hyde County residents invited to visit SD Cultural Heritage Center

PIERRE, SD – Residents of Hyde County are invited to discover South Dakota’s history and heritage at the South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre during “Hyde County Week” July 8-14.

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 Hyde 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 the William and Marie Runestad Family of Highmore are displayed in the “Changing Times” gallery, including a 1920s ladies swimsuit, and a Depression-era dress and coveralls.

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 Hyde County items stored in its permanent collection, including more Depression-era work clothing from the Runestad Family, a portrait painting of Harlan Stoley of Highmore painted by Northern State University art professor Mark McGinnis, World War II ration booklets, and school report cards and a diploma from the 1930s.

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 Hyde County items included in the archives are Holabird School textbooks from 1914, a Farmer’s Pocket Ledger belonging to H.E. Trask of Highmore, letters about life on the family farm near Highmore written by Mrs. Serena C. Foster in 1906 to a friend in Minneapolis, records dated 1908-1910 from the Highmore Chapter of the Socialist Party of America, and an 1890 manuscript by Max Weniger recollecting homesteading near Highmore. There are also photographs from Highmore, Holabird, Stephan and the Stephan Mission; maps of Hyde County and its individual towns and townships; and Hyde County WPA cemetery records from 1940.

The archives has a large selection of Hyde County newspapers on microfilm. In addition to the current Highmore Herald, microfilmed newspapers include the Bramhall Blade and Free Press, the Highmore Nonpareil; the Hyde County Bulletin, News and Republican printed in Highmore; and the Hyde County News also printed in Holabird. 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 Hyde 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.