FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  June 6, 2007
CONTACT:  Jeff Mammenga, (605) 773-6000, Jeff.Mammenga@state.sd.us

Hand County residents invited to visit the SD Cultural Heritage Center

PIERRE, SD – Residents of Hand County are invited to discover South Dakota’s history and heritage at the South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center during “Hand County Week” June 10-16.

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.   

As you wander through the museum, you will want to take note of the “Bushfield for Governor” pin in the “Changing Times” gallery.

In addition to the items on display, the museum has a number of Miller’s own Harlan J. Bushfield political pieces in its permanent collection, including buttons, pins, bookends and a calendar. Bushfield served as South Dakota Governor from 1939-43. Various individuals donated these items to the museum throughout the years. There are also ribbons in the collection won by the Miller Volunteer Fire Department in the early 1900s. Approximately 10 percent of the collection is on display in the permanent exhibits at any one time.

The Cultural Heritage Center also houses the South Dakota State Archives.  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 Hand County items included in the archives are numerous photographs of Hand County towns through the years, Gov. Bushfield’s papers, as well as papers from the John Harvey McGinnis Family and Ella May Hammill, and a scrapbook from Elsie Hammill Adams. There are records from Saint Ann’s Catholic Church, and several yearbooks from Miller, Ree Heights and Polo High Schools. There are underwriter insurance maps for Miller, Ree Heights and Vayland, naturalization guides for Hand County from 1882-1945, and the manuscript for They Pioneered – For Us, an index to the history of Miller and Hand County compiled and edited by Myrna Cotton and published in 1956.

The archives has a large selection of Hand County newspapers on microfilm. They include the Hand County Journal, Hand County News, Hand County Press, Miller Daily Times, Miller Sun, Miller Press, Miller Gazette, Ree Heights Review and Ree Heights Free Press. Copies of the Hand County Journal, Miller Sun and Miller Daily Times are missing. People having old copies of those newspapers can contact the archives at (605) 773-3804.

“We extend this invitation to Hand 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.

The Cultural Heritage Center museum is open 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1 to 4:30 p.m. on 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 18-59, $3 for seniors, 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.