FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  Oct. 17, 2007
CONTACT:  Chelle Somsen, (605) 773-3804, Chelle.Somsen@state.sd.us

Cultural Heritage Center hosting Pierre Indian School presentation

PIERRE, S.D. – In recognition of October being Archives Month, Pierre native Eddie Welch will offer the presentation, “Stories, Photographs and History of the Pierre Indian School.” on Sunday, Oct. 21, at 2 p.m. in the Education Room of the South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center.

Welch will describe his research on the Pierre Indian School, particularly his research in the South Dakota State Historical Society-Archives at the Cultural Heritage Center.

Welch’s research started in 2003 when he earned a University of South Dakota graduate school grant to travel to the national archives in Kansas City to research the federal records on the Pierre Indian School. Welch conducted 30 interviews that summer in Pierre, Crow Creek, and Lower Brule. The interviewees were former students of PIS, and former and current staff of PIS. The research resulted in a master’s thesis on the early history of the PIS called "A Model of Assimilation:  The Pierre Indian School, 1891-1928."

October has been officially declared Archives Month in South Dakota with the theme, “Find your History in South Dakota.” Archives Month is an annual nationwide celebration of historical records and archives.

The final Archives Month program at the Cultural Heritage Center is a film about the construction of the Oahe Dam on Sunday, Oct. 28.

Regular hours for the State Archives are 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays and the first Saturday of each month. Call (605) 773-3804 for more information.