South Dakota

A

Education

A sod schoolhouse was erected in Bon Homme County in 1860, and the first permanent schoolhouse in the region was built in Vermillion in the winter of 1864-1865. In 1862 the first legislature of the Dakota Territory passed a law establishing a school code. James S. Foster, the first territorial superintendent of public instruction, established a school system in 1864 based on that of New England.

School attendance is compulsory in South Dakota for all children between the ages of 6 and 16. In addition to public schools, there are a number of parochial and other private schools in the state, educating 9 percent of South Dakota’s children.

In the 2004–2005 school year South Dakota spent $8,477 on each student’s education, compared to a national average of $9,910. There were 13.4 students for every teacher (the national average was 15.5 students per teacher). Of those older than 25 years of age in 2007, 88.2 percent had a high school diploma, while the country as a whole averaged 84.5 percent.

A

1

Higher Education

The first college established in South Dakota was Yankton College, which was founded by a Congregationalist group in 1881 and until its closure in 1984 was the oldest institution of higher education in the state. There are 12 public and 12 private institutions of higher education. South Dakota State University in Brookings is the largest university in the state. The others include the University of South Dakota, in Vermillion; Dakota State University, in Madison; Black Hills State University, in Spearfish; South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, in Rapid City; and Northern State University, in Aberdeen. Other significant schools include Huron University, in Huron; Augustana College, in Sioux Falls; National American University, in Rapid City; Mount Marty College, in Yankton; and Dakota Wesleyan University, in Mitchell.

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B

Libraries

There are 125 public library systems in South Dakota. The tax-supported libraries each year circulate an average of 9 books per resident. The South Dakota Library Network links college, university, school, public, and special libraries throughout the state. The largest public libraries are in Sioux Falls, Rapid City, and Aberdeen. Major university libraries include those at the University of South Dakota and South Dakota State University. Other major libraries include the South Dakota State Library and the non-circulating collections of the South Dakota State Historical Society.

C

Museums

Among the historical museums in South Dakota are the Dacotah Prairie Museum in Aberdeen, which tells the story of the prairie and its inhabitants; the State Agricultural Heritage Museum at the South Dakota State University in Brookings; and the Adams Museum & House in Deadwood, which recall South Dakota’s early mining days. The Journey Museum in Rapid City combines exhibits on Dakota geology, archaeology, Sioux Indians, pioneers, and native plants. Ice Age fossils are excavated and displayed at the Mammoth Site of Hot Springs.

The W. H. Over Museum, maintained by the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, has an especially fine Sioux and Arikara Indian collection; it also houses exhibits on the state’s natural and cultural history. The university’s National Music Museum has an extensive collection of musical instruments from many cultures and historic periods. The Museum of Geology at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City has exhibits of minerals and gems as well as numerous fossilized skeletons of extinct animals.

D

Communications

There were 9 daily newspapers published in South Dakota in 2002. The first newspaper in the state, the Dakota Democrat, began publication at Sioux Falls in 1859. The oldest existing newspaper in South Dakota is the Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan, founded in 1861 as the weekly Dakotian. The state’s major daily newspapers are the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, which is the largest South Dakota daily in circulation, the Rapid City Journal, the Aberdeen American News, the Watertown Public Opinion, and the Mitchell Daily Republic.

The first radio station in South Dakota, WCAT at Rapid City, began broadcasting in 1922. KELO-TV, the first television station, began operation at Sioux Falls in 1953. In 2002 there were 36 AM and 47 FM radio stations and 19 television stations in South Dakota.

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