For the first time, a full-color sized map featuring the writers of South Dakota will be available at
South Dakota libraries thanks to a project sponsored by the South Dakota Council of Teachers of English
(SDCTE). The literary map is a joint venture of SDCTE, the South Dakota Humanities Council, the South
Dakota Library Association and the Karl E. Mundt Foundation.
Researched by two high school English teachers, Donna Fisher,
Mitchell, and Sharon Olbertson, Beresford, the map was designed for K-12 students and their teachers as well as for the general reader.
The map features images that suggest the state's rich cultural and
historical mix: a sod shanty, a buffalo, a railroad, the Wounded Knee Memorial, the sacred Bear Butte, elevators, a woman tanning a hide,
the pasque flower. Created by Lakota artist Elk Eagle (Van St. John), the map appears to be painted on a
buffalo hide, much the way stories were recorded for hundreds of years in this region.
Names of 55 familiar authors and works are printed near appropriate
sites on the map. Towns include DeSmet (Laura Ingalls Wilder), Sioux Falls (Ole Rolvaag), Gregory (Oscar Micheaux), Lemmon (Kathleen
Norris), Rapid City (Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve), and Aberdeen (L. Frank Baum).
These 55 authors demonstrated significant ties with South Dakota, having been born here, educated here, or having
somehow formed an attachment that enabled them to reflect something significant about the "South Dakota" identity.
The reverse side of the 24-35 inch map contains over 150 names of
authors and a more detailed listing of works and biographical data. Students, teachers and interested readers will have a ready reference
for works that are available through the South Dakota Library system and bookstores.
An even more inclusive listing of authors is available through a web site: www.dwu.edu/sdlitmap/
which will be constantly upgraded.
St. John, a graduate of Dakota Wesleyan University, has served as a
South Dakota Artist in the Schools, taught K-12 art, and currently teaches at Takini Schools.
Fisher, a teacher at Mitchell High School, and Olbertson a teacher at
Beresford High School, were assisted by the following Humanities scholar-advisers: Dr. Arthur Huseboe of the Center for Western Studies
at Augustana College; Dr. Herbert Hoover, Professor of History Emeritus of the University of South Dakota;
Professor James McLaird of Dakota Wesleyan University; Dr. Mary O'Connor and Dr. Charles
Woodard of South Dakota State University. Dr. Kathryn Antonen of South Dakota School
of Mines and Technology assisted on the final draft.
The project was made possible through a grant from the South Dakota
Humanities Council, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities with assistance from the Karl E. Mundt Historical and
Educational Foundation and Archives and the cooperation of the South Dakota Library Association.
Additional financial help was provided by Sioux Corporation of Beresford, First National Bank
of Brookings, and Dakotah Bank of Aberdeen. The South Dakota Library Association will
distribute a free copy of the map to every school, public, university and special library in the state.
Maps are available for purchase in some regional bookstores.
Purchase information is available on the web site at www.dwu.edu/sdlitmap/
or from SDCTE, 876 Hidden Valley Road, Watertown, SD 57201.
Future plans for the web site include providing links from other South
Dakota research and cultural web sites. Content expansion will include regular updating of the author and book lists and adding
biographical and critical materials on the authors. The web site will offer an
opportunity for teachers, students, the general reading public, and authors to exchange information, questions, and commentary on the
writings and writers of South Dakota.