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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sept. 2, 2005
CONTACT: Jay D. Vogt, (605) 773-3458
State Historical Society book receives national recognition
PIERRE, S.D. – A book published last year by the South Dakota State Historical Society Press has earned a certificate of commendation from the American Association for State and Local History.
Remington Schuyler’s West: Artistic Visions of Cowboys and Indians, is an inside look at Remington Schuyler’s life through his letters and sketches, as compiled by Henry W. Hamilton and Jean Tyree Hamilton, who were Schuyler’s friends and executors of his estate. Jean Hamilton donated the Schuyler papers and the manuscript that she and Henry prepared to the South Dakota State Historical Society in 1986. Brian W. Dippie, a history professor at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada, specializing in the art and popular culture of the American West, provides a book afterward.
As a young man, Schuyler left college in Missouri for South Dakota’s Rosebud Indian Reservation in 1903. His work as a ranch hand and clerk at a trading post inspired his art and stories for the rest of his life. He was a student of Howard Pyle and a contemporary of N. C. Wyeth. During Schuyler’s long career, his stories and illustrations of the American West appeared in hundreds of magazines throughout the 1920s and 1930s and influenced the American public’s image of cowboys and Indians. His artwork frequently decorated the cover of the Boy Scout publications Boys’ Life and Scouting.
The SDSHS Press received a certificate of commendation from AASLH in 2004 for Dakota Dreams: Fannie Sabra Howe’s Own Story, 1881-1884, based on the diary of a pioneer girl whose family homesteaded in Mellette and written by Janet Howe Townsley, Fannie Sabra Howe’s great-niece.
“We are very pleased to once again receive this prestigious recognition from the American Association for State and Local History,” said Jay D. Vogt, director of the State Historical Society. “It says a lot about the quality of work produced by our research and publishing staff on behalf of our state’s history. Their work helps to enhance history as a tool for cultural tourism, which is one of the goals of the state’s 2010 Initiative.”
Two other South Dakota organizations also earned certificates of commendation from AASLH. The Adams Museum and House in Deadwood was recognized for general excellence, and the Dacotah Prairie Museum in Aberdeen earned recognition for the restoration of its building.
The awards will be presented at the AASLH annual meeting on Sept. 24 in Pittsburgh. Awards will be presented to 87 organizations and individuals from across the country at the 60th annual program. AASLH, from its headquarters in Nashville, Tenn., works to advance the knowledge, understanding and appreciation of local history in America.
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The South Dakota State Historical Society, an office of the Department of Tourism and State Development, is headquartered at the South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre. The center houses the society’s world-class museum, an archives and research room, and the historic preservation, publishing and administrative/development offices. Call (605) 773-3458 or visit www.sdhistory.org for more information. The society also has an archaeology office in Rapid City; call (605) 394-1936 for more information.