Archives & Manuscript Collections
Dakota Wesleyan University
&
Dakotas Conference of the United Methodist Church

University Archivist Laurie Langland manages and maintains the archives of the University and the Dakotas United Methodist Conference. The archives are open to researchers.

McGovern Library Archives informational brochure (PDF, 257kb)

Advance appointments are encouraged for visitors with in depth inquires and for researchers wishing to access archival material. If you are a researcher, or if you have any items you wish to donate to either collection, please contact:

 

Laurie Langland University Archivist McGovern Library Dakota Wesleyan University 1201 McGovern Avenue Mitchell, SD 57301 (605) 995-2134 Danelle Orange Project Archivist McGovern & Case Collections phone: (605) 995-2133

University Archives

Dakota Wesleyan University's Manuscript Collections primarily consist of the Senator Francis H. Case Collection and the Senator George S. McGovern Collection. Both men graduated from DWU and represented South Dakota in the United States House of Representatives and Senate. The Archives includes materials that record and exhibit the history and life of the college. The collection consists of records in a variety of formats including photographs, artifacts, videocassettes, and handwritten documents. The Dakota Wesleyan University Archives is happy and eager to receive donations of material relating to the history of the college.

Graham Hall groundbreaking, May 8, 1901. Photo courtest Dakota Wesleyan University Archives.

Dakotas United Methodist Conference Archives

The Commission on Archives and History is charged by the United Methodist Book of Discipline to preserve the records of the Dakotas Conference of the United Methodist Church and its predecessors within the conference boundaries. For reference purposes, the collection retains records of the general conferences, the disciplines and the general minutes of all of the annual conferences.The Archives and History Library is the depository for the records and other historical materials of the United Methodist Church and predecessor denominations within the boundaries of the Dakotas Conference and predecessor conferences. The holdings include:

• records of closed churches, containing rolls of pastors, memberships, baptisms, marriages and sometimes deaths;
• historical files on active and closed local churches;
• minutes/yearbooks/journals of the Dakotas Conference and predecessor conferences;
• publications/newspapers of the Dakotas Conference and predecessor conferences;
• histories of conferences throughout the United States;
  hymnals and gospel songbooks;
• disciplines; and
• local church commemoratives.

For more detailed information regarding Conference holdings, a history of the Dakotas Conference, and other links of interest, see Dakotas Conference Archives and History.

Research Services
When sending a query for genealogical research, please provide a name, place and approximate date. After the first thirty minutes of assessing Conference resources for a query, there is a research fee of $20 per hour, plus the cost of photocopies.