A New South Dakota History: Second Edition just arrived in bookstores last fall, but this book that has been in the works since 2000.
"There hasn't been a history done on South Dakota since 1975," said Harry Thompson, director of research collections and publications and the interim director of the Center for Western Studies. "We started talking about the book in 2000."
After the initial idea for the book was proposed, the Center for Western Studies (CWS) began writing grants and soliciting authors. The first edition was published in 2005 and eventually sold out after receiving the American Association for State and Local History's 2006 Award of Merit.
Thompson said that the book is often used as a textbook, especially for colleges where the students are looking into social studies majors and can use it as a reference.
"It was written primarily for teachers, or those becoming teachers, to learn about South Dakota," Thompson said.
Many of the book's 16 authors are former Augustana professors who are still active on the campus, including Ron Robinson, former Augustana journalism professor. He contributed two chapters to the book, "Communications" and "Visual Arts." He also served on the CWS Board of Directors during the time the book was proposed.
"Nothing quite like A New South Dakota History had ever been attempted before,"
Robinson said. "I believe all those who participated were amazed at how well the editors melded everything together and were delighted at its success."
Robinson said that having a second edition of the book so soon is an accomplishment. Ninety percent of the second edition is still the original A New South Dakota History with a few updates. However, there have been many changes made from the 1975 version to the present edition.
"The 1975 history didn't have Native Americans," Thompson said.
But he said the new edition not only mentions Native Americans a great deal, but also has essays written by and about them.
The Center for Western Studies is the only academic publishing house in the state, and has published 70 books in its 40 years of existence. Their books deal mainly with the Northern Midwest, but are open to anything involving studies pertaining to the country's West.
A New South Dakota History is sold across the country and can be found on Internet sites such as Amazon.com.
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