About the Archive

Honoring the Dead: A Digital Archive of the Insane Indian Asylum will provide digitized documents related to the Asylum for Insane Indians located in Canton, South Dakota from 1903 to 1934, bringing together for the first time government documents, letters, and reports widely dispersed throughout national, regional, and state archives.

Project co-directors John Nelson and Stacey Berry, professors of English for New Media at Dakota State University, are working on the current phase of the project to digitize materials from the State Archives of the South Dakota State Historical Society.

Recently Added Items

September 8 1933 Patient Survey and Memorandum

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A 1933 survey of patients and plans for relocation to Saint Elizabeths Hospital written by Samuel A. Silk to William A. White. Survey includes…

May 8 1929 Memorandum from Commissioner of Indian Affairs to William A. White

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May 8, 1929 memorandum from Commissioner of Indian Affairs Charles Burke to Dr. William White requesting a meeting following the 1929 report of…

February 28, 1929 Memorandum from Commissioner Charles Burke to Dr. William A. White

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February 28, 1929 memorandum from Charles Burke to William White requesting a survey of the Canton Asylum.