State Historical Society digitizes important suffrage papers

More than 3,765 women’s suffrage items from the John A. and Alice Pickler Papers are now available on the South Dakota Digital Archives of the South Dakota State Historical Society.

In 1991, 65 boxes of Pickler family records were donated to the State Historical Society-Archives at the Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre, including photographs, political papers, business records, and more than four boxes of suffrage-related correspondence, speech notes, meeting minutes, and booklets.

Recently, to improve access to the collection and to commemorate the 100^th anniversary of the Women’s Right to Vote, the suffrage portion of the Pickler Papers was selected for digitization and cataloging. These records are now available to the public on the South Dakota Digital Archives at https://sddigitalarchives.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/.

Digitization of this collection was made possible by a generous donation from the F.L. Clarkson Family Foundation.

State Archivist Chelle Somsen said, “We appreciate the F.L. Clarkson Family Foundation’s support that allowed us to make this selection of nationally significant records from the Pickler Papers available online.”

Major John A. Pickler and his wife Alice moved to Faulkton, Dakota Territory, in 1882 and became prominent citizens in the area. John was elected to the territorial legislature in 1884 and introduced suffrage legislation in 1885, which was unsuccessful. In 1889, John was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, making him part of South Dakota’s very first congressional delegation. He served in this capacity for eight years and actively advocated for women’s right to vote. Alice was also active in the suffrage movement as a member of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union and the South Dakota Equal Suffrage Association.

Please contact the South Dakota Historical Society Foundation at 605-773-6003 or info@sdhsf.org if you are interested in supporting digitization efforts. For information about membership in the State Historical Society call 605-773-6000 or email Jeff.Mammenga@state.sd.us.

Items from the John A. and Alice Pickler Papers are now available online from the South Dakota State Historical Society.
Photo courtesy South Dakota State Historical Society-Archives.