(Continued from page 8)

the late 1890s to 1910s. The State Historical Society received the glass plates in 1986.
• To access the Lester Black digital collections, visit the State Archives website at www.history.sd.gov/archives and find the link to "Lester Black."
• The digitization and cataloging of glass plate negatives has been funded in part by a grant from the City of Deadwood and the Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission. In addition to the Lester Black Collection, other glass plate negative collections that have been digitized include the Myra Morton Miller, Eliza Dibble,

and Wandell Mooney collections.
• "The photo digitization project is allowing us to reformat the photos and place them in an easily accessible platform, the South Dakota Digital Archives," said Chelle Somsen, state archivist. "These images of our state are a wonderful representation of early activities."
• Specific locations found within the Lester Black Collection include the Redfield College, Mount Rushmore, Devils Tower, Corn Palace, Sylvan Lake and the South Dakota State Fair.
• Town images include Redfield, Gettysburg, Mitchell, Elk Point, Huron, Waubay, Hot Springs, and Pierre.
• Other topics include sod homes, Native American encampments, floods, railroad scenes, stone artifacts, farm scenes, automobiles, a balloon flight, baseball games, and family portraits.
• The South Dakota Digital Archives, an online resource, was launched in January