Identifier

UA 53.47

Dates

1985-2012

Extent

1.63 linear feet (1 record box, 1 document case, 1 half-document case

Abstract

The papers of Professor Donald Berg document his career as a geographer and historian at South Dakota State University and his sustained engagement with American Indian history and regional issues. The collection primarily consists of records from the Conference on American Indian History and Culture, including materials from the first through eighteenth annual conferences held between 1993 and 2010.

Additional materials include Berg’s research files on the Dakota, Minnesota, and Eastern Railroad, focusing on railroad safety, environmental impact, and proposed expansion projects in South Dakota and the upper Midwest. Together, the papers reflect Berg’s application of historical and geographic research to public, environmental, and infrastructure concerns.

Historical Note

Professor Donald Berg earned a B.A. in History from North Dakota State University in 1964 and an M.A. in History in 1966. He completed a second M.A. at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1971 and received his Ph.D. in Geography from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1976.

Berg served in the U.S. Army from 1966 to 1969, including service in the Vietnam War from 1967 to 1968. During the summers of 1970, 1971, and 1972, he was employed as a seasonal ranger naturalist at Sequoia National Park in California.

He joined South Dakota State University as a professor of geography and history in 1990 and retired in May 2011. He also held earlier appointments at SDSU from 1983 to 1986. Berg taught courses primarily in physical geography, world regional geography, and environmental disasters and hazards, as well as seminars in regional geography, transportation, energy, and illegal drugs. His teaching also included courses in the history of the American West and American Indian history and culture. For more than fifteen years, he provided orientation sessions for students participating in the International Partnership for Service-Learning program.

Berg served as secretary treasurer of the Great Plains Rocky Mountain Division of the Association of American Geographers from 1994 to 2008 and was faculty sponsor for the Delta Zeta Chapter of Gamma Theta Upsilon beginning in 1994. He was the first instructor at South Dakota State University to offer live, real time interactive television courses on the Brookings campus and received two Governor’s Grants in 2000 and 2002 for the application of computer technology to online instruction in physical geography.

His research, professional presentations, and publications addressed topics including Native American casinos, the historical geography of railroads, federal defense and water development programs, and related book reviews and encyclopedia contributions. His later work focused on the historical geography of the Dust Bowl era in the northern Great Plains and the development and significance of the American Indian Reservation system in South Dakota.

Content Notes

The Donald Berg Papers are composed primarily of materials documenting the Conference on American Indian History and Culture, including records from the first through eighteenth annual conferences held between 1993 and 2010. These materials include organizational records, conference letterhead, and participant lists dating from 1993 to 2004. The collection also contains research files assembled by Berg related to the Dakota, Minnesota, and Eastern Railroad, with a focus on railroad safety in Brookings, South Dakota, and proposed expansion projects. These materials include extensive newspaper clippings from 1997 through 2012, draft and supplemental environmental impact statements, Powder River Basin Coal Expansion Project maps, photographs of railroad infrastructure in Rochester, Minnesota, and digital files stored on floppy disks. Additional materials include a Brookings Railroad Safety Plan dated 2007 and a small amount of professional ephemera such as business cards

This collection documents of Berg’s sustained scholarly and public engagement with American Indian history and culture through nearly two decades of conference activity. The railroad research files document local and regional responses to proposed rail expansion, environmental review processes, and railroad safety concerns, illustrating Berg’s application of geographic and historical research methods to contemporary infrastructure and policy issues in South Dakota and the upper Midwest.

SDSU Archives and Special Collections

This document is a descriptive inventory of the collection in the SDSU Archives and Special Collections. It contains:

  • An overview of the collection, including information about the person or organization and a brief description of the materials and subjects found within.
  • A detailed inventory listing, organized by boxes and folders.
  • Information on how to access the materials, including any restrictions or special conditions.

In most cases, the materials in the collections have not been digitized and are not available online. If you would like to know more about the contents of the collection, please contact the SDSU Archives at:

Language

English

Publisher

South Dakota State University Archives and Special Collections, Hilton M. Briggs Library, Brookings, South Dakota.

Rights

In Copyright: This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses, you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). Materials in this collection may be subject to Title 17, Section 108 of the United States Copyright Act. Users are responsible for ensuring compliance with copyright, privacy, publicity, trademark, and other applicable rights for their intended use. Obtaining all necessary permissions is the user's responsibility. Written authorization from the copyright and/or other rights holders is required for publication, distribution, or any use of protected materials beyond what is permitted under fair use.

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