Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

Award Date

1970

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department / School

Speech

Abstract

For a number of years, the Speech Association of South Dakota has served as the vehicle for gathering together professionals in the field for the purpose of promoting and improving speech in South Dakota. The Speech Association of South Dakota was earlier named the South Dakota Speech Teachers’ Association. By reorganization in the spring of 1961, it came to represent, as defined in the constitution, “a confederation of the existing speech associations in the state.” The organizational members of this Association included South Dakota High School Speech Association, the South Dakota Intercollegiate Forensic Association, the South Dakota Speech and Hearing Association and the South Dakota Grade School Speech Association (unorganized).The Speech Association of South Dakota is to be distinguished from the South Dakota High School Speech Association, which came into existence in 1947 when the South Dakota High School Forensic League merged with the South Dakota High School Declamatory League. The South Dakota High School Speech Association, according to William Turner, “assumed complete responsibility for all organized, extra-curricular speech.” The South Dakota High School Speech Association was later incorporated into the South Dakota High School Activities Association. The South Dakota High School Activities Association is staffed at the state level and governs all South high school interscholastic competitive activities. Although several theses have been written on the history of speech in the various colleges and universities in South Dakota, no comprehensive history of the Speech Association of South Dakota has been written to date. In 1937, D.C. Reutter completed a thesis entitled. “An Analysis and Evaluation of the Speech Courses in Secondary Schools of South Dakota.” William Turner, in 1950, wrote “A History of Organized Extra-Curricular Speech in South Dakota High Schools from 19151950.” In 1959, Hazel Heiman completed her thesis entitled, “A Survey of Speech Curriculum and Extra-Curricular Activities in the High Schools of South Dakota.” These studies present only cursory reference tot eh Speech Association of South Dakota. The present study, therefore, is an attempt to provide a record of the various aspects and influences of the association. It is felt that a compilation of historical data may be of benefit to the membership of the Speech Association of South Dakota in planning future activities and in formulating operating policies for the association. Such a study may also provide an indication of what the Association has accomplished and the potential of the Association to contribute to speech education in South Dakota. Finally, it is hoped that this study will help to establish a more complete history of speech education in South Dakota.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Speech Association of South Dakota -- History

South Dakota Speech Teachers' Association -- History

Speech -- Study and teaching

South Dakota State University

Format

application/pdf

Number of Pages

53

Publisher

South Dakota State University

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