W.H. Over Museum - Vermillion, South Dakota

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W.H. Over Museum - Vermillion, South Dakota

How did a Perkins County homesteader with an eighth grade education develop a scientific career and become director of the University of South Dakota Museum?

It all began when young William Henry Over found an arrowhead in his father’s field near Albion, Illinois, where he was born in 1866. Like the seeds his father planted in that field, the chipped scrap of stone would produce many crops in a lifetime of collecting and learning.

While other boys entertained themselves in more conventional ways, young Over began collecting insects, plants and artifacts. "When I was 15," he told a USD Volante reporter in 1942, "I exhibited my first archaeology items in a small showcase in my home in southern Illinois. It was then I knew my ambition was to direct a large museum."

The mission of the W. H. Over Museum is to tell the story of the Land and People of South Dakota, using tangible links to the past to benefit and enlighten present and future generations. The W. H. Over Museum is operated and funded by the Friends of the W. H. Over Museum who are responsible for all aspects of the Museum.

Location: 1110 Ratingen St. Vermillion, SD

Phone: M-F; 9 - 5 (winter hours; 11-4:30 - through March 21st)
Sat.; 9:30 - 4:30 Sun.; 1:00 - 4:30

Free Admission