Professional Archivist Assesses the YC Historical Collection
Historian and professional archivist, F. Gerald “Jerry” Handfield, Jr. ’66 accepted a request to spend five days at the YC office assessing the current conditions of the Yankton College archives and its artifacts. The summons to “help” Yankton College was offered when Jerry, who now resides near San Francisco, CA, returned to his alma mater for the 2016 All-Class Reunion in Yankton, along with his brother, Jim Handfield x’69, from Abbott, Maine. Plans were negotiated and Jerry eagerly returned the next spring “to the College that influenced his life forever” to assist in preserving its records and memories. While here, Handfield also trained YC staff on necessary archival tips. Ones that he has used as the appointed archivist for both states of Indiana and Washington during his esteemed career. In his assessment, Handfield wrote: “the YC Collection is in remarkably good condition.” He went on to report that the collection contains all the ingredients to establish an exciting and entertaining educational exhibit. He concluded with: “When Yankton College closed in 1984, its mission of “building character” and spreading the light and values of a liberal arts education from the “College on the Hill” did not end. The new College (“Without Walls”) demands the preservation of the Yankton College Archives for many generations in order that they may see the world-wide ripples created by Joseph Ward.”