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John Andrews
History Columnist
Our managing editor, web editor and history columnist is John Andrews, a Lake Norden native who attended SDSU, wrote for the Brookings Register and earned a master's degree in history at USD before joining our staff. John writes features, edits our many departments and oversees the day to day writing of the magazine.
Where’s the Smør?
December 14, 2011
How will our Norwegian cousins survive the Great Butter Crisis of 2011?
Lippman was Lemmon's Hero
November 16, 2011
Gordon Lippman survived two wars, but never returned from the third.
At 99, the Bummobile Rolls On
November 9, 2011
Hobo Day parade floats change every year, but you'll always see the Bummobile.
Did Herrick Really Have a Stone Man?
November 2, 2011
Was the petrified body pulled from a Gregory County sandpit real, or a fake?
Gregory County's Healing Waters
October 26, 2011
Do the waters of Lake Sully and Whetstone Creek in Gregory County hold magical, healing powers?
Beresford’s Big Screen Debut
October 20, 2011
A film shot in rural Union County makes its debut at this weekend’s Reel Dakota Film Festival in Sioux Falls.
From Mud to Bronze
October 7, 2011
As a student at South Dakota State University in Brookings, I found myself in Lincoln Music Hall quite often. I can’t count how many times I passed the bronze bust of Abraham Lincoln, which serves as the centerpiece of the building’s marvelous marble foyer.
Upstaging Mitchell's Sculptor
September 28, 2011
Coin aficionados know the name James Earle Fraser. South Dakotans should, too.
Pouring Pettigrew
September 21, 2011
A statue honoring one of South Dakota’s most vilified characters is nearing completion.
State-U, Version 2: No Frozen Critters
September 14, 2011
Are you ready to renew the athletic rivalry between the state’s two largest universities? It appears one school is.
Trees and Us
September 7, 2011
Full of history, trees are a tangible connection to the pioneer ancestors we never knew.
Rediscovering J.B. Irvine
August 31, 2011
We were visiting my wife’s parents in Letcher last Christmas when my mother-in-law asked if I’d ever heard of J.B. Irvine.
Job Ready Since ‘92
August 24, 2011
I started working at South Dakota Magazine in September 2007, but you could argue that I had been preparing for a job here since 1991. That was the year when, at age 12, I finished a 300-page book on my home state.
Civil War Mystery Solved
August 17, 2011
Civil War veteran Jacob Franklin Kinna has lain nearly forgotten in an unmarked grave in Yankton Cemetery for 118 years.
Together One Last Time
July 21, 2011
This weekend could be the last chance you’ll ever have to see the two biggest pieces of gold ever found in the Black Hills side by side.
Hot Springs' Square Thinker
July 13, 2011
People believed for centuries that the earth was flat. Hot Springs businessman Orlando Ferguson thought it was “square and stationary,” and believed it so vociferously that he delivered a series of lectures on the topic and printed maps to visualize his idea.
The Capital Man
July 5, 2011
John Sutherland helped Pierre become the capital of South Dakota. Then he did it again. And again.
Bringing Life to Rushmore
June 29, 2011
Every year, millions of people gaze upon the four faces at Mount Rushmore. Most visitors could tell you that Gutzon Borglum designed them. But almost nobody knows the Italian immigrant who gave them life.
The Summer That Made the Hills
June 23, 2011
Of the millions of summers the Black Hills have seen, the summer of 1927 was surely the most eventful – and perhaps cemented the region’s status as the popular tourist attraction that it is today.
