The South Dakota Hall of Fame this week announced its class of inductees for 2022. The Hall, which is located in Chamberlain, inducts ten new members each year and has more than 700 inductees. Inductees typically represent a range of professional and life experiences, as well as geographic diversity throughout the state.
Among the inductees this year is Dennis Daugaard, who was selected for his leadership of the state as the 32nd Governor of South Dakota, as well as his leadership of Children’s Home Society of South Dakota, and his time as a state senator and as lieutenant governor.
Daugaard is the 11th former South Dakota governor to be selected for the South Dakota Hall of Fame. Other governors inducted include Peter Norbeck (inducted in 1978), Tom Berry (1978), Joe Foss (1978), Arthur C. Mellette (1984), George T. Mickelson (1987), George S. Mickelson (2002), Richard F. Kneip (2004), Frank Farrar (2006), William J. Janklow (2013) and Harvey Wollman (2017).
The Hall of Fame began in 1974 as the Cowboy and Western Hall of Fame. It inducted its first members in 1978, and became the “South Dakota Hall of Fame” in 1986. The Hall has been more prominent in recent years, since the construction in 2000 of the Hall of Fame building in Chamberlain, near the Missouri River and Interstate 90.
The Hall of Fame relies on nominations from the public, so some deserving candidates, particularly those from the earlier days of the state, may have been overlooked. That includes some former South Dakota governors who would be worthy inductees. Two South Dakota governors – current Gov. Kristi Noem and former Gov. Mike Rounds, who serves in the U.S. Senate, are still active in politics – induction into the Hall of Fame is likely in the future for both.
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