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Presented to
Mary Adams
Mary Adams received the 2001Ben
Black Elk Award
from Governor
William J. Janklow at the annual
Tourism Conference in Pierre.
The Ben Black Elk Award is presented annually to an individual whose devotion and passion greatly influences South Dakota’s visitor industry. This year’s recipient has impacted the South Dakota experience greatly. The recipient has South Dakota roots that go back to 1872 when her family homesteaded in the fertile Missouri River valley.
Adams’ road to the visitor industry was a long and winding trail, much like the winding Missouri River adjacent to the family homestead. One of three siblings, Adams headed off to college, urged on by parents who valued education at the expense of their own comforts. In fact, all three children attended the University of South Dakota at a time when work often took the place of higher education for most young adults.
Loosing a brother in World War II left Adams and her sister as sole heirs to the family farm, which was still actively farmed by their parents.
Adams left South Dakota for the East Coast, earning a nursing degree at Johns Hopkins University and a Masters from Columbia, before working in New York as a nurse. She then earned a doctorate in Sociology from the University of Minnesota and switched her nursing career to nursing education. She held professorships in Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Ohio and Oklahoma. Each position brought additional education and gained her national recognition as a leader in gerontological nursing.
It wasn’t until 1990 that Adams returned home permanently. She was appointed acting dean of the College of Nursing at South Dakota State University and cared for her ailing sister.
Being the sole inheritors of the original homestead, the sisters brainstormed on the future of the fertile ground. Area land prices were skyrocketing due to encroaching industrial and home development, but their thoughts went beyond monetary value.
Their desire to "share the wealth of the land" and their love of education directed them to their final decision: donate the land to the state for protection and preservation, so others could share the history and nature of the homestead. In fact, Adams' sister, who spent her life on the homestead, wanted the land donation to be called "a place for inner renewal." Today, guests to the 1,500-acre Adams Homestead and Nature Preserve do find that inner renewal through the bounty of nature that encompasses this very special gift to South Dakota.
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