The John C. Rouillard Papers document Rouillard's tenure with the American Indian Studies department, as well as his participation in and involvement with numerous Native American organizations, councils, and committees. The collection includes correspondence, lectures, notes, memorandums, reports, studies, conference material, and proposals.  The majority of the material focuses on Rouillard's membership in various organizations regarding Native American education. The collection is divided into three series: General Files, Study Files, and Organizational Files.

John C. Rouillard was born on December 31, 1928 in Rapid City, South Dakota. He was a Santee Dakota Sioux, and attended the Government Indian School on the Rosebud Indian Reservation. He later attended Washington and Lee High School. After graduating, Rouillard joined the US Army of Occupation in Japan as an infantryman and bandsmen. In 1948, he left the service to begin college. He graduated from Northwestern University in 1952 with a bachelor's in music education. Rouillard then taught music at the high school level. Six years later he received a master's in music, also from Northwestern. In 1969, Rouillard moved to San Diego and began working as a music instructor at Helix High School. In 1971, he was asked to help with Native American education at San Diego State. He initially worked for the Equal Opportunity Program for Native Americans. In this position, he helped to increase the attendance and retention of Native American students at San Diego State by helping students obtain financial aid and tutoring assistance. A year later, Rouillard began his twelve-year tenure as the first Chair of the American Indian Studies department. He also started lecturing at Grossmont College. As chair, Rouillard developed courses in Native American music, education, language, and history. He also applied for, received, and managed numerous grants, including a National Endowment for the Humanities grant for the All-Yuman Applied Workshop in Language and Culture; as well as a California Council for the Humanities grant in Public Policy, Treaty Rights, and Sovereignty Forum.

8.76 Linear Feet

The copyright interests in these materials have not been transferred to San Diego State University. Copyright resides with the creators of materials contained in the collection or their heirs. The nature of historical archival and manuscript collections is such that copyright status may be difficult or even impossible to determine.  Requests for permission to publish must be submitted to the Head of Special Collections, San Diego State University, Library and Information Access. When granted, permission is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical item and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder(s), which must also be obtained in order to publish. Materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials.

This collection is open for research.