In 1989, the Culture Heritage Center was opened as a home for all archives, a museum, and their administrative offices.
In 1975, the State Archives were incorporated into the Society, which continues to operate them and also functions as a public research (non-lending) library.
The Society had employed a librarian and manuscripts curator who were then included in the State Archives.
In 1946, the Society began an archaeology program under Edythe L. George in response to the Flood Control Act of 1944.
The Society published member serials in 1936-1938 and 1947-1970, The modern South Dakota History journal began in December of 1970.
In 2014, the South Dakota State Historical Society published an annotated version of Wilder's autobiography, titled Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Pamela Smith Hill (Editor).
[3][4] In 2023, the Society broke ground on the renovation of its headquarters, the Cultural Heritage Center.