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Post by Californian on Oct 26, 2018 22:10:54 GMT -5
William McAndrew "Bill" Groethe (born November 2, 1923) is best known as being the photographer who took the famous pictures on September 2, 1948, of the last eight survivors of the 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn. The people depicted in these photographs include Little Warrior, Pemmican, Little Soldier, Dewey Beard (Iron Hail), High Eagle, Iron Hawk, Comes Again, and Nicholas Black Elk. John Sitting Bull, present in the group photos, though not a survivor, represented his adoptive father Sitting Bull. Groethe was the only professional photographer who attended the 1948 reunion of the survivors. Groethe lives in Rapid City, South Dakota and still maintains his business selling prints of his photographs. Over the span of many decades, beginning in the 1930s, he took photographs of the construction of the Mount Rushmore National Monument, the South Dakota Badlands, the Lakota prophet Black Elk, and the Native American survivors of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Groethe was mentored by fellow Rapid City photographers Carl Rise, a neighbor who gave him his first camera, and Bert Bell, with whom he began an apprenticeship at age 12. Groethe began selling his work at age 16. He served in World War II as a photo reconnaissance technician for the Army Air Force. Bill Groethe's pictures are housed and displayed at the Rapid City Airport, the Smithsonian Institution, Mount Rushmore, Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument Visitor Center, a theme park in Imachi City, Japan, and many other museums and private collections. On August 17, 2009, Groethe was honored by the City of Rapid City and the State of South Dakota, which declared September 2, 2009, as William M. Groethe Day in honor of the 61st anniversary of the Little Bighorn photo. Attachments:
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Post by Californian on Jan 7, 2021 20:53:21 GMT -5
sadly, Bill Groethe has passed away last month, December 20th, 2020 in Rapid City SD. I was privileged to have met and known him - he was a frequent fixture at the gift store at Mount Rushmore National Monument where he would sell prints of his legendary photographs of the survivors of the Battle of the Little Big Horn among other views.
William M. Groethe
RAPID CITY | William McAndrew "Bill" Groethe was born Nov. 2, 1923, and passed peacefully, surrounded by family and love on Dec. 20, 2020.
His forceful determination and gentle consideration for others are part of his legacy, alongside his photographic documentation of Black Hills historical events. He grew up in a home where all people were welcomed, in a time when that was not necessarily the norm. His parents, Amos and Emma Groethe made sure to imbue all their children with openness and love. Bill maintained those Groethe family values throughout his life. From a young age, he knew that he wanted to be a photographer and focused on that for the rest of his 97 years. Bill was truly one of a kind, and He Sapa will forever be changed by his life here.
Deeply committed to equity, Bill educated many at First Photo, Mount Rushmore, and around town about the true history of our area. He cared about this community, and wanted to see everyone in it thriving, making a living wage, and honestly caring for their neighbors. Bill was committed to quality and to supporting small businesses so that our community would continue to thrive. He was analytical, detailed, and precise in everything he did. His plan was for generations to come, so that they would have a documented historical record and so that his photos would last for as many years as possible. Bill knew that one could have a successful business while remaining committed to one's values. He treated all of his photographic subjects with respect, portraying everyone who sat for a portrait with dignity and care.
Bill had a love of life that was unmatched. Enthusiasm for everything he did was part of his everyday life. He had a strong work ethic, but still tried to take most weekends off (part of what he recommended for longevity), spending quality time with his children and grandchildren. When he was younger, he always made time for sports and was very athletic. Diving, swimming, snow skiing, water skiing, and hunting. In 1953, Bill married the love of his life, Alice. They met on the ski hill in Colorado, and afterwards Bill told his mother Emma that he had met the woman he was going to marry. They loved and supported each other through many hardships and joys during their 67 years of marriage. They worked up until 2020 together at First Photo
Bill was extremely committed to his entire family and loved them deeply. Bill is survived by his wife, Alice Lorraine Marks Groethe; siblings, Robert Jackson Groethe, Joan Lucille Solon, Jean Elizabeth Diggins; children, Jane Ann Groethe Mincks (Ron) and Mark Howlett Groethe (Jeannine); grandchildren, Emma Beth Mincks, Benjamin Joseph Mincks, Farrah Francine Beard, Hannah Jo Mincks, Miranda Michelle Ririe Nizam-Aldine, Zachary Nizam-Aldine, Derek W. Ririe, William Ryan Groethe, Emily Beth Groethe; and great-grandchildren, Tiberius David Nizam-Aldine, Bridger Bear Mincks, and Elowen Zahra Nizam-Aldine. Amos and Emma had 13 children and over 65 grandchildren and Bill is survived by many nieces and nephews on the Groethe and Marks sides of the family that were very special to him. He considered everyone in this community to be of great importance and had many wonderful neighbors. His family would especially like to thank his neighbors and friends who considered him family.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Emma Sophia Hovland Groethe and Amos Groethe; and his siblings, Kathryn Louise Satt, Amos Jr., Marian Wilson Rendler, Roland Eric (Bud), Homer Perrin, David Rowe, John Bollinger Withers, Dorothy Ann, and Eleanor. As well as by numerous relatives, including several nieces and nephews; his mother-in-law and father-in-law, E.F. and Alice Marks; and so many special friends.
Visitation will be from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 31, at Behrens-Wilson Funeral Home. Graveside services, with military honors will follow at Mountain View Cemetery.
A Celebration of Life is tentatively scheduled for Summer 2021.
Published by Rapid City Journal from Dec. 23 to Dec. 24, 2020
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Post by Californian on Jan 7, 2021 20:59:04 GMT -5
recent photo of Bill at his Rapid City studio click onto image to enlarge
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Post by Californian on Jan 7, 2021 21:14:26 GMT -5
Famed photographer Bill Groethe of Rapid City died this week. His photos preserve some of our region's precious history. By Tom Lawrence 24 Dec 2020.
Bill Groethe was a magnificent photographer, an intelligent businessman and a great interview. When I edited The Rapid City Weekly News from 2005-09, I was fortunate to spend some time with Bill, listening as he told incredible stories of his experiences behind a camera, and admiring his foresight in preserving both his work and some precious history. Bill has passed away at 97, but his photos will endure for many, many years.
The eight old men, Little Warrior, Pemmican, Little Soldier, Dewey Beard, John Sitting Bull, High Eagle, Iron Hawk, and Comes Again were quiet but easy to work with, the photographer remembered thinking on that late summer day in 1948. They posed willingly for him and gave him complete cooperation. Bill Groethe made sure everything was perfect — the camera settings, the light, the way he framed the photos — and pushed the shutter about a few times. The eight men were photographed in two group shots — one kneeling, one standing. All eight, plus another man who declined to be in the group shots, posed for individual portraits. The nine men were the last known living survivors of the Battle of Greasy Grass, also known as the Battle of the Little Bighorn, or Custer’s Last Stand. Sixty years after that memorable shoot, those pictures remain the most memorable images Groethe, 84, has captured on film. He lined up Little Warrior, Pemmican, Little Soldier, Dewey Beard, John Sitting Bull, High Eagle, Iron Hawk and Comes Again for the group shots and did portraits of all eight. Black Elk, who was blind, had to be careful as he moved around, which caused him to not participate in the group pictures of the reunion of the Little Bighorn survivors. He did pose for an individual shot.
The famed battle in eastern Montana took place on June 25, 1876, days before America’s centennial. When Groethe posed the old men in the fancy clothes and large headdresses, more than 72 years had passed since Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and 257 of his men were killed by a force of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and a few Arapaho. The photo shoot took place on Sept. 2, 1948, and Groethe is marking the 60th anniversary of that assignment this week. He still sells copies of the photos. They have been on postcards and in schools and museums over the decades and are among his proudest accomplishments. “I grew up in a studio where we had photos of Indians,” Groethe said. “We sold a lot of postcards.” The men were willing to dress in costume and pose for the photos at Custer State Park, Groethe said. They knew him and considered him a friend, even if they called the World War II veteran “kid.” “I had been photographing them for two years before that,” Groethe said. The Rapid City native had been shooting images of the beginning of work on Crazy Horse memorial on Thunderhead Mountain by sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski, who began the massive project on June 3, 1948. The Indians, who ranged in age from 85 to nearly 100, had made money dancing for tourists and locals in front of the Hotel Alex Johnson, Sitting Bull caverns and at other locations around the area. Three were active in local churches. The day of the shoot, the elderly men posed across from the State Game Lodge for about 90 minutes. It was a warm day — “nice, beautiful,” Groethe recalled — and he had all the images he needed before dark, although it was close. The old warriors didn’t have much to say, he said. “And I didn’t ask them,” Groethe said. “It wasn’t my place.” Some had merely been boys who had witnessed the famed battle while others had been young men who took part in it, he said. Two of the men, half-brothers Little Soldier and John Sitting Bull, were the sons of the legendary Lakota leader Sitting Bull. They hadn’t held a reunion since 1926, the 50th anniversary of the battle, and six of the nine were dead within three years after Groethe’s photo session. Only John Sitting Bull, High Eagle and Dewey Beard marked the 75th anniversary of the battle in 1951. He said his Indian photos are among his most popular works. He sells prints to descendants of the men who posed that afternoon at Custer State Park. Many of them never met their ancestors who helped win the greatest Native American victory in history. Through Groethe’s images, they can see who these men were. [The Standard by Tom Lawrence]
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