Bill Groethe: Documenting South Dakota for Nearly a Century

Here at the South Dakota Hall of Fame, we are so excited to bring to life a new exhibit in the Visitor & Education Center. The Bill Groethe exhibit features his extraordinary work as a preeminent historical photographer for over 70 years here in South Dakota. Bill Groethe was inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame in 2019. His work is a testament to the diversity and beauty of South Dakota, and we were honored to induct him. We are so thrilled to bring this exhibit to life to inspire Dream Chasers of the future, to follow their path, and to capture beauty where they see it. 

William McAndrew (Bill) Groethe was born on South Dakota Day, November 2nd, 1923, and raised in Rapid City, South Dakota during the great depression. Bill worked very hard from a young age and has chosen to dedicate his life to documenting regional historical events and scenery. People are sometimes surprised that he still works at 96 years old, but anyone who has truly interacted with him understands that his work is never finished.

Bill Groethe has captured significant moments like photographing famous Lakota leaders such as Nicolas Black Elk and the Akicita survivors of the Battle of the Greasy Grass, (the Battle of the Little Bighorn), at their reunion in 1948. Bill has photographed many of the local and national political leaders of the US as they move through the Black Hills. He has photographed the presidential visits of both George Bushes, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Barack Obama. He also photographed Governor Michelson and numerous senators and congresspeople of South Dakota. In April of 1996, Senator Tom Daschle invited Bill and Alice to an honoring ceremony in Washington D.C. to recognize his work in the Smithsonian archives. In 1938, Bill photographed black Olympian, Jesse Owens, as he visited Rapid City. Owens is arguably one of the most famous Olympic runners in history and was an inspiring figure for young Bill. 

In addition to portraiture, he excels at landscape photography and capturing the mood of the Black Hills and surrounding areas. Some of his most iconic and popular works are from the area near Pine Ridge and the Badlands photographing the Black Elk Lakota moons, including the Moon of the Ripe Cherries, probably his most famous shot. All 10 of these photographs have taken years to achieve, since Bill does not use filters in his work, the lighting from sunset to cloud cover has to be perfect. He still prefers printing with photochemistry and argues for the higher quality of film. The reason for this is due to the test of time, not arbitrary bias. His most famous landscapes have not faded even though they were printed over 30 years ago, and older prints retain as much detail as they did even 70+ years later

We are so excited to bring to life this exhibit to feature Bill Groethe’s work, and we hope you will visit the Visitor & Education Center to see it and find as much inspiration as we do.