South Dakota's Storytellers
Stories connect us—they shape our legacies and bridge generations. Every South Dakota Hall of Fame Inductee has a story to tell, each one as unique as the path they’ve walked. But some have dedicated their lives to the art of storytelling itself, sharing powerful narratives through words, images, music, and more.
Today, we’re celebrating these storytellers—visionaries who have captured the essence of South Dakota through writing, photography, public speaking, film, and beyond. Their work leaves a lasting impact, preserving history, inspiring change, and bringing communities together.
Scroll down to meet some of the South Dakota Hall of Fame’s remarkable storytellers.
Jan Conn (1924-2023) | White Mountains, NH
Jan Conn is well known for her adventurous life exploring the Black Hills and helping to map hundreds of miles of Jewel Cave alongside her husband. Herb and Jan Conn met as kids during summer vacations in the White Mountains of New Hampshire in the 1930s. They discovered at that time that they shared a love of exploring the wild places of the world. That love brought them to South Dakota, and together they wrote their story, and published the book, “The Jewel Cave Adventure”. Jan didn’t stop her art as a storyteller there and returned to her first love–music. She composed and orchestrated a tone poem, “Paha Sapa,” which was played by the Centennial Orchestra, and directed by Robert Merrick in 1976. She composed and performed the background music for three films for Nauman Films and wrote a musical, “Run to Catch a Pine Cone,” that was performed at the Black Hills Playhouse, directed by Wayne Knutson in 1984.
Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve | Rosebud, sd
Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve is a well-respected teacher and the author of several children’s history books and adult non-fiction about Native Americans. Born February 21, 1933, on the Rosebud Indian Reservation, Sneve has worked to dispel the common stereotypes of Native Americans and to document their proud histories through her writings, often drawing from her ancestors’ own experiences on the reservations. President Bill Clinton presented Driving Hawk Sneve with a National Humanities Medal in Washington, D.C., on December 20, 2000, when he honored twenty-four people for supporting the growth and availability of the Arts and Humanities to the general public. Driving Hawk Sneve is the first South Dakotan to receive the National Humanities Medal.
Adeline Gnirk (1914-1998) | Burke, sd
Adeline Gnirk had a love for writing and a drive to tell the collective story of the place she called home. Her parents homesteaded in Burke, SD, and to this day, the fifth generation of her family lives on the land Adeline’s parents homesteaded. Adeline set her writing aside to raise her four sons. Once her youngest son left for college, she picked her pen up in earnest and got to work documenting the lives of the hard-working people of Gregory and Charles Mix counties. Adeline not only documented a history in writing, but she also amassed a large collection of photographs. She grew the history of Gregory and Charles Mix counties to seven volumes but exceeded this number in documenting other counties, as well. For these accomplishments, she was honored by Dakota State University, Black Hills State University, Dakota State History Conference, Governor's Award by Governor Mickelson, Spirit of Dakota by the Burke Community Club, and by the Gregory County Historical Society as an Honorary Member.
Bill Groethe (1923–2020) | Rapid City, SD
Bill Groethe is arguably one of the most historic storytellers of South Dakota; telling the story of nearly a century of life in the state through his photography. Preserving significant moments was his primary concern as a photographer. Groethe photographed 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. 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 took years to achieve, since Bill did not use filters in his work, the lighting from sunset to cloud cover had to be perfect. Part of Bill’s acclaim derived from his consistent quality and purposefulness of his film photography.
Pearl Hoel (1905–2005) | Rapid City, SD
Pearl Hoel was known for many things in life–a wife, mother, teacher, business owner, and more. But Pearl was maybe most renowned as a great storyteller and one of the first to present a program for the "Art for Lunch Bunch", a Hometown Folks series sponsored by the Sturgis Area Arts Council. She always had a wonderful sense of humor and could recall many interesting tales. Her friendly and generous nature and her ability to tell the story of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally with pride and dignity kept the "old days" alive and interesting to many newcomers to the Sturgis event. Pearl was also an artist. She did many scenes in oil on canvas, and in her later years, she painted many pictures of deer, raccoons, and chipmunks on tanned leather deer hide. Being a practical person from the "old school", Pearl personally painted her house on Baldwin Street in Sturgis at the age of 95 – at the same age she decided she should stop driving her automobile.
Bernie Hunhoff | Yankton, sd
Bernie Hunhoff has spent his life telling the stories of South Dakota. A Mount Marty College graduate, he began his career working for U.S. Rep. Frank Denholm and various newspapers before launching The Observer in 1978. In 1985, he and his wife Myrna founded South Dakota Magazine to capture the essence of the state through storytelling. Despite early struggles, the magazine grew into South Dakota’s largest print publication, with 40,000 subscribers. Hunhoff, a journalist, author, and four-time state legislator, has chronicled the land, people, and culture of South Dakota for nearly five decades. His passion for storytelling has deepened readers’ sense of place, inspiring both residents and newcomers. Armed with a Nikon and notebook, he has traveled extensively, often joined by his grandchildren, to document South Dakota’s rich history and beauty. Few have explored and shared the spirit of the state as widely as he has.
Oscar micheaux (1884–1951) | Metropolis, IL
Oscar Micheaux was an African American homesteader, filmmaker, and author. He homesteaded a claim near Gregory, SD. He is known as the first African American filmmaker in the United States and has amassed a collection of 43 films and seven books, all of which still have dedicated followers even today. Oscar spent eight years on his homestead near Gregory, and it is where he wrote his first novel “The Conquest: The Story of A Pioneer By The Pioneer (1913)”, and shot scenes for his first film “The Homesteader” there. Micheaux’s works are not only historical but are inspirational to everyone. South Dakota was a great source of inspiration to Micheaux and in all of his movies and novels.
Jim Woster | Chamberlain, SD
Jim Woster is an unlikely storyteller of South Dakota, but one that touched the lives of nearly every agricultural producer in South Dakota. For decades, he was both the face and voice of the markets in eastern South Dakota. Woster spent 35 years with the Sioux Falls Stockyards Firm and also spent many years broadcasting the daily markets on KELO-TV. He was a charismatic public speaker and made a point to inject humor into his daily entries; cheering up livestock producers when the market was down and rejoicing with them when things were good. Woster also spent nearly 35 years, beginning in 1971, speaking to young people to encourage them to pursue a career doing what they loved. Through his stories, Jim Woster has inspired generations of South Dakotans.
Explore more amazing legacies of individuals shaping our state in positive ways, by visiting our Inductee Directory.