Not many states have an official state photograph, but here in Minnesota we do.
Eric Enstrom took the picture “Grace” in 1918 at his studio in downtown Bovey, Minnesota. I wrote about the back story last year. This iconic image appears in homes and churches across the Christian world, so ubiquitous and replicated that people forget that the original was a crisp, black and white photograph taken by a Swedish-American immigrant on the Mesabi Iron Range.
Now 100 years old, the Picture Grace is the subject of a film project wrapping up production. Meantime, this summer people in Bovey also plan to honor the century-old image that still adorns many of its street signs.
Every year Bovey celebrates “Farmers Day,” on what most people call Labor Day. It honors the town’s roots as a small farming hub along the iron mining-centric Mesabi Range.
This year, the annual event will laud the town’s famous picture Grace. They need your help. Committee members seek to create a big map depicting how far the picture reaches around the United States and world. To do this, they need people to contact them with answers to the following questions:
- Do you have the picture “Grace” in your home?
- How did you come to have it?
- In which town/state is your picture “Grace” located?
To participate, all you need to do is tell the folks at Farmer’s Day where you’ve seen the Picture Grace.
Contact the committee by e-mail at boveyfarmersday[at]yahoo.com, at the Bovey Farmers Day Facebook page, or by postal mail at P.O. Box 147, Bovey, MN 55709.
The committee will compile the results for a display at this year’s Farmer’s Day.
I am from Clare, MI. 48624 where my mother had the picture Grace on her dining room wall and which currently is on my bedroom wall. I currently live in Deer River, MN 56636 am 77 years old.
We have the picture Grace &
I worked at Enstroms in Bovey,10 years ago.
I met the woman who painted Grace too 😁