The Rose & Clarence Pic Wedding Reel

CONSERVATION & CAPTURE

Grant year: 2023

Grant category: Al Larvick Regional Grant

Grant recipient: Carissa Wirtz

Collection title: The Rose & Clarence Pic Wedding Reel

Primary maker(s): Unknown

Original format: Super 8mm film, silent

Circa: Late June 1952

Collection size: 1 50 foot reel of film

Grant support: Cleaning and repair and digital capture of the film

Digital capture format: Scan to 2K resolution

Lab: The MediaPreserve

Status: Conservation and digitization in-progress

Online Access: Coming soon

Creative Commons License: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Grantee

Carissa Wirtz is a North Dakota - based photographer and visual storyteller. She grew up on a farm outside Grand Forks, ND - where her family raised beef cattle and farmed everything from sunflowers to wheat to soybeans. She studied photography, art history, and German at the University of North Dakota, developing a strong foundation in image-making and the historical context of visual culture. During her sophomore year, Carissa studied abroad in Germany, where she lived with the family of her now husband, Gabe. The couple first met in high school when Gabe was a foreign exchange student from Germany. They travel to Europe frequently so their son, Arlo, can experience German culture and stay connected to his family and heritage.

Now based in Fargo, ND Carissa works as a professional photographer specializing in weddings and portraits. Her work is grounded in documenting personal histories and preserving meaningful moments through imagery. She lives with her husband and one year old son. The reel she is submitting may contain footage of her grandparents’ 1952 wedding. Carissa grew up not far from her grandparents, and their lives and stories were a close presence throughout her childhood. As a wedding photographer herself, she has spent 15 years documenting the beginnings of other couples’ marriages. The possibility of uncovering moving images from her own grandparents’ wedding creates a powerful personal and artistic connection - linking her present-day work photographing weddings with a rare glimpse into the origins of her own family history.

Primary Maker

“Not much is currently known about the filmmaker. Contextual clues from the note included (pictured left) signal that the person who shared the reel could be related my grandparents.

Someone named Ginny signed the note that accompanied the film, and addressed it to my grandparents. It appears as they shared connections with the Powers family in Lawton, North Dakota as indicated on the film’s box container, which included their return address (pictured below). My family still has a lot of connections to the Lawton area. Perhaps further digging will unearth more of the story. The Al Larvick Fund grant could provide additional clues following digitization of the reel.”

~ Carissa Wirtz

Collection

The Rose & Clarence Pic (pronounced “peach”) Collection currently holds this one reel of film in addition to photographs, and other family memorabilia. Hopefully this media contains footage of their 1952 wedding. More family reels exist and may be found with other family members. The reels would share a glimpse into life in rural North Dakota.

My grandparents both came from Bohemian (Czech) backgrounds and were active members of their community. Clarence Pic was a WWII vet, who was wounded while serving. He owned a bar in Whitman, ND and delivered fuel for Cenex for 40 years. Rose Pic was a teacher and a very talented cook and baker.

Both Clarence and Rose were gifted musicians and part of a community band. Together they played the accordion, piano, harmonica, and drums.