Virginia P. Moe

Moe - Virginia P. Moe 1908-2002 a prominent Minnesota portrait photographer and collector of daguerrotypes and early Minnesota photographs, died August 4th, at her home in Edina, MN. She was 94. A native of Duluth, she was the widow of Dr. Russell James Moe, an obstetrician with the Duluth Clinic until his death in 1953. In 1955, Mrs. Moe moved to Minneapolis to become manager of the Alcove Gift Shop at Abbott Hospital, a position she held for 13 years, Then, in 1968 at the age of 60, Mrs. Moe used her life-long interest in photography to launch a new career. She opened 'Jinny Moe Creative Camera - Studio in the Woods.' She used her Edina backyard as Minnesota's first outdoor studio, specializing in family color portraits. In her first year as a professional, she was awarded the Louis Dworshak Award by the Minnesota Professional Photographers Association for the best portrait of the year. Her studio became an immediate success, and she maintained it for 25 years. During this period, Mrs. Moe also acquired a widely admired collection of daguerrotypes and old photographs that the Minneapolis Institute of Art called 'one without equal in Minneapolis - including the Minneapolis Institute of Art.' She focused her efforts on the work of Jeremiah Gurney, one of the foremost daguerrotypists of the 1840s. In 1987, the Minneapolis Institute of Art acquired 293 Gurney images from Mrs. Moe for it's own collection. Over the years she donated other items. She also collected a wide range of photographs of early Minnesota history, including some depicting native Americans as well as some rare daguerrotypes of St. Anthony. Most of her Minnesota-based collection has been acquired by purchase and donation by the Minnesota Historical Society. ow1 Mrs. Moe was the daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Edward Palmer of Duluth. Mrs. Moe graduated from Duluth Central High School, and earned a degree in Art Education from the University of Minnesota in 1931. She and Dr. Moe were married the following year in Duluth, where she had earlier opened the city's first nursery school. Mrs Moe is survived by four children: Russell, of Arlington Heights, Illinois; Richard, of Washington, D.C.; Robert, of Edina; and Elizabeth Andes, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania; and by six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by her sister, Eleanor Bonte, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A service for Mrs. Moe will be held at 2PM Thursday, September 5th at ST. STEPHENS EPISCOPAL CHURCH, 4439 W. 50th St., Edina. A Virginia P. Moe Memorial Fund for the acquisition and preservation of historic photographs has been established at the Minnesota Historical Society, Development Office, 345 Kellogg Blvd. W, St. Paul, MN 55102.