Clotildis B Beck, also known as Claudia, was born in Minneapolis on February 8, 1890, one of ten children born to John M Beck, a music teacher, and Angela Weyrauch. The family lived in Minneapolis, moved to Wahpeton, North Dakota for a few years, and then to Sleepy Eye Minnesota by about 1902. The 1920 census shows the family back in Minneapolis, but for a few years between 1910 and 1920, they lived in Delano. It was here that Clotildis started as a photographer. Her studio was in the building that stands next to the old City Hall

When the Beck family moved back to Minneapolis from Delano in 1920, Claudia was 29 years old. The Minneapolis City Directories list her as a photographer in 1922 and 1924. Clotildis married Edward M Hoffman in June of 1925. He was also a photographer. They had one child, Geraldine, born in 1927. Claudia was still working as a photographer in 1930 and 1940 as indicated on the censuses.

Miss Beck’s Photography Shop in Delano, 1917

Claudia was the photographer who recorded the building of St. Peter’s Church, views of downtown Delano, the Crow River, the Delano Military Band, and other local scenes that now allow us to see what Delano and the surrounding countryside looked like in those years.

(Claudia’s father, John M Beck, was the director of the Military Band, and is in the center of the front row.)

Clotildis B Beck Hoffman died January 5, 1973.