Austen Family Papers: Alice Austen Correspondence and Related Materials, 1891

PI

Version: 27 (current) | Updated: 12/9/2025, 9:57:27 PM | Created: 12/9/2025, 6:30:00 PM

Added description

Description

Austen Family Papers: Alice Austen Correspondence and Related Materials, 1891

Overview

This digitized collection comprises the personal correspondence, calling cards, wedding invitations, and ancillary photographic ephemera of Elizabeth Alice Austen (1866‑1952) for the calendar year 1891. It is part of the Alice Austen House Museum’s Austen Family Papers (MS1) and is presented as high‑resolution JPEG scans of handwritten documents accompanied by typed transcriptions. The material is publicly available in the museum’s online portal and is in the public domain.

Background

Alice Austen was a pioneering American photographer whose Staten Island studio served an affluent clientele. In the early 1890s she maintained an extensive social and professional network that extended across New York, New Jersey, the Midwest, and the West Coast. The 1891 documents reflect the customs of upper‑middle‑class Victorian society, including dance parties, whist clubs, opera outings, and the formal etiquette of calling cards and invitations. The collection is a snapshot of Austen’s personal, social, and business life during a formative period of her career.

Contents

  • Personal letters (≈ 30 items) from friends and relatives such as Julia T. Martin, Violet M.E. Ward, Julie Bredt, Maria Brett, James C. McAndrew, Isabella King, Bessie Strong, and Henry H. Gilman. Topics range from travel, wedding announcements, and holiday greetings to business matters and family news.
  • Calling cards and other social tokens that document invitations to dances, afternoon gatherings, and lunch parties.
  • Wedding invitations issued by Junius B. Alexander and Amedée Castaing, announcing marriages in Staten Island and Napa, California.
  • Negative sleeves and photographs of the letters, providing visual context for the written correspondence.
  • Transcriptions of the handwritten texts, facilitating textual analysis.
  • Business correspondence related to Austen’s photography studio, including orders for prints from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition and equipment updates.

Scope

The collection is confined to the single calendar year 1891 and covers geographic references that include Staten Island, Brooklyn, Flushing, Albany, New Brunswick, Clifton, Napa, and other New York and New Jersey locales. Thematically, it documents friendship, social customs, holiday traditions, matrimonial announcements, and the commercial aspects of early photography. The materials provide a comprehensive snapshot of Victorian social life, early photographic commerce, and the daily interactions of a prominent Staten Island family, making it a valuable resource for scholars of Victorian history, photography, and cultural studies.

Raw Cheimarros Data

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Metadata

Version History (10 versions)

  • ✓ v27 (current) · 12/9/2025, 9:57:27 PM
    "Added description"
  • v26 · 12/9/2025, 9:26:12 PM · View this version
    "Added knowledge graph extraction"
  • v25 · 12/9/2025, 8:07:01 PM · View this version
    "Added PINAX metadata"
  • v24 · 12/9/2025, 7:18:59 PM · View this version
    "Split into 5 alphabetical chunks"
  • v23 · 12/9/2025, 7:18:57 PM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KC28TW9JA86WG9HKMKQ6SXPN"
  • v22 · 12/9/2025, 7:18:55 PM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KC28TT5KXGCKTCP8DD89H1NR"
  • v21 · 12/9/2025, 7:18:53 PM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KC28TQZF4SPVXEB8P9XQ1DZ4"
  • v20 · 12/9/2025, 7:18:51 PM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KC28TNTAT9MD96JMQCVGYQ2Q"
  • v19 · 12/9/2025, 7:18:49 PM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KC28TMENQ9BM7YWZ2HC1266R"
  • v18 · 12/9/2025, 6:51:54 PM · View this version
    "Added OCR to 10 files"

More versions available (pagination not yet implemented)

Additional Components

chunking-description.txt
# Alphabetical Chunking

Directory split into 5 alphabetical chunks for processing.

Total files: 161
Files per chunk: up to 40

## Organization Strategy

Organize by correspondent and document type. Create groups for each major correspondent (Julia Martin, Violet Ward, Julie Bredt, Bessie Strong, etc.) and general categories for other materials (Calling Cards, Negative Sleeves, Miscellaneous Correspondence). Within correspondent groups, maintain chronological order when dates are present.

Parent

01KC25ZJ5BGKTRSFQCX4KBYHJK

Children (5)