Alice Austen Social Events Correspondence Collection
PI
Version: 4 (current) | Updated: 12/9/2025, 9:36:07 PM | Created: 12/9/2025, 7:21:16 PM
Added description
Description
Alice Austen Social Events Correspondence Collection (1888)
Overview
This collection comprises digitized correspondence from the personal papers of Elizabeth Alice Austen (1866‑1952), a pioneering Staten Island photographer. The materials were compiled on 30 September 1888 and focus on social events, weddings, travel, and family matters. The items are presented as JPEG scans of handwritten letters, accompanied by OCR‑derived text. The collection is housed at the Alice Austen House Museum and is available in English.Background
Alice Austen’s papers provide a window into the social world of late‑Victorian upper‑middle‑class New York. The 1888 correspondence reflects her active participation in regional society, her travel plans, and her close network of friends and relatives. The collection was assembled by the museum’s archivists to preserve the original hand‑written documents and to make them accessible for research on Victorian social history and Austen’s personal life.Contents
- Letters (1888‑09‑19 to 1888‑09‑30): Scanned images of handwritten notes addressed to Miss Brown, Emily, Imy, and other contemporaries.
- Key subjects: - Mrs. Duckley’s wedding in Morristown (19 September 1888). - Six‑week Europe trip planned by Emily and Imy. - Family news (e.g., death of Anna Colvin Carris, approval of Leway’s match). - Social commentary on travel, wedding arrangements, and domestic affairs.
- OCR text: Machine‑read transcriptions of the handwritten letters, facilitating keyword searches.
- Metadata: Each item includes date, place (Morristown, New Jersey; Europe), and subject tags such as “social events,” “weddings,” “travel,” and “family correspondence.”
Scope
The collection covers a narrow temporal window—primarily the week of 19–30 September 1888—and focuses exclusively on correspondence related to social events and family matters. It is geographically centered on Morristown, New Jersey, and includes references to European travel. The collection does not include photographs, calling cards, or negative sleeves; those materials reside in other parts of Austen’s archive. The content is limited to letters written by or to Austen’s relatives and friends, offering a detailed snapshot of her social engagements during a single month of the late Victorian era.Raw Cheimarros Data
@alice_austen_social_events_correspondence_collection:document {title: "Alice Austen Social Events Correspondence Collection", creator: [@alice_austen], institution: "Alice Austen House", created: @date_1888_09_30, language: "en", subjects: ["Social events","Weddings","Travel","Family correspondence","Victorian era"], description: "Collection of correspondence from Alice Austen's personal papers, primarily focused on social events and family matters in 1888.", place: ["Morristown","Europe"]}
@alice_austen:person {full_name: "Elizabeth Alice Austen", birth_year: @date_1866, death_year: @date_1952, occupation: "photographer", location: @staten_island}
@staten_island:place {state: @new_york, country: @united_states}
@file_1888_9_19_sept_3003_copy_jpg:file {type: "image/asset with OCR", date: @date_1888_09_19, description: "Letter to Miss Brown"}
@letter_1888_09_19:document {to: @miss_brown, from: @emily, date: @date_1888_09_19}
@miss_brown:person {title: "Miss"}
@emily:person {relation: "cousin of @alice_austen"}
@imy:person {relation: "cousin of @alice_austen"}
@mr_hale:person {}
@mrs_clark:person {}
@crawford_family:organization {}
@anna_colvin_carris:person {}
@leway:person {}
@mrs_duckley:person {}
@mrs_duckley_wedding:event {type: "wedding", date: @date_1888_09_19, location: @morristown, participants: [@mrs_duckley]}
@morristown:place {state: @new_jersey, country: @united_states}
@mrs_throby:person {}
@miss_nelson:person {}
@europe_trip:event {duration_weeks: 6, start: @date_1888_09_19, destination: @europe}
@emily -> went to -> @morristown {when: @date_1888_09_19, purpose: @mrs_duckley_wedding:event}
@imy -> went to -> @morristown {when: @date_1888_09_19, purpose: @mrs_duckley_wedding:event}
@mrs_duckley_wedding:event -> location -> @morristown
@mrs_duckley_wedding:event -> date -> @date_1888_09_19
@mr_hale -> received -> @letter_1888_09_19 {from: @mrs_clark, content: "approval of Leway's match"}
@mrs_clark -> aunt of -> @crawford_family
@anna_colvin_carris -> death -> @date_1888_09_19 {description: "peaceful end"}
@leway -> match -> @anna_colvin_carris
@emily -> plans -> @europe_trip:event {duration_weeks: 6, start: @date_1888_09_19}
@europe_trip:event -> destination -> @europeMetadata
Files (1)
1888_9-19-Sept 3003 copy.jpgJPEG
OCR Text
Dear Miss Brown, Yesterday we went another hot day. We did the flower. Your cousin Emily and Imy went to Morristown yesterday to Mrs. Duckley's wedding. She is to be married at two o'clock today, has no reception, lives with her family at Mrs. Throby and their lady for Emily is fair on Saturday for a trip to Europe of six weeks. She Browning she left this morning and Miss Nelson is taking care of Ms. Mr. Hale had a lovely letter from Mrs. Clark the aunt of the Crawford telling us of Anna Colvin Carris's peaceful end and their entire approval of Leway's match. Ardently desired was the message by her mother and her fiancé that she consented to it, and that all of she has been of him greatly in his favor. His grandfather is known and
Version History (4 versions)
- ✓ v4 (current) · 12/9/2025, 9:36:07 PM
"Added description" - v3 · 12/9/2025, 8:19:12 PM · View this version
"Added knowledge graph extraction" - v2 · 12/9/2025, 7:45:26 PM · View this version
"Added PINAX metadata" - v1 · 12/9/2025, 7:21:16 PM · View this version
"Reorganization group: Social_Events_Correspondence"
Parent
No children (leaf entity)