Alice Austen Correspondence with Julie Marsh
PI
Version: 4 (current) | Updated: 12/9/2025, 9:35:14 PM | Created: 12/9/2025, 7:22:06 PM
Added description
Description
Julie Marsh to Alice Austen Correspondence, 1880‑1888
Overview
This collection comprises two handwritten letters from Julie Marsh to Elizabeth Alice Austen, the pioneering Staten‑Island photographer. The letters were written at the Hotel Brighton in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and were later digitized as JPEG scans and transcribed into plain‑text files. The correspondence dates from March 2, 1880 to March 1, 1888 and illustrates the social life of the period, including plans for a cooking club, family health updates, and observations of resort activities.Background
Alice Austen (1866‑1952) was a noted photographer whose work documented late‑Victorian life. Her social circle included friends such as Julia T. Martin and Violet Ward, and she maintained regular correspondence with relatives and acquaintances. Julie Marsh, a correspondent and friend, wrote to Austen from the Hotel Brighton—a popular seaside resort—providing a window into the leisure culture of the era. The letters were collected by the Alice Austen House Museum and are catalogued under the PINAX metadata system.Contents
- Letter, March 1, 1888 – Discusses the initiation of a cooking club, mentions friends Lottie and Mamie, and describes the resort’s pleasant weather and children playing on the beach.
- Letter, March 2, 1880 – A brief note from the same hotel, dated 1880, addressing Austen and noting the hotel’s opening hours.
Scope
The collection covers personal correspondence written from Atlantic City’s Hotel Brighton to Alice Austen in Staten Island, New York, between 1880 and 1888. It focuses on social activities, family health, and the planning of a cooking club, reflecting the domestic and leisure concerns of upper‑middle‑class women in late‑Victorian America. The materials are limited to these two letters and their digitized representations; no additional photographs, negatives, or business records are included.Raw Cheimarros Data
@alice_austen:person {full_name: "Elizabeth Alice Austen", birth: @date_1866, death: @date_1952, occupation: "photographer", location: @staten_island}
@julie_marsh:person {full_name: "Julie Marsh", role: "correspondent"}
@atlantic_city:place {state: @new_jersey, country: @united_states}
@hotel_brighton:place {name: "Hotel Brighton", city: @atlantic_city}
@staten_island:place {city: @new_york, borough: "Staten Island", country: @united_states}
@cooking_club:concept {type: "social club"}
@lottie:person {relation: "friend"}
@mamie:person {relation: "family member"}
@letter_mar_1_1888:document {date: @date_1888_03_01, from: @hotel_brighton, to: @alice_austen, author: @julie_marsh, subject: "cooking club plans"}
@letter_mar_2_1880:document {date: @date_1880_03_02, from: @hotel_brighton, to: @alice_austen, author: @julie_marsh}
@file_pinax:file {type: "metadata", title: "Alice Austen Correspondence with Julie Marsh"} -> documents -> @letter_mar_1_1888
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@file_1888_3_1_mar_1_2_marsh_copy_jpg:file {type: "image", description: "Letter page 2"} -> represents -> @letter_mar_1_1888
@file_1888_3_1_mar_1003_marsh_copy_jpg:file {type: "image", description: "Letter page (dated 1880)"} -> represents -> @letter_mar_2_1880
@julie_marsh -> wrote -> @letter_mar_1_1888
@julie_marsh -> wrote -> @letter_mar_2_1880
@letter_mar_1_1888 -> mentions -> @cooking_club
@letter_mar_1_1888 -> mentions -> @lottie
@letter_mar_1_1888 -> mentions -> @mamie
@letter_mar_2_1880 -> mentions -> @hotel_brighton
@letter_mar_2_1880 -> mentions -> @alice_austen
@date_1866
@date_1952
@date_1888_03_01
@date_1880_03_02Metadata
Files (3)
1888_3-1-Mar 1.1-Marsh copy.jpgJPEG
OCR Text
HOTEL BRIGHTON ATLANTIC CITY N.J. OPEN THROUGHOUT THE YEAR March 1st, 1888 Dear Alice, As we may not be home until next Monday or Tuesday do not wait for me to begin the cooking club if Lottie is home just begin on Tuesday and I will surely be there by the following week—It seems a pity to put off beginning any longer as before we know it—summer will be here and then we have to stop on account of the hot weather. This is the prettiest watering place I have ever been in. Children playing in the sand.
1888_3-1-Mar 1.2-Marsh copy.jpgJPEG
OCR Text
and young and old out all day long and here it is only the first of March. Mamie seems better already and I am sure that the change is doing her good. Sincerely, Julie
1888_3-1-Mar 1003-Marsh copy.jpgJPEG
OCR Text
HOTEL BRIGHTON. ATLANTIC CITY. Miss Alice Austin Rosebank P.O. Staten Island N.Y. ATLANTIC CITY MAR 2 630 A.M. 1880 N.J.
Version History (4 versions)
- ✓ v4 (current) · 12/9/2025, 9:35:14 PM
"Added description" - v3 · 12/9/2025, 8:15:53 PM · View this version
"Added knowledge graph extraction" - v2 · 12/9/2025, 7:44:32 PM · View this version
"Added PINAX metadata" - v1 · 12/9/2025, 7:22:06 PM · View this version
"Reorganization group: Personal_Correspondence_Julie_Marsh"
Parent
No children (leaf entity)