Alice Austen Social Invitations Collection (1892)

Overview

The Alice Austen Social Invitations Collection is a small, digitized set of scanned social invitations received by Elizabeth Alice Austen in 1892. The collection consists of two primary documents—one formal dance invitation from Mrs. Nathaniel Marsh and one informal dance invitation from the Delta Chapter of the Zeta Psi fraternity. Both invitations are rendered as JPEG images with accompanying OCR text and are housed in the Alice Austen House Museum’s archival holdings in Staten Island, New York.

Background

Elizabeth Alice Austen (1866‑1952) was a pioneering American photographer whose home in Clifton, Staten Island, served as a social hub for the island’s upper‑middle‑class families. The invitations in this collection illustrate the Victorian‑era social life that surrounded Austen’s photographic practice. They reflect the broader cultural milieu of late‑19th‑century New York, where formal dances, informal gatherings, and fraternity events were common social outlets. The collection is part of the larger Alice Austen Family Papers (MS1) and provides a glimpse into Austen’s personal network and the social rituals of her time.

Contents

• Invitation 1 – Mrs. Nathaniel Marsh
Date: Monday, December 19, 1892 Event: Formal dance at Clifton, 4:00 – 7:00 pm, dancing at 8:00 pm Location: Clifton, Staten Island Document: JPEG (164 KB) with OCR text detailing the invitation’s wording.
• Invitation 2 – Delta Chapter of Zeta Psi

Date: Friday, December 2, 1892 Event: Informal dance Location: 18 College Avenue, Staten Island Document: JPEG (2.5 MB) with OCR text that includes the names of committee members and the invitation’s formal wording.

Both documents are addressed to Alice Austen and include sender information, event details, and location data. The collection may contain additional invitations not represented in the current digitized set.

Scope

The collection is confined to the year 1892 and to social invitations addressed to Alice Austen. It covers formal and informal dance events in Clifton and College Avenue, Staten Island, and includes materials from private individuals and a fraternity chapter. The collection does not encompass other correspondence, photographs, or personal papers from the broader Alice Austen Family Papers.