Alice Austen Correspondence with Julie Bredt
PI
Version: 4 (current) | Updated: 12/9/2025, 9:44:57 PM | Created: 12/9/2025, 7:33:18 PM
Added description
Description
Correspondence of Julie Bredt to Alice Austen (1892)
Overview
This collection consists of five handwritten letters written in July 1892 by Julie L. Bredt to Elizabeth Alice Austen, a prominent Staten Island photographer. The letters were digitized by the Alice Austen House Museum and are available as scanned JPEG images and accompanying transcriptions. The material is organized by destination—Eaglesmere Hotel in the Allegheny Mountains, Pennsylvania, and Englewood, Sullivan County, New York—reflecting Bredt’s summer travels and social engagements.Background
Alice Austen (1866‑1952) was a pioneering American photographer whose home in Staten Island became a cultural hub for the upper‑middle class of the late‑Victorian era. Julie Bredt, a close friend and correspondent, maintained regular contact with Austen, sharing news of family, health, and leisure activities. The letters were produced during a period when Austen was expanding her photographic business and engaging in social events such as skating parties and whist gatherings. The collection is part of the broader Alice Austen House archival holdings, which document Austen’s personal and professional life.Contents
- Letter 1892‑07‑28 – A personal update on family health and travel plans.
- Letter Eaglesmere 1 – Describes the comfort of a hammock and observations of the hotel’s surroundings.
- Letter Eaglesmere 2 – Mentions a visit to Mr. Cunningham and a musical request (“The Lily of the Valley”).
- Letter Englewood 1 – Notes illness of relatives and logistical details of the Englewood stay.
- Letter Englewood 2 – Reflects on summer activities and social interactions at Englewood.
Each letter is available as a high‑resolution JPEG scan, with OCR‑derived transcriptions that capture the informal, conversational tone of Bredt’s writing. The images include marginalia and handwritten signatures, offering insight into Victorian correspondence practices.
Scope
The collection covers a single month—July 1892—and focuses on Bredt’s experiences in the Allegheny Mountains and Englewood. It documents personal family matters, travel logistics, and social life within the upper‑middle‑class Staten Island community. The material is limited to letters from Bredt to Austen; it does not include responses from Austen or correspondence with other individuals. The collection provides a snapshot of late‑19th‑century social networks, travel culture, and the everyday concerns of a woman connected to a prominent photographer.Raw Cheimarros Data
@alice_austen:person {full_name: "Elizabeth Alice Austen", birth: @date_1866, death: @date_1952, occupation: "photographer", location: @staten_island}
@julie_bredt:person {full_name: "Julie L. Bredt", role: "correspondent"}
@julia_martin:person {full_name: "Julia T. Martin", relationship: "close friend", location: @albany}
@violet_ward:person {full_name: "Violet M.E. Ward"}
@isabella_king:person {full_name: "Isabella King", role: "photograph buyer"}
@bessie_strong:person {full_name: "Bessie Strong"}
@staten_island:place {state: @new_york, country: @united_states}
@eaglesmere_hotel:place {location: @allegheny_mountains, state: @pennsylvania, country: @united_states}
@allegheny_mountains:place {state: @pennsylvania, country: @united_states}
@englewood:place {county: @sullivan_county, state: @new_york, country: @united_states}
@sullivan_county:place {state: @new_york, country: @united_states}
@albany:place {state: @new_york, country: @united_states}
@file_pinax:document {title: "Alice Austen Correspondence with Julie Bredt", creator: @julie_bredt, institution: "Alice Austen House", created: @date_1892, language: "en", subjects: ["Correspondence","Victorian social life","Travel","Family relationships","Eaglesmere Hotel","Allegheny Mountains","Englewood","Summer vacations"], places: [@eaglesmere_hotel, @englewood]}
@letter_1892_07_28:document {author: @julie_bredt, recipient: @alice_austen, date: @date_1892_07_28, content: "I have not mailed your letter as yet ..."}
@julie_bredt -> wrote -> @letter_1892_07_28
@letter_1892_07_28 -> addressed to -> @alice_austen
@letter_1892_07_28 -> mentions -> @englewood {context: "house in E. Orange, Arthur ill"}
@letter_eaglesmere_1:document {author: @julie_bredt, recipient: @alice_austen, date: @date_1892_07, content: "a more comfortable hammock here... Eaglesmere Hotel Allegheny"}
@julie_bredt -> wrote -> @letter_eaglesmere_1
@letter_eaglesmere_1 -> addressed to -> @alice_austen
@letter_eaglesmere_1 -> mentions -> @eaglesmere_hotel
@letter_eaglesmere_2:document {author: @julie_bredt, recipient: @alice_austen, date: @date_1892_07, content: "Dear Miss B. ... Mr. Cunningham ... The Lily of the Valley"}
@julie_bredt -> wrote -> @letter_eaglesmere_2
@letter_eaglesmere_2 -> addressed to -> @alice_austen
@letter_eaglesmere_2 -> mentions -> @eaglesmere_hotel
@letter_englewood_1:document {author: @julie_bredt, recipient: @alice_austen, date: @date_1892_07, content: "pm will hurry and answer this... Englewood ... Ernestine and Arthur both ill"}
@julie_bredt -> wrote -> @letter_englewood_1
@letter_englewood_1 -> addressed to -> @alice_austen
@letter_englewood_1 -> mentions -> @englewood
@letter_englewood_2:document {author: @julie_bredt, recipient: @alice_austen, date: @date_1892_07, content: "Little Eva—Find it is so easy... summer at Englewood ..."}
@julie_bredt -> wrote -> @letter_englewood_2
@letter_englewood_2 -> addressed to -> @alice_austen
@letter_englewood_2 -> mentions -> @englewoodMetadata
Files (5)
OCR Text
I have not mailed your letter as yet so will put in a line. Mamma is not coming back here as her sister is going to spend the winter with us, is it not fine & we have taken a house in E. Orange. Mamma just wrote to us & so we are going to go down from here in August. Some time Arthur is ill now & so we can not go for a week or so. Oh! I am so glad we are going to house keeping till life breaks you all up. It's awfully gay though! Goodbye dear little pown, how are my friends? Julia
OCR Text
a more comfortable hammock here." The man said "that is much more comfortable if there are two in it." She said, "I only wish there were two in it." He has not much sense for he never took the hint imagine why they are fearful, really it is killing. The way they act fearful, I have met one. I am anxious to see if he goes with them if he does I drop him like a hot cake for night in front of your eyes it is awful. Please excuse but much how did you like the etchings - with some love from Julia Eaglesmere Hotel Allegheny Smithfield Pa My dearest Lolly: Wasn't you answer my letter and what has become of you? We are up among the clouds and can touch them at times, it is awfully strange to be so high up. It is the next to the highest point in the state. The place is simply perfect and is right in the Allegheny mountains. There is one large lake and a number of hotels the Allegheny the one we are let us like very much, the Eaglesmere about the largest here and every night we go there and dance and we have lots of fun. It is a fine place for bathing and boating and all together we liked it very much. In the morning we go to the lake and row around until noon or in the afternoon we start at three for
OCR Text
Dear Miss B. I am so glad you picked up the note I wrote you. I am going to camp soon or go to school. It is hard to leave home, there is one of the most beautiful places I think I have ever seen on one side of the lake. It is lovely if only over half of it was open to us. The whole shore used to belong to Mr. Brown and a number of others. You will meet a Mr. Cunningham on your trip while there so you should be heard if you see him as I do not know if he will be here now. We have a good girl & we are real sorry we missed him. He said he hoped you would write home again soon. Tell all the girls to sing the song "The Lily of the Valley" next week.
OCR Text
pm will hurry and answer this, now is your Mother remember me to her & also to your Uncle and Aunt, and to all my friends. Have you decided where you are going this summer? I have to say Au-revoir not as I am in hot haste. Julie L. Brett Alleghenytone, Englewood, Sullivan Co. My dearest Lollie: Well how are you? And what do you think has become of me? I am at last at Englewood we have all packed & are without a home. Ernestine and Arthur both ill. The journey was too much for them. I fear it takes from 4 until 10 to get here still it is a fine place, a bright lake, fat out your hotels & plots of cottages and a perfectly jolly little shot. I am sure we will like it. Did you have a good time at Harvard? I met a Mr. Smith from up there he is here now? he said he heard of you up there
OCR Text
Little Eva—Find it is so easy like I know yours & their things scattered in a busy house— Four people this morn, but I suppose not a time we will meet all here—Much love You been doing? We haven't still will you remember me—the poor is my dear little Mr. Nichols? Jordan? S.S. to write & tell me about them. You we will stay up here most of the summer as is so far. So—I hope but did not meet you. You must have had a fine time and enjoyed it here & me so much. Tell me all about it. Did you get the stocking? & what did you think of them? Do tell me all about yourself & your doing. Remember I'm going to write this summer, I really really now I have naught to be so busy about, it is the most dandy life up here, get up at 9, breakfast until about 11 on the lake bath, go for mail, come home for dinner, take nap, get up & talk on porch work or write, have tea, go to the hotel & dance generally take a
Version History (4 versions)
- ✓ v4 (current) · 12/9/2025, 9:44:57 PM
"Added description" - v3 · 12/9/2025, 8:45:18 PM · View this version
"Added knowledge graph extraction" - v2 · 12/9/2025, 7:51:13 PM · View this version
"Added PINAX metadata" - v1 · 12/9/2025, 7:33:18 PM · View this version
"Reorganization group: Correspondence_Julie_Bredt"
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