Helen K. Grinnell Correspondence to Alice Austen
PI
Version: 4 (current) | Updated: 12/9/2025, 9:48:33 PM | Created: 12/9/2025, 7:33:37 PM
Added description
Description
Helen K. Grinnell Correspondence to Alice Austen (1893)
Overview
This collection comprises five handwritten letters written by Helen K. Grinnell to Elizabeth Alice Austen, dated August 31 and September 12, 1893. The letters have been digitized as JPEG scans and accompanied by typed transcriptions. They provide a snapshot of personal communication, travel plans, and social life during the late Victorian era, with particular reference to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.Background
Helen K. Grinnell was a contemporary of Alice Austen, likely a friend or relative residing in the New York/New Jersey area. The correspondence was preserved in the Alice Austen House archives, part of the Austen Family Papers. The letters reflect the social milieu of upper‑middle‑class Staten Island and surrounding communities in the 1890s, offering insight into the everyday concerns and cultural events that shaped the lives of women in that period.Contents
- Five letters: three dated August 31 (letters 6001, 6003, 6004) and two dated September 12 (letters 1002, 1003).
- Locations mentioned: Hague, NY; Bay Head, NJ; Flushing, NY; Chicago, IL.
- Themes: personal hardships, travel arrangements, anticipation of the World’s Columbian Exposition, social engagements, and routine correspondence.
- Materials: scanned images of the original handwritten letters, OCR‑derived text, and typed transcriptions.
Scope
The collection covers a brief period in late 1893, focusing exclusively on the personal correspondence between Helen K. Grinnell and Alice Austen. It is geographically centered on Staten Island, with references to New Jersey and Chicago. The material is relevant to scholars of late‑19th‑century American social history, photography, and the World’s Columbian Exposition, but does not include other family papers or broader archival holdings.Raw Cheimarros Data
@alice_austen:person {full_name: "Elizabeth Alice Austen", birth: @date_1866, death: @date_1952, occupation: "photographer", location: @staten_island}
@helen_k_grinnell:person {full_name: "Helen K. Grinnell", role: "correspondent"}
@staten_island:place {state: @new_york, country: @united_states}
@hague_ny:place {state: @new_york, country: @united_states}
@bay_head:place {state: @new_jersey, country: @united_states}
@flushing_ny:place {state: @new_york, country: @united_states}
@chicago_il:place {state: @illinois, country: @united_states}
@worlds_columbian_exposition:event {year: @date_1893, location: @chicago_il}
@island_harbor_house:place {city: @hague_ny}
@date_1866
@date_1952
@date_1893
@date_1893_08_31
@date_1893_09_12
@letter_1893_08_31_6001:document {date: @date_1893_08_31, source_file: @file_1893_8_31_aug_6001_hkg_copy_jpg}
@helen_k_grinnell -> wrote -> @letter_1893_08_31_6001
@letter_1893_08_31_6001 -> addressed to -> @alice_austen
@letter_1893_08_31_6001 -> mentions -> @hague_ny
@letter_1893_08_31_6001 -> mentions -> @island_harbor_house
@letter_1893_08_31_6003:document {date: @date_1893_08_31, source_file: @file_1893_8_31_aug_6003_hkg_copy_jpg}
@helen_k_grinnell -> wrote -> @letter_1893_08_31_6003
@letter_1893_08_31_6003 -> addressed to -> @alice_austen
@letter_1893_08_31_6003 -> expresses -> {sentiment: "overworked and out of sorts"} {when: @date_1893_08_31}
@letter_1893_08_31_6004:document {date: @date_1893_08_31, source_file: @file_1893_8_31_aug_6004_hkg_copy_jpg}
@helen_k_grinnell -> wrote -> @letter_1893_08_31_6004
@letter_1893_08_31_6004 -> addressed to -> @alice_austen
@letter_1893_08_31_6004 -> mentions -> @worlds_columbian_exposition {context: "world's fair"}
@letter_1893_08_31_6004 -> mentions -> @bay_head
@letter_1893_08_31_6004 -> mentions -> @flushing_ny
@letter_1893_09_12_1002:document {date: @date_1893_09_12, source_file: @file_1893_9_12_1002_hkg_copy_jpg}
@helen_k_grinnell -> wrote -> @letter_1893_09_12_1002
@letter_1893_09_12_1002 -> addressed to -> @alice_austen
@letter_1893_09_12_1002 -> mentions -> @worlds_columbian_exposition {context: "going to the fair on the 19th"}
@letter_1893_09_12_1002 -> mentions -> @bay_head
@letter_1893_09_12_1003:document {date: @date_1893_09_12, source_file: @file_1893_9_12_1003_hkg_copy_jpg}
@helen_k_grinnell -> wrote -> @letter_1893_09_12_1003
@letter_1893_09_12_1003 -> addressed to -> @alice_austen
@letter_1893_09_12_1003 -> mentions -> @flushing_ny
@letter_1893_09_12_1003 -> proposes -> {meeting: "Thursday evening"} {when: @date_1893_09_12}Metadata
Files (5)
OCR Text
Miss E. Alice Austin Com. A.B. Clifton Island Harbor House Hague NY
OCR Text
If brownie conditions don't change pretty soon, I can get away at all. I have never had quite so hard times as in the last year or six weeks—& it last month longer & think the top of my head will fly off when I have been away from finishing & it is drier than ever saw it before today! People are writing the return message in the request answers. I am afraid the setting is not good & I was very glad to get your letter several days ago. I have left it unanswered solely for the reason that I have been so thee overworked & generally out of sorts that had no wish to inflict myself on anyone. I have done nothing interesting
OCR Text
I don't know yet what the outcome will be— as to the world's fair—I have serious doubts whether I shall be able to go at all— certain it is that Mr. Will was not going on the 11th nor by the Rangoon trip— the girls went there & made a quick return leaving them to take their time—but even this is doubtful. —have been no where except to Bay head for a Sunday or two—and have spent all my spare time on our own piazza with a pipe and doleful thoughts for companions. The boys are still here and their future plans remain to be settled.—Various complications surround the problem and
OCR Text
Dear Miss Austin— Your note received and I am glad you are back here again. I have been so busy that I hardly know yet where I am. I hope I am going to the fair on 19th and it will seem pretty hard if I can't The annuals—two nights before I was at Barsham—and find my tomorrow night things out—I do you no harm commenced with some thing of a rush. Has to go as always.
OCR Text
home, so that unless you send me word to the contrary you may expect to see me on Thursday evening. I am in great fear I am to leave this town if there is a meeting tonight in Flushing (Brookt.) - last night you get down to see you before I go. Thursday is the only night this week so far as I can see now that I have open, and I have a partial engagement for that evening. However I can arrange to break that if you are going to be at
Version History (4 versions)
- ✓ v4 (current) · 12/9/2025, 9:48:33 PM
"Added description" - v3 · 12/9/2025, 8:52:50 PM · View this version
"Added knowledge graph extraction" - v2 · 12/9/2025, 7:52:57 PM · View this version
"Added PINAX metadata" - v1 · 12/9/2025, 7:33:37 PM · View this version
"Reorganization group: Helen_K_Grinnell_Correspondence"
Parent
No children (leaf entity)