1893_9-14-Sept 4002-Ludlow copy.jpg

Alice Austen Other Correspondence Collection

PI

Version: 4 (current) | Updated: 12/9/2025, 9:48:49 PM | Created: 12/9/2025, 7:33:42 PM

Added description

Description

Alice Austen Other Correspondence Collection

Overview

The Alice Austen Other Correspondence Collection is a digitized assemblage of personal letters, calling cards, and photography‑related materials that were sent to and from Elizabeth Alice Austen (1866‑1952) during the early 1890s. Created on 14 September 1893, the collection is housed at the Alice Austen House Museum in Staten Island, New York, and is available in English as JPG scans of the originals and accompanying TXT transcriptions.

Background

Alice Austen was a pioneering photographer whose practice flourished in the late Victorian era. The collection reflects both her social life and her commercial activities, capturing the network of friends, family, and clients that sustained her career. The materials were gathered by Austen and various correspondents, and later digitized by the museum to preserve the paper ephemera that document her daily interactions.

Contents

  • Correspondence – Letters written to Austen by friends and acquaintances, including a 14 September 1893 letter from Ludlow in Chicago.
  • Calling Cards – Victorian‑era social cards that illustrate Austen’s participation in upper‑middle‑class society.
  • Negative Sleeves – Photographic accessories that hint at her studio operations.
  • Transcriptions – Typed TXT files that provide readable versions of the handwritten letters.

Key correspondents represented in the collection include Julia T. Martin (Albany), Julie Bredt, Violet M.E. Ward, Isabella King (photograph buyer), and Bessie Strong. Themes that recur across the letters are social events (skating parties, church services), business dealings (sales of images from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition), personal relationships, and family matters such as condolences for a deceased relative.

Scope

The collection covers the period 1883‑1898, with the core documents dated to 1893. It focuses on the social and professional milieu of Staten Island’s upper‑middle‑class community and includes material originating from both Staten Island and Chicago. The collection does not contain photographic prints themselves but provides contextual documentation of Austen’s life and work during this formative decade.

Raw Cheimarros Data

@alice_austen:person {full_name: "Elizabeth Alice Austen", birth: @date_1866, death: @date_1952, occupation: "photographer", location: @staten_island}

@staten_island:place {state: @new_york, country: @united_states}

@julie_martin:person {full_name: "Julia T. Martin", relationship: "close friend", location: @albany}

@julie_bredt:person {full_name: "Julie Bredt"}

@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"}

@ludlow:person {last_name: "Ludlow"}

@alice_austen_other_correspondence:collection {title: "Alice Austen Other Correspondence Collection", created: @date_1893_09_14, institution: "Alice Austen House", language: "en", subjects: ["Correspondence","Personal Letters","Social Life","Victorian Era","Staten Island"]}

@file_pinax:file {title: "Alice Austen Other Correspondence Collection", type: "Metadata (PINAX)", creator: [@alice_austen, @various_correspondents], created: @date_1893_09_14, language: "en"}

@file_1893_9_14_sept_4002_ludlow_copy_jpg:file {filename: "1893_9-14-Sept 4002-Ludlow copy.jpg.ref.json", type: "Image/Asset with OCR", date: @date_1893_09_14, location: @chicago, correspondent: @ludlow}

@alice_austen_other_correspondence -> contains -> @file_pinax

@alice_austen_other_correspondence -> contains -> @file_1893_9_14_sept_4002_ludlow_copy_jpg

@ludlow -> wrote -> @file_1893_9_14_sept_4002_ludlow_copy_jpg {to: @alice_austen, when: @date_1893_09_14, where: @chicago}

@julie_martin -> wrote -> @alice_austen {type: "letter", period: "1894"}

@julie_bredt -> wrote -> @alice_austen {type: "letter", period: "1894"}

@violet_ward -> wrote -> @alice_austen {type: "letter", period: "1894"}

@isabella_king -> wrote -> @alice_austen {type: "letter", period: "1894"}

@bessie_strong -> wrote -> @alice_austen {type: "letter", period: "1894"}

@photography_business:concept {description: "Alice Austen's commercial photography activities, including sales of images from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition"}

@social_life:concept {description: "Victorian-era social activities such as skating parties, sleigh rides, church events, and whist parties"}

@victorian_era:concept {description: "Historical period in which the correspondence was created (late 19th century)"}

Metadata

Title
Alice Austen Other Correspondence Collection
Type
Collection
Creator
Alice AustenVarious Correspondents
Institution
Alice Austen House
Created
1893-09-14
Language
en
Subjects
Correspondence, Personal Letters, Social Life, Victorian Era, Staten Island
Place
Staten Island, Chicago
Source
PINAX

Files (1)

1893_9-14-Sept 4002-Ludlow copy.jpgJPEG
1.5 MB
OCR Text

My dear Alice, I received your note in Chicago to which place it had been forwarded & am sorry that I could not avail myself of your invitation. It was my intention to come down before I left but I understood you were away in Chicago & did not

Version History (4 versions)

  • ✓ v4 (current) · 12/9/2025, 9:48:49 PM
    "Added description"
  • v3 · 12/9/2025, 8:52:15 PM · View this version
    "Added knowledge graph extraction"
  • v2 · 12/9/2025, 7:53:08 PM · View this version
    "Added PINAX metadata"
  • v1 · 12/9/2025, 7:33:42 PM · View this version
    "Reorganization group: Other_Correspondence"

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