Alice Austen Correspondence with Julia T. Martin, 1894
PI
Version: 4 (current) | Updated: 12/9/2025, 9:49:08 PM | Created: 12/9/2025, 7:36:05 PM
Added description
Description
Personal Letters Between Alice Austen and Julia T. Martin, 1894
Overview
This digital collection comprises five scanned images of handwritten correspondence exchanged in 1894 between Elizabeth Alice Austen, a pioneering Staten‑Island photographer, and her close friend Julia T. Martin of Albany, New York. The letters are presented as high‑resolution JPEGs, each accompanied by OCR‑derived transcriptions that capture the content of the originals. The material is part of the larger Austen Family Papers housed at the Alice Austen House Museum.Background
Alice Austen (1866‑1952) was a prominent American photographer whose practice extended beyond portraiture to include commercial work for events such as the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Julia T. Martin, a lifelong friend and correspondent, resided in Albany and maintained a regular exchange of letters with Austen during the 1883‑1898 period. The 1894 letters reflect their social, familial, and business interests against the backdrop of late‑Victorian upper‑middle‑class life in New York and California.Contents
The collection contains five images, each representing a separate letter:The letters reveal Austen’s involvement in her photography business, her engagement with Victorian social customs (skating, sleigh rides, courting parties), and her concern for family welfare. The OCR text confirms references to specific individuals (e.g., Howard, Amy, Mrs. Smively) and places (Staten Island, Albany, Santa Barbara, Troy).
Scope
The collection covers a single year (1894) and focuses exclusively on the personal correspondence between Alice Austen and Julia T. Martin. It documents their shared social milieu, familial concerns, and Austen’s professional activities. The material is limited to five letters and their scanned reproductions; it does not include other Austen family documents, photographs, or business records. The collection is available in English and is part of the broader Austen Family Papers, which span 1883‑1898.Raw Cheimarros Data
@staten_island_ny:place {city: "Staten Island", state: @new_york, country: @united_states}
@santa_barbara_ca:place {city: "Santa Barbara", state: @california, country: @united_states}
@albany_ny:place {city: "Albany", state: @new_york, country: @united_states}
@troy_ny:place {city: "Troy", state: @new_york, country: @united_states}
@st_peters_church:place {city: @albany_ny, type: "church"}
@cathedral:place {city: @albany_ny, type: "cathedral"}
@alice_austen:person {full_name: "Elizabeth Alice Austen", birth: @date_1866, death: @date_1952, occupation: "photographer", residence: @staten_island_ny}
@julia_t_martin:person {full_name: "Julia T. Martin", relationship: "close friend", residence: @albany_ny}
@howard:person {relation: "child of Julia T. Martin"}
@amy:person {relation: "child of Julia T. Martin"}
@mrs_smively:person {full_name: "Mrs. Smively"}
@miss_andrews:person {full_name: "Miss Andrews"}
@mr_mccargo:person {full_name: "Mr. McCargo"}
@miss_pippy:person {full_name: "Miss Pippy"}
@kate_walsh:person {full_name: "Kate Walsh"}
@pauline_grey:person {full_name: "Pauline Grey"}
@mrs_grey:person {full_name: "Mrs. Grey"}
@hattie_price:person {full_name: "Hattie Price"}
@skating_club:event {type: "ice skating", location: @albany_ny, date: @date_1894_02_05}
@sleigh_ride:event {type: "sleigh ride", location: @troy_ny, date: @date_1894_02_05}
@choir_practice:event {type: "choir practice", location: @st_peters_church, date: @date_1894_02_05}
@courting_party:event {type: "courting party", location: @albany_ny, date: @date_1894_02_05}
@photography_business:concept {}
@letter_dec_11_1894:document {date: @date_1894_12_11, from: @julia_t_martin, to: @alice_austen, location: @santa_barbara_ca}
@letter_feb_4_1894:document {date: @date_1894_02_04, from: @julia_t_martin, to: @alice_austen, location: @albany_ny}
@file_pinax:file {title: "Alice Austen Correspondence with Julia T. Martin, 1894", creator: [@alice_austen, @julia_t_martin], institution: "Alice Austen House", created: @date_1894, language: "en"}
@file_1894_12_14_dec_3001_martin_copy_jpg:file {type: "image", related_document: @letter_dec_11_1894}
@file_1894_12_14_dec_3002_martin_copy_jpg:file {type: "image", related_document: @letter_dec_11_1894}
@file_1894_2_5_feb_1002_martin_copy_jpg:file {type: "image", related_document: @letter_feb_4_1894}
@file_1894_2_5_feb_1003_martin_copy_jpg:file {type: "image", related_document: @letter_feb_4_1894}
@file_1894_2_5_feb_1004_martin_copy_jpg:file {type: "image", related_document: @letter_feb_4_1894}
@file_1894_2_5_feb_1005_martin_copy_jpg:file {type: "image", related_document: @letter_feb_4_1894}
@julia_t_martin -> wrote -> @letter_dec_11_1894
@alice_austen -> received -> @letter_dec_11_1894
@julia_t_martin -> wrote -> @letter_feb_4_1894
@alice_austen -> received -> @letter_feb_4_1894
@letter_feb_4_1894 -> mentions -> @skating_club:event
@letter_feb_4_1894 -> mentions -> @sleigh_ride:event
@letter_feb_4_1894 -> mentions -> @choir_practice:event
@letter_feb_4_1894 -> mentions -> @courting_party:event
@alice_austen -> participated in -> @skating_club:event
@alice_austen -> attended -> @choir_practice:event
@alice_austen -> involved in -> @photography_business
@alice_austen -> corresponded with -> @julia_t_martin {start: @date_1883, end: @date_1898}
@letter_dec_11_1894 -> mentions -> @howard
@letter_dec_11_1894 -> mentions -> @amy
@letter_dec_11_1894 -> mentions -> @mrs_smively
@letter_dec_11_1894 -> mentions -> @miss_andrews
@letter_feb_4_1894 -> mentions -> @mr_mccargo
@letter_feb_4_1894 -> mentions -> @miss_pippy
@letter_feb_4_1894 -> mentions -> @kate_walsh
@letter_feb_4_1894 -> mentions -> @pauline_grey
@letter_feb_4_1894 -> mentions -> @mrs_grey
@letter_feb_4_1894 -> mentions -> @hattie_priceMetadata
Files (6)
OCR Text
1624 Garden St. Santa Barbara, Cal. Dec. 11th, 1894. My dear Alice: The weeks have flown by and I feel you may justly say I have forgotten you if you judge me fairly by my letters. But I am going to turn over a new leaf and begin my weekly letter, for I feel that I am too far on my part silent in all my friends' affairs, although it is hard even to imagine that you an busy times shopping. Boxes in abundance, warm bright days most of the year. All none conducive of the Ymas feeling over to me it will be a very sad one—but I want the children to have a good time & we are going to squander a couple of dollars on them both and I hope they will have a merry time. I shall send you, as I think, with you a Ymas card & I know you will like it & make my home more vivid to you. We are getting on nicely. Last month we felt be-
OCR Text
mind not covering expenses, but of course the first month was the one we had to lay in supplies and get quite a number of things to make the house pretty & attractive. Mrs. Smively and boys, also a Miss Andrews maid & child are with us, so we will do well. As yet there are not many strangers in town. We have two pages coming for table board $14 00 a week. Table boards are clear gain & the more the better. Our table reputation is spreading far and wide. Amy goes down town every day & orders the things. I remain at home & do all the housekeeping etc. etc. & you can not imagine how busy we are. As for ever making a fortune out of it I have my doubts, but an independent home is a great deal to me. Amy at times is very homesick. We are worried about Howard. Poor boy. Let me know if you ever see him & how he looks entirely. Please excuse this letter. Either the ink, paper or pen are vile, I don't know which. Much love affec Julia T. Martin
OCR Text
to have to keep quiet when feeling quite well. So you saw Howard & thought he seemed like himself. Both Amy and Walton write that he is very much improved and we are all glad he went away, & will be, even if only holds out for a time. If he could only get something to do now, it would be a great thing for him. Just think of Lent being with us again. 23 E.W. St. Albany, Feb. 4th Dearest Alice, I was so glad to receive your letter. I think you never missed a week before and I did not like it at all. I am so sorry that your foot gives you so much trouble. Mrs. Lively had very much the same kind of trouble last winter and it was awfully tiresome.
OCR Text
I am going to sing in St. Peter's choir in the afternoon. We have lots of fun practicing. Since I have been at the school I go quite often to the Cathedral. They had a great time there on Friday, the 25th anniversary of his consecration. Imagine! The St. Agnes girls were obliged to go to the cathedral at 9.10 and remained till 1.30. I only took in a part. It was most interesting & very impressive. The Bishop's address was very short, but he himself was so affected, and his words so impressive that almost everyone (which was a very great many) was weeping. There must have been one hundred clergy robed beside the choir and it was a splendid sight to see them all in procession. I am getting to know all at the
OCR Text
it might lead to something, for I like the school, and the four teachers that I know, my own age, seem delightful. Yesterday Mr. McCargo & I took one of them, Miss Pippy, and Kate Walsh for a sleigh ride. It was perfectly delightful. We went to Troy by the road and after driving all about Troy, came home on the canal. You would be crazy over the skating school now. Several of the teachers have taken me under their wing, so to speak, and Mrs. Schmidlin, the head of the house duties, next to Miss Boyd, invited me in her room the other day. Whether this means anything or not I can not tell. Knowing what I do of Miss Schmidlin I should say she would not have asked me in to see her if there had not been some reason for wanting to know me. Dear me I wish
OCR Text
We have a club & pay to have it kept in order, & the ice is just like glass. I have only been once, but am going oftener now that I can skate better. Last night Pauline Grey had a courting party. She asked me, but I was too tired to go. They must have waited very late, after which Pauline gave a little supper. She is an awfully nice girl, & Mrs. Grey seems to like her. What a handsome woman Mrs. G. is! Did I wish you that Hattie Price had given me a beautiful Hollandor dress skirt & enough material to make a waist and coat. I will be dead broke when I pay for the waist, but it was too handsome not to have well-made. It is a spring dress, awfully pretty material. It is about as well to be born poor & lucky as to be born rich,
Version History (4 versions)
- ✓ v4 (current) · 12/9/2025, 9:49:08 PM
"Added description" - v3 · 12/9/2025, 8:55:46 PM · View this version
"Added knowledge graph extraction" - v2 · 12/9/2025, 7:53:19 PM · View this version
"Added PINAX metadata" - v1 · 12/9/2025, 7:36:05 PM · View this version
"Reorganization group: Personal_Letters_Julia_Martin"
Parent
No children (leaf entity)