1894_12-9-Ralph Munroe Dec 9001 copy.jpg

Alice Austen Correspondence with Ralph Munroe

PI

Version: 4 (current) | Updated: 12/9/2025, 9:49:13 PM | Created: 12/9/2025, 7:36:08 PM

Added description

Description

Alice Austen Correspondence with Ralph Munroe (December 9, 1894)

Overview

This collection contains two handwritten letters from photographer and sailor Ralph Munroe to his friend and fellow photographer, Elizabeth Alice Austen, dated 9 December 1894. The letters were written in Poromont Grove, Dade County, Florida, and were later digitized as JPEG scans and transcribed into plain‑text files. They are part of the Alice Austen Papers (MS1) housed at the Alice Austen House Museum in Staten Island, New York.

Background

Ralph Munroe (1847‑1937) was a noted photographer and yacht designer who spent considerable time in Florida. Alice Austen (1866‑1952) was a pioneering American photographer from Staten Island whose personal papers provide insight into late‑Victorian social life. The correspondence reflects the friendship and professional camaraderie between the two women, and it was preserved by the museum as part of Austen’s broader collection of personal letters.

Contents

  • Letter 1 (Dec 9 1894) – Discusses the pleasant Florida weather, housekeeping details (silverware, copper kettle, clean windows), and extends greetings to the “Miss Words” and her family.
  • Letter 2 (Dec 9 1894) – Describes the aftermath of a September gale, shortages of bananas and limes, the Bentons’ painting of “Susie,” the hauling of a damaged baby piano, and news about Miss Ward (Violet M.E. Ward) and “President St.”
  • Digital files – Two JPEG images of the original letters and two corresponding TXT transcriptions.
  • Metadata – Includes creator, date, language, subjects (personal correspondence, Victorian social life, Florida, housekeeping, family visits, music), and provenance information.

Scope

The collection is confined to a single day’s correspondence (9 December 1894) and captures a snapshot of domestic and social concerns in late‑19th‑century Florida. It illustrates the everyday life of an upper‑middle‑class family, the impact of weather on household affairs, and the maintenance of social ties across geographic distance. The material is relevant to scholars of Victorian social history, photography, and the cultural exchange between New York and Florida during this period.

Raw Cheimarros Data

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

@ralph_munroe:person {full_name: "Ralph Munroe", occupation: "photographer, sailor", location: @poromont_grove_florida}

@alice_austen_house:organization {type: "museum", location: @staten_island_new_york}

@poromont_grove_florida:place {city: "Poromont Grove", county: "Dade Co.", state: "Florida", country: @united_states}

@staten_island_new_york:place {borough: "Staten Island", city: "New York City", state: "New York", country: @united_states}

@alice_austen_correspondence_with_ralph_munroe:collection {creator: @ralph_munroe, institution: @alice_austen_house, created: @date_1894_12_09, language: "en", subjects: ["Personal correspondence","Victorian social life","Florida","Housekeeping","Family visits","Music"], description: "Letters from Ralph Munroe to Alice Austen in December 1894 discussing domestic life in Florida, family visits, and musical instruments.", place: [@poromont_grove_florida, @staten_island_new_york]}

@letter_1894_12_09_1:document {type: "letter", author: @ralph_munroe, recipient: @alice_austen, date: @date_1894_12_09, location: @poromont_grove_florida, content_summary: "Describes perfect weather, housekeeping, silverware, and greetings to Miss Words and the home family"} 

@letter_1894_12_09_2:document {type: "letter", author: @ralph_munroe, recipient: @alice_austen, date: @date_1894_12_09, location: @poromont_grove_florida, content_summary: "Mentions chaotic state after September gale, lack of bananas and limes, Bentons painting the Susie, hauling a baby piano damaged at sea, and news about Miss Ward and President St."}

@ralph_munroe -> wrote -> @letter_1894_12_09_1

@ralph_munroe -> wrote -> @letter_1894_12_09_2

@alice_austen -> corresponded with -> @ralph_munroe {when: @date_1894_12_09, via: [@letter_1894_12_09_1, @letter_1894_12_09_2]}

@letter_1894_12_09_1 -> mentions -> @poromont_grove_florida

@letter_1894_12_09_2 -> mentions -> @poromont_grove_florida

@benton_family:organization {type: "family"}

@susie:person {full_name: "Susie"}

@benton_family -> painting -> @susie

@benton_family -> hauling -> @baby_piano:object {type: "piano", condition: "damaged at sea"}

@miss_ward:person {full_name: "Violet M.E. Ward"}

@letter_1894_12_09_2 -> mentions -> @miss_ward

@nelly:person {full_name: "Nelly"}

@letter_1894_12_09_2 -> mentions -> @nelly

@steainway_piano:object {type: "Steinway piano"}

@letter_1894_12_09_2 -> discusses -> @steainway_piano

@file_pinax -> documents -> @alice_austen_correspondence_with_ralph_munroe:collection {created: @date_1894_12_09, description: "Metadata record for the collection"} 

@file_1894_12_9_ralph_munroe_dec_9001_copy_jpg -> contains -> @letter_1894_12_09_1

@file_1894_12_9_ralph_munroe_dec_9002_copy_jpg -> contains -> @letter_1894_12_09_2

Metadata

Files (2)

1894_12-9-Ralph Munroe Dec 9001 copy.jpgJPEG
3.54 MB
OCR Text

down here is consummated what are the prospects? The weather is simply perfect, elephant breezes blowing & things generally too lovely (as the girls say), for anything of Dan & I am keeping house in the Bar nachle in great style. Copper Kettle & silverware shining like a majestic heel, even the windows are clean & beds made occasionally. With best regards to the Miss Words & the home family yours as ever Ralph Poromont Grove Dade Co. 2/4 Dec. 9th My dear Alice, Now what have I done or not done to get many a letter from you uns since since the one at St. Augustine months ago? I wrote you from Sewalls Point on the Indian River & suggested this point for you next but I suppose you wanted to be sure that I had arrived before wasting time & paper & I should have written

1894_12-9-Ralph Munroe Dec 9002 copy.jpgJPEG
3.51 MB
OCR Text

you soon as we got here only things were in such a chaotic state resulting from the Sep. gale that took our coats right off & have been hard at work ever since so as to be presentable when our friends & relations arrive, no bananas for several months to come & but few limes. Royal palm leaves rather ragged & new what if not yet complete otherwise we are fair to middling. The Bentons are busy also painting the Susie & at this moment are in the next room over hauling our baby piano which last Spring had the misfortune of falling overboard on its way to a festive gathering. Sand & salt water are not conducive to good tone & effect in such instruments & I am afraid that little else but noise will ever be gotten out of it. I hear from Nelly that Miss Ward is back in town & that you have been over to President St. So conclude that wheels & boats are done for until next Spring myself included unless that trip

Version History (4 versions)

  • ✓ v4 (current) · 12/9/2025, 9:49:13 PM
    "Added description"
  • v3 · 12/9/2025, 8:54:25 PM · View this version
    "Added knowledge graph extraction"
  • v2 · 12/9/2025, 7:53:20 PM · View this version
    "Added PINAX metadata"
  • v1 · 12/9/2025, 7:36:08 PM · View this version
    "Reorganization group: Personal_Letters_Ralph_Munroe"

Parent

01KC29FBWR26R1JZCYPT6GZEFQ

No children (leaf entity)