Alice Austen Correspondence with C.W. Osgood
PI
Version: 5 (current) | Updated: 12/9/2025, 9:52:31 PM | Created: 12/9/2025, 7:41:46 PM
Added description
Description
C.W. Osgood – Alice Austen Correspondence (1898)
Overview
This digital collection preserves the correspondence between Alice Austen (Elizabeth Alice Austen, 1866‑1952) and C.W. Osgood, a contemporary Staten Island resident. The material is a set of high‑resolution JPEG scans of handwritten letters, address labels, and related ephemera dated February 14, 1898. The collection is housed in the Alice Austen House Museum’s online archive and is part of the broader “Alice Austen Correspondence” series covering 1883‑1898.Background
Alice Austen was a pioneering American photographer whose work and social life were deeply intertwined with the upper‑middle‑class community of Staten Island. C.W. Osgood, whose full name is not recorded in the source, was a friend or acquaintance who maintained a written dialogue with Austen. The correspondence reflects the social customs of the late Victorian era, including invitations to gatherings, culinary references, and the exchange of personal news.Contents
- Letter from C.W. Osgood to Miss Alice Austen (Feb 14 1898) – An invitation to a social gathering, offering either Saturday or Friday evening, and mentioning a “Spanish sauce” that Osgood has on hand. The letter also addresses Miss Ruskin, indicating a broader social circle. The document is handwritten and signed, with a return address at 57 Central Ave, New Brighton.
- Address label for Miss Alice Austen – A handwritten label indicating “Miss Alice Austin, Clifton, Staten Island,” used for the envelope.
- Supporting ephemera – Additional scanned images of the letter’s body, signature, and return address, each accompanied by OCR‑derived text for accessibility.
All items are in English and depict Victorian‑era handwriting and paper stock. The images are accompanied by descriptive metadata, including creator, date, place, and subject tags such as “Correspondence,” “Social life,” “Victorian era,” and “Staten Island.”
Scope
The collection focuses exclusively on the 1898 correspondence between Austen and Osgood, capturing a single social invitation and its ancillary materials. It does not include other letters to or from Austen during the broader 1883‑1898 period, nor does it contain photographs or other media. The geographic focus is Staten Island, specifically the Clifton and New Brighton neighborhoods. The collection is valuable for scholars of late‑19th‑century social history, Victorian etiquette, and the personal networks of early American photographers.Raw Cheimarros Data
@alice_austen:person {full_name: "Elizabeth Alice Austen", birth_year: @date_1866, death_year: @date_1952, occupation: "photographer", residence: @staten_island}
@c_w_osgood:person {full_name: "C.W. Osgood"}
@miss_ruskin:person {title: "Miss", surname: "Ruskin"}
@staten_island:place {city: "Staten Island", state: @new_york, country: @united_states}
@clifton:place {neighborhood: "Clifton", borough: @staten_island}
@new_brighton:place {neighborhood: "New Brighton", borough: @staten_island}
@central_ave:place {street: "Central Ave", borough: @new_brighton}
@date_1866
@date_1952
@date_1883
@date_1898
@date_1898_02_14
@alice_austen_correspondence:event {description: "Correspondence between Alice Austen and C.W. Osgood", start: @date_1883, end: @date_1898, location: @staten_island}
@file_pinax:file {title: "Alice Austen Correspondence with C.W. Osgood", creator: @c_w_osgood, institution: "Alice Austen House", created: @date_1898_02_14, subjects: ["Correspondence","Social life","Victorian era","Staten Island"], description: "Collection of correspondence between Alice Austen and C.W. Osgood, including an invitation for a social gathering", place: ["Clifton, Staten Island","New Brighton, Staten Island"]}
@alice_austen_correspondence -> includes -> @file_pinax
@file_1898_2_24_1898_feb_1001_osgood_copy_jpg:file {description: "Address label for Miss Alice Austen, Clifton, Staten Island"}
@file_1898_2_24_1898_feb_1002_osgood_copy_jpg:file {description: "Body of a letter from C.W. Osgood to Miss Ruskin"}
@file_1898_2_24_1898_feb_1003_osgood_copy_jpg:file {description: "Signature and return address of C.W. Osgood"}
@letter_osgood_to_austen:document {type: "letter", author: @c_w_osgood, recipient: @alice_austen, date: @date_1898_02_14, origin: @new_brighton, content: "Invitation for a social gathering; proposes Saturday evening or Friday evening as alternative; mentions a Spanish sauce."}
@c_w_osgood -> wrote -> @letter_osgood_to_austen
@alice_austen -> recipient of -> @letter_osgood_to_austen
@letter_osgood_to_austen -> mentions -> @miss_ruskin
@letter_osgood_to_austen -> mentions -> @spanish:concept
@file_1898_2_24_1898_feb_1001_osgood_copy_jpg -> depicts -> @letter_osgood_to_austen
@file_1898_2_24_1898_feb_1002_osgood_copy_jpg -> depicts -> @letter_osgood_to_austen
@file_1898_2_24_1898_feb_1003_osgood_copy_jpg -> depicts -> @letter_osgood_to_austen
@alice_austen_correspondence -> includes -> @file_1898_2_24_1898_feb_1001_osgood_copy_jpg
@alice_austen_correspondence -> includes -> @file_1898_2_24_1898_feb_1002_osgood_copy_jpg
@alice_austen_correspondence -> includes -> @file_1898_2_24_1898_feb_1003_osgood_copy_jpgMetadata
Files (3)
1898_2-24-1898 Feb 1001-osgood copy.jpgJPEG
OCR Text
Miss Alice Austin Clifton Staten Island
1898_2-24-1898 Feb 1002-osgood copy.jpgJPEG
OCR Text
My dear Miss Ruskin - I forget when I spoke of next Saturday evening for a siouce in Spanish that I had something on hand for that night and if agreeable to you it will afford me pleasure to come
1898_2-24-1898 Feb 1003-osgood copy.jpgJPEG
OCR Text
to morrow Friday evening instead. Sincerely yours, C W Osgood 57 Central ave New Brighton 2/14/98
Version History (5 versions)
- ✓ v5 (current) · 12/9/2025, 9:52:31 PM
"Added description" - v4 · 12/9/2025, 9:07:34 PM · View this version
"Added knowledge graph extraction" - v3 · 12/9/2025, 9:06:45 PM · View this version
"Added knowledge graph extraction" - v2 · 12/9/2025, 7:56:17 PM · View this version
"Added PINAX metadata" - v1 · 12/9/2025, 7:41:46 PM · View this version
"Reorganization group: C_W_Osgood_Correspondence"
Parent
No children (leaf entity)