Alice Austen
Encyclopedia
Staten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
photographer.
Early years
Alice's father abandoned the family before she was born, and she was baptized under the name Elizabeth Alice Munn on May 23, 1866, in St. John's Church on Staten Island. She never used the name Munn and would initial her glass-photographic-negatives with "EAA" for Elizabeth Alice Austen. With no household income and no husband, Alice's mother moved back to her own parent's home, which was known as "Clear ComfortAlice Austen House
The Alice Austen House, also known as Clear Comfort, is located at 2 Hylan Boulevard in the Rosebank section of Staten Island, New York City, New York. It was home of Alice Austen, a photographer, for most of her lifetime, and is now a museum and a member of the Historic House Trust...
". Alice was the only child in the household, which now consisted of: Alice's mother, Alice Cornell Austen (1836-?); Alice's maternal grandparents, John Haggerty Austen (c1800-?) and Elizabeth Alice Townsend (c1800-?). Also in the house were her mother's siblings: Peter Austen, who was a chemistry professor at Rutgers University
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
; and Mary Austen (1840-?) aka Minnie Austen, who was married to Oswald Müller (1840-?) who was the owner of a shipping company. Oswald was born in Denmark.
Clear Comfort
The house was built in the 17th century, but was expanded during the 19th century by Alice's grandparents: John Haggerty Austen; and Elizabeth Alice Townsend. Clear ComfortAlice Austen House
The Alice Austen House, also known as Clear Comfort, is located at 2 Hylan Boulevard in the Rosebank section of Staten Island, New York City, New York. It was home of Alice Austen, a photographer, for most of her lifetime, and is now a museum and a member of the Historic House Trust...
was dedicated as a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
on April 8, 1976, one month after the 110th anniversary of Alice's birth. It is also known as "Alice Austen House" and is located in the Rosebank
Rosebank, Staten Island
Rosebank is a neighborhood in the northeastern part of Staten Island, one of the five boroughs of New York City.Originally called Peterstown, the name "Rosebank" appears to have been first used to denote the neighborhood around 1880...
neighborhood.
Photography
Alice became interested in photography when her uncle, Oswald Müller, brought home a camera around 1876. Alice's uncle Peter Townsend Austen was a chemistry professor at Rutgers. He showed Alice how to use the developing chemicals in a darkroomDarkroom
A darkroom is a room that can be made completely dark to allow the processing of light sensitive photographic materials, including photographic film and photographic paper. Darkrooms have been created and used since the inception of photography in the early 19th century...
. Peter and Oswald converted a closet on the second floor into Alice's darkroom. The earliest extant photograph by her is dated 1884. Over the next 40 years she had produced over 8,000 photographs.
Household
By 1900 her uncle Oswald was the head of household and the family had two servants: Katherine Wertz (1857-?); and Constance Rasmusth (1876-?). They also had a cook, Mary McDonald (1873-?).Gertrude Amelia Tate
In 1899 Alice met Gertrude Amelia Tate (1871–1962) of Brooklyn, New York. She became Alice's life long companion. Gertrude moved in with Alice at Clear Comfort in 1917.Decline
Alice lived off the income from the money left by her grandfather but all was lost in the stock market crash of 1929. Alice at age 63 now had no income. She tried serving tea on her lawn with Gertrude for a few years but it never provided enough money to pay her bills. She began to sell off the home's silver, art works, and furniture to get enough money for food and fuel. She eventually mortgaged the house which had been owned outright, but lost the title in 1945. Forced to move, Alice sold her remaining possessions for $600 to a second-hand dealer from New Jersey. When the dealer began emptying her home she panicked and called her friend Loring McMillenLoring McMillen
Loring McMillen was Staten Island's official historian who preserved the works of Alice Austen and worked to restore Historic Richmond Town.-Biography:...
from the Staten Island Historical Society
Staten Island Historical Society
The purpose of the Staten Island Historical Society is to create opportunities for the public to explore the diversity of the American experience, especially that of Staten Island and its neighboring communities, from the colonial period to the present day...
for assistances. Alice asked McMillen to take the photos to Richmondtown for safekeeping. McMillen came over with a friend, gathered Alice's collection of glass plate negatives and brought them to the basement of the old Third County Courthouse in Richmondtown. Alice then moved to a small apartment but eventually moved into a nursing home. Her final indignity was on June 24, 1950, when she was declared a pauper with no assets and was admitted to New York City Farm Colony
New York City Farm Colony
The New York City Farm Colony was a poorhouse on the New York City borough of Staten Island, one of the city's five boroughs. It was located across Brielle Avenue from , on the edge of the Staten Island Greenbelt....
, Staten Island's poorhouse
Poorhouse
A poorhouse or workhouse was a government-run facility in the past for the support and housing of dependent or needy persons, typically run by a local government entity such as a county or municipality....
.
Rediscovery
In 1950 Picture Press started a project on the history of American women. Oliver Jensen of Picture Press sent out a standard form letter to various archives and historical societies, asking if any had interesting images for the project. C. Copes Brinley of the Staten Island Historical Society responded and invited someone to look through the 3,500 extant, uncatalogued Alice Austen glass plate negatives of the roughly 9,000 she took in her lifetime. In October 1950, Constance Foulk Robert, a research assistant, met with Brinley and McMillen to go through the negatives. Constance brought Oliver Jensen with her on a next trip and an agreement was signed with the Historical Society. Oliver Jensen then published several of Alice's photos in the book Revolt of Women. He also wrote an eight-page story in Life magazine, and six pages of Alice's travel photos in Holiday magazine. The publications raised more than $4,000. Alice Austen's 1/3 of the proceeds was enough to move her out of the Farm Colony and back into a private nursing home. On October 9, 1951 Alice Austen was the guest of honor at an exhibition of her photographs at the Richmondtown museum where over 300 guests had been invited to celebrate Alice Austen Day. She said: "I am happy that what was once so much pleasure for me turns out now to be a pleasure for other people."Death and burial
Alice continued to be supported by the Staten Island Historical Society and lived the next eight months in the nursing home, where she died peacefully, in her sleep on June 9, 1952. The Society arranged for her funeral and she was buried in the Austen family plot in the Moravian Cemetery at New Dorp, Staten IslandNew Dorp, Staten Island
New Dorp – an anglicization of Nieuwe Dorp, Dutch for New Village – is a neighborhood in Staten Island, one of the five boroughs of New York City, United States. The community lies near the foot of Todt Hill, with Grant City immediately to its north, Oakwood bordering to the south, and...
.
The Alice Austen Collection
The Staten Island Historical Society at Historic Richmond owns a large number of glass plate negatives but it does not hold copyright. The Alice Austen House Museum also has a large collection of photographs. And about 300 are on display in the resource room, which is open to the public.Timeline
- 1866 Birth and baptism
- 1917 Gertrude Tate moves in
- 1929 Stock market crash
- 1950 Declared a pauper then her rediscovery
- 1951 Alice Austen day
- 1952 Death
- 1976 Clear Comfort becomes National Landmark
Memorials
The Alice Austen School, PS 60, located on Merril Avenue in the Bulls Head neighborhood of Staten Island, is named in her honor.Further reading
- New York Times, October 6, 1951, page 12; "Alice Austen Day"
"Looking in the Shadows" by Amy Khoudari