Elizabeth Alice Austen
Personal Information
Born: 1866
Died: 1952
Country of Birth: USA
Nationality: USA
Ethnicity: White
Education
unknown
Professional Life
Field of Study: Landscape design; Documentary photography
Institution/Corporation: none
Degrees & Memberships: none
Awards & Achievements
Awards: a public school on Staten Island & a ferry boat were named after her; a play, Alice in Black & White, documents her life from 1876-1951; in 1951, Life Magazine declared her America s first great woman photographer
Achievements: Co-founded Staten Island Bicycle Club, 1895; helped found Staten Island Garden Club & Staten Island Antiquarian Society; in 1922, Antiquarian Society merged with Staten Island Historical Society
Was with her life partner, Gertrude Tate, for 56 years
Her home on Staten Island, NY is a museum that fosters creative expression, explores personal identity, & inspires the public through interpretation of her photographs, life, & home; it is a nationally designated site of LGBTQ history
She was introduced to photography at age 10
Took over 8,000 pictures during her lifetime
She was 1 of the 1st female photographers to work outside of a studio
Was independently wealthy through birth until the crash of 1929
was the 1st woman on Staten Island to own an automobile
Mother's maiden name was Austen, was born Elizabeth Alice Munn but father abandoned the family when she was 3, preferred to use her mother's name; the museum at her Staten Island home houses approximately 7,500 of her pictures, approximately 500 of her pictures are available digitally for study through the Historical Society