Dr. Bonnie Yochelson on NEW Alice Austen Book

Video (9:17): Arts & Culture in Quarantine – Dr. Bonnie Yochelson on NEW Alice Austen Book. Historic Richmond Town is excited to be partnering with art historian Dr. Bonnie Yochelson on a new book about photographer Alice Austen (1866-1952).

About Alice Austen

In her 40 years as a Staten Island photographer, Alice Austen (1866 – 1952) produced around 8,000 photographs. Her earliest photo is dated 1884. In 1899 Austen met Gertrude Amelia Tate (1871–1962), a kindergarten teacher and dancing instructor of Brooklyn, New York. Gertrude became Austen’s lifelong companion. She moved in with Alice at Clear Comfort in 1917. There they lived together until 1945, where the sale of the house and other circumstances lead to them moving to separate (nursing) homes. Alice Austen took over 8,000 photographs in her lifetime. The collection was dispersed over several locations when Alice lost her home in 1945. In 2017, the Alice Austen’ home, the Alice Austen House (Museum) was designated an LGBTQ landmark.

About Bonnie Yochelson

Historic Richmond Town: ‘Dr. Yochelson is the author or co-author of several books about other notable photographers, including Jacob Riis, Esther Bubley, Alfred Stieglitz, Berenice Abbott, and Karl Struss. She was recently awarded a fellowship for the Austen project by the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation at The Gotham Center for New York City History.’

[The copyright of the video above remains with the original holder and it is used here for the purpose of education, comparison and criticism only.]


Related Link

The Staten Island Historical Society’s Alice Austen Collection.

Dr. Bonnie Yochelson bout her forthcoming book