Alice Austen House Museum celebrates Alice's 140th Birthday. CLICK THEN SCROLL TO WATCH THE ARTSPASS LIVE! INTERVIEW WITH EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CARL RUTBERG The Alice Austen House is a historical home museum and tribute to the life and work of its namesake, amateur photographer Alice Austen. Alice was born on March 17, 1866, and moved to the Staten Island cottage known as Clear Comfort as a child. She remained there until financial problems and illness forced her move in 1945. She died on June 9, 1952, and in her absence, Clear Comfort fell into disrepair. When planned condos threatened the grounds, the Friends of the Alison Austen House began working towards its restoration. In 1993, Clear Comfort gained status as a National Historic Landmark. The Friends currently operate the house and garden in agreement with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Alice’s first camera was an early dry plate model brought to her from abroad by her Uncle Oswald. Although she was only ten years old, Alice took to medium immediately, and through experimentation she was able to teach herself how to operate the camera, develop its glass plates, and make prints. Alice took extensive notes on her shoots, learning from her mistakes and improving technique. In her lifetime she created images on over 8,000 glass plates. More than 3,000 of these images still survive. Alice Austen was as likely to be home photographing her family and friends as she was to be walking around New York City, photographing a parade through Manhattan's Canyon of Heroes or taking pictures of "street types" she found interesting. At the request of a U.S. Department of Health official, Alice photographed immigrants in the Quarantine Station just south of Clear Comfort. Ellis Island-bound immigrants afflicted with measles, scarlet fever, and diphtheria were removed from their ships and sent to Hoffman Island for treatment (those with other diseases were taken to the neighboring Swinburne Island). Alice was so taken by her subjects that she returned to the Quarantine Station for years, building a portfolio exhibited in Buffalo at the 1901 Pan American Exposition. Alice also worked with friends on photographs for instructional books, including a series of pictures to accompany a text entitled Bicycling for Ladies. The significance of her work lies in its simple, documentarian style, though her point of view is often revealed by her use of composition, pose, costuming, and satire. The majority of her work is of very high quality, and her great range of subjects-—owing to her extensive traveling and willingness to tote her heavy equipment on all of her journeys—-has left us with excellent examples of life in 19th century America. Clear Comfort itself was built in 1690 and bought in 1844 by John Austen, Alice's grandfather. Though the farm was in a shambles at purchase, John Austen worked to rebuild it for 25 years, adding Victorian touches, an extensive covered porch, and a variety of carefully selected plants. Many of Alice's photographs were taken on the grounds of Clear Comfort, and her affection for her home is clearly visible in her work. After the preservation efforts of the Friends of the Alison Austen House, New York City bought Clear Comfort in 1975 and restored it and the grounds in the mid-eighties, replanting the garden according to Alice's photographs. Today, the rooms at Clear Comfort are arranged as they were in Alice's day, and visitors to the House may take guided tours and explore the grounds. Inside the home, Photographs, music and reminiscences tell the story of Alice's World in a video narrated by actress Helen Hayes and produced and directed by Stuart Hersh. All photographs courtesy the Staten
Island Historical Society
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