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Alice Austen
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 Completely
Queer : The Gay and Lesbian Encyclopedia by
Steve Hogan, Lee Hudson
Approximately 600 articles arranged in
alphabetical format attempt to "encircle" Queerness,
focusing primarily on the accomplishments of Western,
self-identified gays and lesbians in the 1970s-1990s, with forays
into the pre-Stonewall past. Entries feature Jimmy Somerville,
Emily Dickinson, June Jordan, Bill T. Jones--it's impossible to
provide a representative sample here. The breadth of the topic
makes for some interesting juxtapositions--entries on major
religions abide in bizarre proximity to Baths/Bathhouses, Beaches,
and Bears.
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Austen, Alice (née Munn) (1866-1952)
After Austen's family was abandoned by her
father, her mother changed their last name back to her maiden name
and moved from England to Staten Island, New York. She received
her first camera at the age of 10 and by her late teens was
already and accomplished photographer. Over five decades she took
more than 9,000 pictures of working class-life and lives of
herself and her friends.
Austen began a relationship with Gertrude Tate
in 1917 but it wasn't until several years later that Tate was able
to overcome her family's objections and move to Staten Island to
be with Austen.
Austen lost her fortune in the stock market crash
of 1929, she and Tate were able to make a living for several years
before they were evicted from their home in 1945. Within five
years of the eviction the couple was too destitute to live
together any longer, Tate went to live with a sister, Austen to
the Staten Island poorhouse. Not long before her death, Austen's
photo plates were discovered at the Staten Island Historical
Society. With the money raised from the sale of publication rights
Austen was able to move into a nursing home.
Related Resources:
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Excerpt:
...Alice Austen is a cultural icon on S.I. She
may very well be the most famous Staten Islander ever. S.I. has
housed other famous people in the past, having been a country
setting conveniently close to Manhattan, but no one is better
known to Staten Islanders as a Staten Islander. Born and raised on
Hylan Boulevard, (then called Pennsylvania Avenue), most Staten
Islanders know of the Alice Austen House, which was restored and
now houses and displays the photographer's collection of art. Even
culturally unconscious folk have ridden the Alice Austen ferry.
(Cultural note: the six individual ferry boats that travel from
Staten Island to Manhattan are named. Names include the John F.
Kennedy and the American Legion, so for Alice Austen to have a
boat named after her is a pretty big deal.)...
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