Alice Austen House Explained

Elizabeth Alice Austen House –
Clear Comfort[1]
Nrhp Type:nhl
Location:2 Hylan Boulevard
Staten Island
New York City, New York
Coordinates:40.6149°N -74.0636°W
Built:1690
Architecture:Dutch Colonial, later Gothic Revival[2]
Designated Nrhp Type:April 19, 1993[3]
Added:July 28, 1970
Refnum:70000925
Designated Other2 Name:New York City Landmark
Designated Other2 Date:August 2, 1967
Designated Other2 Abbr:NYCL
Designated Other2 Link:New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
Designated Other2 Number:0371
Designated Other2 Color:
  1. ffe978
Designated Other1:New York State Register of Historic Places
Designated Other1 Num Position:bottom
Designated Other1 Number:08501.000264
Designated Other1 Abbr:NYSRHP
Designated Other1 Date:June 23, 1980

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.[4] 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.[5] The house is administered by the "Friends of Alice Austen", a volunteer group.

In 2021, Clear Comfort was documented by the LGBT Historic Sites project, the first NYC site dedicated to a woman to be so recognized.[6]

History

It was originally built in the 1690s/early 1700s as a one-room Dutch Colonial House on the shore of New York Harbor, near the Narrows with brothers Jacob Johnson and Lambert Johnson being the likely first occupants. The brothers Johnson purchased 120 acres of land from George Brown in 1698.[7] Jacob Johnson's mother-in-law was Winifred King Benham, who was tried for witchcraft in Wallingford, Connecticut, and may have been a resident of the house after her acquittal and virtual banishment.[8]

The house was remodeled and expanded several times in the 1800s, most notably after John Haggerty Austen, Alice's grandfather, purchased, renamed, and remodeled it in 1844.

In the 1950s and 1960s, photographers Berenice Abbott and Philip Johnson led a group of historic preservationists to save the house from being demolished.[9] It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 and became a New York City Landmark in 1971. It was purchased by New York City in 1975 and opened to the public in 1985.[10] In 1993 it became a National Historic Landmark, and in 2002, it became a Historic Artist Home and Studio.[11] [12]

Museum special exhibitions and activities

Alice Austen House participates as a museum in the Smithsonian program of Museum Day events.[13] In 2016 Austen House presented its first juried triennial exhibition, Staten Island Unlimited featuring 35 photographers from three boroughs of New York.[14] During the members' preview reception of the show, a toast was made to Alice Austen's 150th birthday. Other activities included Triennial Talks, discussions with artists about their work on the subjects of "Staten Island as Place" and "Staten Island as Community."[15]

In March 2016, the Whitney Museum hosted New Eyes on Alice Austen, a panel discussion in honor of Women's History Month and Alice Austen's 150th birthday featuring "scholars, academics, and historians who have investigated her incredible work and unconventional lifestyle."[16] This was part of the museum's re-interpretation to include Gertrude Tate, Austen's long time life partner.[17] [18] This also includes a new podcast, My Dear Alice.[19]

This led to the museum being designated an LGBT site by the National Register of Historic Places.[20]

Alleged haunting

An old neighborhood tradition told that, after midnight, one could hear the clanking of chains coming from the cellar. This was attributed to the ghosts of slaves who were kept there during the American Revolution. Another apocryphal story is that of a British soldier hanging himself from a beam in the parlor because of a broken heart. It is said that the sound of his military boots and the clinking of his spurs may be heard in that room after midnight.[21]

See also

Notes and References

  1. . The house was originally entered on the National Register as the "Elizabeth Alice Austen House". Its National Historic Landmark designation uses the name "Alice Austen House". Its National Register listing name was subsequently updated to "Elizabeth Alice Austen House – Clear Comfort" in 2017.
  2. Dolkart, Andrew S. & Postal, Matthew A.; Guide to New York City Landmarks, 3rd Edition; New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission; John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2004. ; p.342.
  3. Web site: Alice Austen House. 2007-09-14. National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. For 78 years, this was the home Elizabeth Alice Austen (1866-1952), a remarkable photographer whose work predates in subject matter and technique the photographs of other giants in the field. Austen began her career in the 1870s, and, although she used subjects as other women photographers of her time, her pictures have a realistic and natural edge rather than the blurry romantic view advocated by magazines of the time. Austen also veered away from the conventional studio poses; instead she took pictures of people during the course of their normal activities.. 2008-08-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20071214112541/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1054&ResourceType=Building. 2007-12-14. dead.
  4. Wilson, Claire. "Living In Rosebank, Staten Island: A Quiet Slice of New York Waterfront", The New York Times, March 12, 2006. Accessed November 3, 2007.
  5. Web site: Alice Austen House . 2007-01-23. For 78 years, this was the home Elizabeth Alice Austen (1866-1952), a remarkable photographer whose work predates in subject matter and technique the photographs of other giants in the field.. Places Where Women Made History . National Park Service.
  6. News: Calvi . Mary . 2022-06-01 . Alice Austen House celebrates photographer's queer identity as "essential to understanding her work" . en-US . 2022-08-25.
  7. [Alice Austen House Museum and Park]
  8. Families of Ancient New Haven. The American Genealogist, 1926. Volume 4, pages 957-8.
  9. Web site: Alice Austen House. 2021-07-12. NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project. en-US.
  10. News: Besonen . Julie . 2014-06-27 . She Did It Her Way . en-US . The New York Times . 2022-08-25 . 0362-4331.
  11. Web site: Alice Austen House Museum . 2008-08-05 . . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080216044956/http://www.historichousetrust.org/item.php?i_id=32 . 2008-02-16 .
  12. Web site: Alice Austen House Museum and Park . 2008-08-05 . Statenislandusa.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20080803015606/http://www.statenislandusa.com/pages/AliceAustenHouse.html . 2008-08-03 . dead .
  13. Web site: Visit Your Favorite Museum For Free on 9/24/16. Smithsonian. 6 December 2016.
  14. Web site: Past Exhibitions Alice Austen House. aliceausten.org. 6 December 2016.
  15. Web site: Alice Austen House is raising funds for its educational programs with an art auction . Popular Photography . October 5, 2018 . 21 December 2018 . en.
  16. Web site: Rediscovering Alice Austen: A New Woman for a Modern World. American Photo. 6 December 2016. 17 August 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160817184927/http://www.americanphotomag.com/rediscovering-alice-austen-new-woman-for-modern-world. dead.
  17. News: Laird . Cynthia . 2017-10-06 . LGBT History Month: Museum updates its history of Alice Austen . en-us . The Bay Area Reporter . 2022-08-25.
  18. News: Laird . Cynthia . 2021-10-25 . LGBTQ History Month: Staten Island Museum throws open Austen's closet door . en-US . 2022-08-25.
  19. News: Chernick . Karen . 2022-06-08 . New podcast reveals lives of queer 19th-century women through letters of photographer Alice Austen . 2022-08-25.
  20. News: Rizzi . Nicholas . 2017-06-16 . Alice Austen House Designated as National LGBT Historic Site . 2022-08-25 . January 19, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230119120224/https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20170616/rosebank/alice-austen-house-museum-lgbt-history . dead .
  21. Cromwell Childe . Haunted Houses . The American Magazine . New York . Frank Leslie's Publishing House . 1895.

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