Alice Austen House Museum & Garden

The Alice Austen House promotes public awareness and scholarly study regarding the life and work of Alice Austen (1866 – 1952), one of America’s earliest and most prolific female photographers.

“The Alice Austen House Museum on Staten Island recalls the world of an exceptional woman, photographer Alice Austen. Austen’s quaint, Victorian cottage-style home, with a magnificent view of New York Harbor, displays prints from the large glass negative collection of her work that depict turn-of-the-century American life.

The City bought the Austen house in 1975 and restored it and the grounds in 1984-85. The Victorian garden was replanted according to Austen photographs with shrubs such as weeping mulberry and flowering quince. The Staten Island Historical Society owns Austen’s collection of negatives and helps the Friends of Alice Austen House–which operates the museum–present photographic exhibitions at “Clear Comfort.” Together with the restored cottage and gardens, the exhibitions perpetuate Austen’s life, her times and her art.”