1896 Correspondence and Related Materials Collection

Version: 8 (current) | Updated: 12/4/2025, 5:48:56 AM

Added description

Description

1896 Correspondence and Related Materials Collection

Overview

The 1896 Correspondence and Related Materials Collection is a public‑domain assemblage of 1896‑dated letters, envelopes, postcards, and transcriptions. It is presented as a single digital resource that includes a metadata record, a text file of transcriptions, and a series of image files (JPEG) with OCR text. The material is primarily in English and is organized by date and sender/recipient, with each item linked to its original location and subject matter.

Background

The collection was assembled by the Alice Austen House Test and is associated with the 19th‑century social network of Julia Taber Martin, Alice Austen, Violet Ward, Trude Eccleston, Carolina Machar, E.D. Van Rensselaer, Alice Weston, Alice Aniston, Rhose Austin, and J. Irving Goddard. These correspondents were active in California, New York, Ontario, and other U.S. and Canadian locales. The letters reflect personal, family, and social concerns of the era, including travel, health, business, and philatelic interests. The collection is derived from the PINAX database and is held in the public domain.

Contents

The collection contains 42 distinct documents, including 27 letters written by Julia Taber Martin to Alice Austen, letters from Violet Ward, Carolina Machar, Trude Eccleston, and E.D. Van Rensselaer, a wedding invitation, an envelope, a postcard, philatelic letters, and three letters from unknown correspondents. Four envelope and postcard images are also included, addressed to Alice Weston, Alice Aniston, and Rhose Austin. A single Microsoft Word file, 1896‑transcriptions.docx, holds transcribed passages from 1896. Each document is accompanied by an image file and OCR‑extracted text where available.

Scope

The collection covers the calendar year 1896 and documents exchanges that occurred in Santa Barbara, Staten Island, Cazenovia, Kingston, Mohonk Lake, San Francisco, Albany, New York, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, La Porte, Vineyard Haven, Mohonk Lake, and Alvington. Topics include family news, travel itineraries, health updates, business matters, wedding arrangements, and philatelic interests. The collection does not include any material beyond 1896 or from correspondents not listed in the metadata.

Entities

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Entity Relationships

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Raw Cheimarros Data

@file_pinax:file -> creator -> [@julia_taber_martin, @alice_austen, @violet_ward, @trude_eccleston, @carolina_machar, @ed_van_renselaer, @alice_weston, @alice_aniston, @rhose_austin, @j_irving_goddard]

@file_pinax:file -> mentions_place -> [@santa_barbara, @staten_island, @cazenovia, @kingston_ontario, @moonk_lake, @san_francisco, @albany_new_york, @new_york_city, @los_angeles, @chicago_illinois, @la_porte_indiana, @village_harbor, @mohonk_lake, @alvington]

@san_francisco:place {state: @california, country: @united_states}

@file_pinax:file -> aggregates -> @weston_collection:collection

@alice_weston:person -> featured_in -> @file_pinax

@alice_aniston:person -> featured_in -> @file_pinax

@rhose_austin:person -> featured_in -> @file_pinax

@j_irving_goddard:person -> featured_in -> @file_pinax

@julia_taber_martin:person -> featured_in -> @file_pinax

@alice_austen:person -> featured_in -> @file_pinax

@violet_ward:person -> featured_in -> @file_pinax

@trude_eccleston:person -> featured_in -> @file_pinax

@carolina_machar:person -> featured_in -> @file_pinax

@ed_van_renselaer:person -> featured_in -> @file_pinax

@file_pinax:file -> documents -> @collection_1896_transcriptions:document

Metadata

Title
1896 Correspondence and Related Materials Collection
Type
Collection
Creator
Julia Taber MartinAlice AustenViolet WardTrude EcclestonCarolina MacharE.D. Van RensselaerAlice WestonAlice AnistonRhose AustinJ. Irving Goddard
Institution
Alice Austen House Test
Created
1896
Language
en
Subjects
Letters, Correspondence, Postcards, Envelopes, Personal Letters, Travel, Family, Social Life, 19th Century, Philately, Weddings, Health, Business, transcriptions, documents
Rights
Public Domain
Place
Santa Barbara, California, Staten Island, New York, Cazenovia, New York, Kingston, Ontario, Mohonk Lake, New York, San Francisco, California, Albany, New York, New York, New York, Los Angeles, California, Chicago, Illinois, La Porte, Indiana, Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts, Mohonk Lake, Ulster County, New York, Alvington, Ontario, Canada, New York, New York
Source
PINAX

Version History (8 versions)

  • ✓ v8 (current) · 12/4/2025, 5:48:56 AM
    "Added description"
  • v7 · 12/4/2025, 5:46:00 AM · View this version
    "Added knowledge graph extraction"
  • v6 · 12/4/2025, 5:42:05 AM · View this version
    "Added PINAX metadata"
  • v5 · 12/4/2025, 5:39:45 AM · View this version
    "Reorganized into 4 groups"
  • v4 · 12/4/2025, 5:39:44 AM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KBKXZ8EYG7475DYM7YV1JAF0"
  • v3 · 12/4/2025, 5:39:43 AM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KBKXZ6SCA6TFPQ89E7YNDV7K"
  • v2 · 12/4/2025, 5:39:41 AM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KBKXZ5GXP5ASV09MVHVPE1J7"
  • v1 · 12/4/2025, 5:39:09 AM · View this version
    "Alphabetical chunk 3/3 (10 files)"

Additional Components

reorganization-description.txt
# Reorganization Summary

The files were organized chronologically by year (1896) and then by content type. Primary groupings were created for letters, envelopes/postcards, and wedding announcements. The transcription document was kept separate as it contains compiled versions of other documents. All files fit logically into these groups based on their content and metadata.

## Groups Created

- **1896_letters**: Personal correspondence from 1896, primarily letters between Alice Austen and her acquaintances
- **1896_envelopes_postcards**: Envelopes and postcards from 1896 correspondence
- **1896_wedding_announcements**: Wedding invitations and announcements from 1896
- **1896_transcriptions_document**: Document containing transcriptions of 1896 correspondence

Parent

↑ 01KBKXV3Z4YBVNHH5M4KCJN90A

Children (3)