Frances Stebbins Allen

Frances Stebbins Allen (1854–1941) was an American photographer.

Frances Stebbins Allen
BornAugust 10, 1854
Deerfield, Massachusetts, US
DiedFebruary 14, 1941(1941-02-14) (aged 86)
Resting placeDeerfield, Massachusetts, US
Known forPhotographer

Allen was born in Deerfield, Massachusetts to Josiah Allis Allen and Mary, née Stebbins.[1] She and her sister, Mary Electa Allen (1858–1941), were schoolteachers, who left teaching when they became deaf in their thirties.

Their deafness led Allen and her sister to take up photography. By 1895, they were permanently exhibiting and selling their prints from their families ancestral home.[2] Many of their works were never attributed to one sister or the other, but to "the Misses Allen."[3] Many of their idyllic images harken back to an idealized version of the region's colonial history. In 1899, the Allen sisters joined Deerfield's Arts and Crafts Movement, and began to document the works of its earliest members.[4] In 1907, Frances Allen was elected Director of the Society of Deerfield Industries.[2]

Family and education

Allen was one of four children born to Josiah and Mary Allen in the 1850s. She attended Deerfield Academy and then the State Normal School teacher's college in Westfield, Massachusetts.[4][3]

References
  1. Hannacy, John (2008). Encyclopedia of Nineteenth Century Photography. Rutledge. ISBN 978-0-415-97235-2.
  2. "Frances Allen". Deerfield Arts & Crafts.
  3. Bruggemann, Brenda Jo (2009). Deaf Subjects: Between Identities and Places. ISBN 9780814799666.
  4. Moonan, Wendy (August 9, 2002). "ANTIQUES; Intrepid Sisters Whose Lenses Traced Memories". The New York Times.
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