Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Alice Austen was the rare woman documenting life in 19th-century New York with photography. She was born in 1866 to a wealthy family in Staten Island and took up photography as a hobby. Before photography became more accessible, Austen hauled heavy glass plates through the streets of Lower Manhattan — capturing images of immigrants, street cleaners, and working-class New Yorkers. She also photographed her friends, social and sporting events, and her international travels. She spent 50 years building one of the most remarkable photographic archives in American history, only to die nearly forgotten in a poorhouse in 1952. Today, more than 7,000 of Austen's photographs are part of Staten Island's Alice Austen House Museum, a National Historic Landmark, recognized for its significance to LGBTQ history.
Subscribe to a THIRTEEN newsletter to stay informed: thirteen.org/email-preferences/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=youtube&utm_campaign=tp_bhm&utm_id=2026_tp_bhm
This Women's History Month, The WNET Group presents Honoring Our Stories: Women Making History, which celebrates trailblazing women, stories of empowerment, artistry, and activism, and special selections from the THIRTEEN archives.
This 1976 episode from The 51st State is a Stuart Hersh film: “Alice’s World.” It profiles the life and photography of Alice Austen from her time as an upper class woman living in Staten Island to her death in a nursing home.
The 51st State was The WNET Group's answer to a city in crisis. In a decade defined by civil rights struggles, the Vietnam War, and economic freefall, New York City needed more than the nightly news could offer. The series was built to cover the specific local issues affecting the city — not the homogenized broadcast of commercial networks, but something rawer, closer to home, and entirely New York's own.
The thumbnail images for this episode are available under public domain.
Image #1 by Oswald Müller, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Link to asset: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elizabeth_Alice_Austen_in_June_1888.jpg
Link to license: creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/deed.en
Image #2 by Alice Austen, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Link to asset: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alice_Austen,_Trude_%26_I_Masked.jpg
Link to license: creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/deed.en
#aliceausten #womenshistory #womenshistorymonth #photography #forgotten #forgottenhistory #archives
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THIRTEEN is one of America’s most respected and innovative public media providers. Part of The WNET Group, THIRTEEN is a unique cultural and educational institution that harnesses the power of television and electronic media to inform, enlighten, entertain and inspire. The flagship public television station of the New York City tri-state area and the most-watched public television channel in the nation, THIRTEEN reaches millions of people with programming that celebrates arts and culture, offers insightful commentary on the news of the day, explores the worlds of science and nature, and invites people of all ages to have fun while learning.
Alice Austen was the rare woman documenting life in 19th-century New York with photography. She was born in 1866 to a wealthy family in Staten Island and took up photography as a hobby. Before photography became more accessible, Austen hauled heavy glass plates through the streets of Lower Manhattan — capturing images of immigrants, street cleaners, and working-class New Yorkers. She also photographed her friends, social and sporting events, and her international travels. She spent 50 years building one of the most remarkable photographic archives in American history, only to die nearly forgotten in a poorhouse in 1952. Today, more than 7,000 of Austen's photographs are part of Staten Island's Alice Austen House Museum, a National Historic Landmark, recognized for its significance to LGBTQ history.
Subscribe to a THIRTEEN newsletter to stay informed: thirteen.org/email-preferences/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=youtube&utm_campaign=tp_bhm&utm_id=2026_tp_bhm
This Women's History Month, The WNET Group presents Honoring Our Stories: Women Making History, which celebrates trailblazing women, stories of empowerment, artistry, and activism, and special selections from the THIRTEEN archives.
This 1976 episode from The 51st State is a Stuart Hersh film: “Alice’s World.” It profiles the life and photography of Alice Austen from her time as an upper class woman living in Staten Island to her death in a nursing home.
The 51st State was The WNET Group's answer to a city in crisis. In a decade defined by civil rights struggles, the Vietnam War, and economic freefall, New York City needed more than the nightly news could offer. The series was built to cover the specific local issues affecting the city — not the homogenized broadcast of commercial networks, but something rawer, closer to home, and entirely New York's own.
The thumbnail images for this episode are available under public domain.
Image #1 by Oswald Müller, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Link to asset: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elizabeth_Alice_Austen_in_June_1888.jpg
Link to license: creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/deed.en
Image #2 by Alice Austen, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Link to asset: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alice_Austen,_Trude_%26_I_Masked.jpg
Link to license: creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/deed.en
#aliceausten #womenshistory #womenshistorymonth #photography #forgotten #forgottenhistory #archives
Please SUBSCRIBE if you enjoyed: youtube.com/@ThirteenWNET?sub_confirmation=1
For full episodes, check out thirteen.org
Facebook: facebook.com/thirteenwnet
Instagram: instagram.com/thirteenwnet
TikTok: tiktok.com/@thirteenwnet
-----------------
THIRTEEN is one of America’s most respected and innovative public media providers. Part of The WNET Group, THIRTEEN is a unique cultural and educational institution that harnesses the power of television and electronic media to inform, enlighten, entertain and inspire. The flagship public television station of the New York City tri-state area and the most-watched public television channel in the nation, THIRTEEN reaches millions of people with programming that celebrates arts and culture, offers insightful commentary on the news of the day, explores the worlds of science and nature, and invites people of all ages to have fun while learning.
