Emma Blanche Reineke (January 8, 1863 – August 9, 1935) was an American photographer based in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

. She was elected president of the Women's Federation of the Photographers Association of America in 1914, but declined the position.

Early life

Emma Blanche Reineke was born in Illinois, the daughter of John Reineke (1835–1924) and Eliza Jane Buckley Reineke (1844–1939). Her father was born in Germany, and her mother was born in Kentucky. She trained to be a school teacher, and later studied photography in New York.

Career

Reineke taught school in Girard, Illinois and

Ottawa, Kansas Ottawa (pronounced ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Franklin County, Kansas, United States. It is located on both banks of the Marais des Cygnes River near the center of Franklin County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the c ...

as a young woman. She left teaching to become photographer E. H. Corwin's assistant.Frances L. Garside
"From Teaching to Photography"
''The Courier-Journal'' (July 23, 1922): 79. via Newspapers.com By 1903, she was speaking about photography on the Chautauqua platform. She built her own business in Kansas City, Missouri, as a portrait photographer specializing in children's portraits. "I never attempt to pose children before the camera," she explained, "because their every movement is full of unconscious, unaffected grace." Portraits of children by Reineke were exhibited in the Temple of Childhood at the Panama–Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco in 1915. Reineke was elected president of the Women's Federation of the Photographers Association of America in 1913 and 1915, but declined the position both times. She accepted a position as regional chairman instead; she served as press representative in 1914, and as vice president of the federation in 1912 and 1917. In 1921, she was elected third vice president of the National Photographers Association.

Personal life

Reineke was a charter member of the Women's Dining Club of Kansas City. She was president of the Kansas City Women's Commercial Club. In 1910, she attended the Third National Conservation Congress, held in Washington, D.C. In 1922, she was living on a small farm in

Shawnee, Kansas Shawnee is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States. It is the seventh most populous municipality in the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 67,311. History Territory of Kansas Before ...

."Miss Blanche Reineke"
''Olathe Mirror'' (September 28, 1922): 1. via Newspapers.com Emma Blanche Reineke died in Shawnee, Kansas in 1935, aged 72 years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reineke, Blanche 1863 births 1935 deaths American women photographers