Jessie Tarbox Beals (December 23, 1870 – May 30, 1942) was an American photographer, the first published female

photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (suc ...

in the United States and the first female night photographer. She is best known for her freelance news photographs, particularly of the 1904

St. Louis World's Fair The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federal funds totaling $15 mill ...

, and portraits of places such as

Bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a ...

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

. Her trademarks were her self-described "ability to hustle" and her tenacity in overcoming gender barriers in her profession.

Early life and education

Beals was born Jessie Richmond Tarbox on December 23, 1870, in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

, Ontario, the youngest child of John Nathaniel Tarbox and Marie Antoinette Bassett. John Tarbox was a sewing machine manufacturer, and his partnership with the largest sewing machine company in Canada made the Tarbox family wealthy. When Beals was seven, however, her father lost all of his savings in a bad investment and began drinking heavily. He eventually left home at the insistence of Beals's mother, who then embroidered and sold some of the family's belongings to keep the family income going. Beals was a "bright and precocious child" and did well in school. At age fourteen she was admitted to the Collegiate Institute of Ontario, and at seventeen received her teaching certificate. Beals began teaching at a one-room schoolhouse in

Williamsburg, Massachusetts Williamsburg is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 2,504 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The area was first settled in 1735 ...

, where her brother Paul was also living at the time. In 1888, Beals won a subscription prize camera through the ''Youth's Companion'' magazine.New York Times (May 31, 1942
“JESSIE BEALS DIES; Photographer, 71. 1942.”
''The New York Times'' (accessed January 10, 2013) The camera was small and somewhat rudimentary, but Beals began to use it to take photographs of her students and their surroundings. Beals soon bought a higher quality Kodak camera and set up Williamsburg's first photography studio in front of her house, although photography largely remained her side hobby.

Photography career

In 1893 Beals took a new teaching position in Greenfield, Massachusetts and visited the

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ...

in Chicago. At the Exposition, Beals' interest in traveling and photography was sparked having met

Frances Benjamin Johnston Frances Benjamin Johnston (January 15, 1864 – May 16, 1952) was an American photographer and photojournalist whose career lasted for almost half a century. She is most known for her portraits, images of southern architecture, and various photo ...

and

Gertrude Käsebier Gertrude Käsebier (born Stanton; May 18, 1852 – October 12, 1934) was an American photographer. She was known for her images of motherhood, her portraits of Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans, and her promotion of photogra ...

. In 1897, Beals married Alfred Tennyson Beals, an Amherst graduate and factory machinist. In 1899, Beals received her first professional assignment when she was asked by ''The'' ''Boston Post'' to photograph the Massachusetts state prison. Beals taught Alfred the basics of photography and the couple set out to work as itinerant photographers in 1900, with Alfred as Beals's darkroom assistant. That year, Beals also received her first credit line for her photographs in a publication, the ''Windham County Reformer''. By 1901, the Beals' funds were depleted and they resettled in

Buffalo Buffalo most commonly refers to: * True buffalo or Bubalina, a subtribe of wild cattle, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, a genus of wild cattle, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York, a city in the n ...

, New York. Later that year, Beals was hired as a staff photographer by the ''Buffalo Inquirer'' and '' The Buffalo Courier'', after impressing the editor with a photograph of ducks waddling in a row entitled "On to Albany." This position made her the first female

and was well-regarded by the papers and citizens of Buffalo and worked at the publications until 1904 when she left to take photos of the World's Fair. Photojournalism was physically demanding, often risky work, but Beals could be seen carrying out assignments in her ankle-length dresses and large hats, with her 8-by-10-inch glass plate camera and 50 pounds of equipment in tow. During one assignment for the lurid murder trial of Edwin L. Burdick in Buffalo, Beals broke a rule that forbade photographs of the trial by climbing a tall bookcase to a window to snap a picture of the courtroom before she was detected. In 1904, Beals was sent to the opening of the

Louisiana Purchase Exposition The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an World's fair, international exposition held in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federa ...

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. There, Beals persuaded officials to give her a late press permit for the pre-exposition, climbed ladders and jumped into a hot air balloon just to get photographs that interested her. She was greatly interested in the

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

peoples which resulted in capturing many spontaneous images that did not necessarily fit into the predominant narrative of racial and developmental progress. She had a different style than most news photographers of the day, focusing on series of pictures that would later be used to write stories, rather than vice versa. Beals's display of her signature "hustle" earned her the position of official Fair photographer for the ''

New York Herald The ''New York Herald'' was a large-distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between 1835 and 1924. At that point it was acquired by its smaller rival the '' New-York Tribune'' to form the '' New York Herald Tribune''. Hi ...

'', ''

Leslie's Weekly ''Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper'', later renamed ''Leslie's Weekly'', was an American illustrated literary and news magazine founded in 1855 and published until 1922. It was one of several magazines started by publisher and illustrator Fr ...

'' and the ''

Tribune Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the Tribune of the Plebs, tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs ac ...

'', as well as the Fair's publicity department, producing over 3,500 photographs and 45,000 prints of the event. In addition to photographing the various exhibits at the Fair, Beals also captured a candid photograph of President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

. This initial encounter earned her a special pass to photograph Roosevelt and the

Rough Riders The Rough Riders was a nickname given to the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, one of three such regiments raised in 1898 for the Spanish–American War and the only one to see combat. The United States Army was small, understaffed, and diso ...

at their reunion in

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

, Texas in 1905.

A studio on Sixth Avenue

In 1905 Beals opened her own studio on

Sixth Avenue Sixth Avenue, also known as Avenue of the Americas, is a major thoroughfare in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The avenue is commercial for much of its length, and traffic runs northbound, or uptown. Sixth Avenue begins four blocks b ...

in New York City. Beals continued to take on a variety of photograph assignments, ranging from shots of auto races and portraits of society figures, to her well-known photographs of Bohemian

and the New York

slum A slum is a highly populated Urban area, urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are p ...

s. Over the years Beals also photographed several presidents and celebrities, including presidents Coolidge,

Hoover Hoover may refer to: Music * Hoover (band), an American post-hardcore band * Hooverphonic, a Belgian band originally named Hoover * Hoover (singer), Willis Hoover, a country and western performer active in 1960s and '70s * "Hoover" (song), a 201 ...

and Taft;

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...

;

Edna St. Vincent Millay Edna St. Vincent Millay (February 22, 1892 – October 19, 1950) was an American lyric poetry, lyrical poet and playwright. Millay was a renowned social figure and noted Feminism, feminist in New York City during the Roaring Twenties and beyond. ...

; and

Emily Post Emily Post ( Price; October 27, 1872 – September 25, 1960) was an American author, novelist, and socialite famous for writing about etiquette. Early life and education Post was born Emily Bruce Price in Baltimore, Maryland, possibly in Octob ...

. While Beals' career flourished, her marriage became troubled. In 1911, Beals gave birth to a daughter, Nanette Tarbox Beals, most likely from another relationship. Beals finally left her husband in 1917.

A studio and a gallery in Greenwich Village

She moved to Greenwich Village and opened a new photography studio and gallery in 1920. For a few years, Beals juggled working and caring for Nanette, who also suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and was frequently hospitalized, eventually deciding to send Nanette to camps and private boarding schools throughout the year. Nanette would later go on to live semi-permanently with one of Beals' old friends.

Later years

As the number of female photographers increased during the 1920s, Beals shifted her focus to giving public talks and specializing in photographing suburban gardens and estates of wealthy East Coasters. By 1928, she and Nanette moved to California, where Beals photographed Hollywood estates. The

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

brought Beals and Nanette back to New York in 1933, where Beals lived and worked in Greenwich Village. Despite being born in Canada, Beals declined to return later in life.Bassnett, Sarah; Parsons, Sarah (2023)
''Photography in Canada, 1839–1989: An Illustrated History''

Art Canada Institute Art Canada Institute is a bilingual, non-profit research organization that aims to promote and support the study of Canadian art history. It has been described as “a comprehensive, multi-tiered, online-based resource for the general public on Can ...

. ISBN 978-1-48710309. Following the establishment of her Greenwich Village studio, Beals participated in just one Canadian exhibition, at the Toronto Camera Club International Photo Exhibition, 1921. Beals gradually fell into poverty, and died on May 30, 1942, at

Bellevue Hospital Bellevue Hospital (officially NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and formerly known as Bellevue Hospital Center) is a hospital in New York City and the oldest public hospital in the United States. One of the largest hospitals in the United States ...

, at the age of seventy-one. Thanks to the rescue efforts of Alexander Alland, a contemporaneous photographer, her photographs and prints are in collections at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, the

New-York Historical Society The New York Historical (known as the New-York Historical Society from 1804 to 2024) is an American history museum and library on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The society was founded in 1804 as New York's first museum. It ...

, and the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...

. In 1982, the

Schlesinger Library The Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America is a research library at Harvard Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University. According to Nancy F. Cott, the Carl and Lily Pforzheimer Foundation Director, it is "the ...

at Radcliffe received Beals' papers and pictures from her daughter, Nanette Beals Brainerd.

Notes

External links

*
Papers of Jessie Tarbox Beals, 1866–1989 (inclusive), 1880–1942 (bulk).Schlesinger Library
Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.
Photographs, 1896–1941, n.d..Schlesinger Library
Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.
Guide to the Jessie Tarbox Beals Photograph Collection 1900–1940
* ttp://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/newsplus/first-behind-the-camera-photojournalist-jessie-tarbox-beals/ First behind the camera: Photojournalist Jessie Tarbox Bealsbr>The Jessie Tarbox Beals Photograph Collection
at the New-York Historical Society
Snapshot album of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, 1904, Saint Louis, Mo
by Jessie Tarbox Beals, Getty Research Institute
Jessie Tarbox Beals Photographs : Louisiana Purchase Exhibition
a
St. Louis Public Library

Encyclopædia BritannicaJessie Tarbox Beals Photographs Finding Aid
at th
St. Louis Public LibraryJessie Tarbox Beals photographs, online via the Library of CongressJessie Tarbox Beals collection
at the

Smithsonian National Museum of American History The National Museum of American History: Kenneth E. Behring Center is a historical museum in Washington, D.C. It collects, preserves, and displays the heritage of the United States in the areas of social, political, cultural, scientific, and m ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beals, Jessie Tarbox American photojournalists 1870 births 1942 deaths Canadian emigrants to the United States 19th-century American photographers 20th-century American photographers 19th-century American women photographers 20th-century American women photographers American women photojournalists