Frances Benjamin Johnston (1864-1952)

The Library of Congress is celebrating the 150th birthday of Frances Benjamin Johnston (shown above), born 15 January 1864. Her archive resides at LoC, and the Prints and Photographs Division has digitized a portion of her work. To view the digital gallery, click here.

The Southeastern Architectural Archive's new exhibit, "Bellocq and Beyond" features Johnston's undated photograph of 1133-1135 Chartres Street's courtyard. The exhibit will be up through 20 February 2014 in the SEAA's Reading Room, 300 Joseph Merrick Jones Hall on Tulane University's Uptown campus.

Image above:  Frances Benjamin Johnston, full-length self-portrait dressed as a man with false moustache, posed with bicycle. Circa 1880-1900. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. LC-DIG-ppmsc-04884 (digital file from original) LC-USZ62-83111.

In New Orleans, The Owl: The Organ of the Young Men's Hebrew Association, featured a cartoon deriding female cyclists:

Image above: "What We Are Coming To." The Owl: The Organ of the Young Men's Hebrew Association. 1890s. Louisiana Research Collection, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.