Jessie Tarbox Beals (1870 – 1942) was an American photographer, the first published female photojournalist in the United States mostly known for her portraits of places such as Bohemian Greenwich Village.
Greenwich Village became widely identified as America’s bohemia by the mid-1910s. The radicals who lived in Greenwich Village in the early 20th century rejected traditional structured socialization, preferring instead bohemian informality. Yet they often met in Village hangouts to discuss their ideas about revolution and art. These places, and the individuals that frequented them, earned the Village its reputation as America’s Left Bank and attracted tourists and those who wanted to live the bohemian lifestyle.
Portrait of Charlotte Powell standing on a ladder and painting the exterior of The Village Store, Sheridan Square, ca. 1915-1926.
Allison at her kitchen stove, dying scarves, ca. 1912-1920.
Portrait of an unidentified woman seated on a porch rail, ca. 1918-1920.
Informal group portrait, ca. 1917-1926.
Ruth Murchison standing in front of the entrance to The Little Shop Around the Corner, ca. 1912-1926.
Portrait of Miss Povry, ca. 1918-1920.
Informal profile-portrait of an unidentified man, ca. 1912-1920.
Group portrait, indoors, of people gathered at the Garrett Coffee House, ca. 1912-1917.
Lin seated on floor pillows, ca. 1917-1925.
Joan Schromache and Lin inside their shop, Jolin’s, ca. 1915-1926.
Florence Gough and friends and/or patrons inside of her shop, The Paint Box, ca. 1912-1925.
Edith Hayes Thompson standing in the doorway of Her Shop, ca. 1912-1926.
Teddy Peck (left) and Romayne Benjamin (right) in their retail shop, The Treasure Box, ca. 1918-1920.
Newton and Mann in their office, ca. 1915-1926.
Beals standing in the gallery doorway, 1917.
Portrait of Jenny Criswell, ca. 1912-1918.
Portrait of Dorothy Baxter, ca. 1918-1920.
Informal group portrait of an unidentified man and woman, ca. 1912-1926.
Group portrait of Teddy Peck and Romayne Benjamin in their retail shop, The Treasure Box, ca. 1912-1920.
Informal group portrait of “Jane and Howard”, 1917.
Informal group portrait of Helen Clarke and an unidentified woman inventorying merchandise, ca. 1917-1927.
Photos via Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America
