This project would not have been possible without the unwavering support of Victoria Munro, the executive director of the Alice Austen House Museum. Her response to the work and research I did during the pandemic lockdown – over weekly zoom meetings – encouraged me to find a way to share what I learned in transcribing the letter collection. My research showed me the value of exploring the lives of the correspondents, while their words shed light on Alice Austen’s life.

I’m grateful to my student Gemma DeCetra, who helped me navigate and set up the earliest auditions of Northwestern University theatre students who sent me recordings, from which I cast most of the characters. Of the 20 individuals who provided their voice talent for more than two dozen characters, 14 are recent or current Northwestern students (one, Ella Stevens, appears convincingly as five separate characters.) Recording began in late 2021, followed by a Covid-19 Omicron variant shutdown, and was completed in mid-2022. Their voices make these Victorian correspondents come alive – sincere admiration to the entire cast of characters:
Madeleine Bagnall, Penelope Bannos, Tom Bannos, Cristina Bragalone, Kylie Boyd, Reute Butler, Liv Glassman, Sydney Hastings-Smith, Rachel Hilbert, Josh Ippel, Benjamin Jouras, Nicholas Kinney, Charlie Niccolini, Efren Ponce, Maya Slaughter, Ella Stevens, Kristen Waagner, Casey Wangman, Jennifer Webster, and Natalie Welber.
Individual characters are listed within the podcast chapters on this website.

Gratitude also to Nicolas Rosa-Palermo, an Oberlin College student who researched music from Alice Austen’s scrapbook dance cards and wrote the theme music for the podcast while we worked together as part of his winter term project. His interpretation of the Santiago Waltz, (music Alice danced to with the character who introduces Chapter 2) opens and closes each episode.

Thanks also to Manuela Hung, who was supportive through all stages of the production; and to Jessie Mott, who was my beta listener with helpful feedback on each chapter.

Kristine Allegretti & the staff at the Alice Austen House offered immeasurable support.

The following libraries and archives provided generous assistance and access to their materials: the Historic Richmond Town Archive, the University of Connecticut Archive & Special Collections, Duke University’s Rubenstein Library, and the Frick Art Reference Library. Particular thanks to Carli DeFillo and Carlotta DeFillo of the Historic Richmond Town Archive.

Adam Ramet (the Edwardian Pianist) and Fred Feild (the Sheet Music Singer) generously allowed me to use their recordings of 19th century piano music. Additional music and sound effects are from Adobe Stock, Musopen, Incompetech, and FreeSound, as cited in each chapter.

This project was partially funded by a Northwestern University Provost Grant for Research in Humanities, Social Sciences and the Arts.

A special thanks to Uma – third generation resident of Twilight Park and gatekeeper during my July 2022 visit – who allowed me to explore the grounds. Alice Austen met Gertrude Tate here in 1897, initializing their 50+ year relationship.
Left photo from 1897 shows Tate, center, standing in profile, dressed in black. Right image from July 2022.