In a recent issue of the “Smithsonian” magazine, there was an article on Francis Benjamin Johnston. Francis was a remarkable woman, born in 1864. Her mother, Francis Johnston, was a correspondent for the Baltimore Sun, assigned to Washington to cover the Congress.
Young Francis, using her mother’s connections, achieved a considerable amount of recognition as a photographer of Washington’s politicians and elite. Several of her photographs have recently been donated to the Library of Congress.
What I find remarkable is that, once again, not one, but two strong women have emerged out of the miniscule documentation that is available, demonstrating that women of every age have always been on “the front lines”, making history, and achieving results.
It is truly sad that our young women today have so few role models to draw upon from these earlier days of our history, for inspiration and encouragement.
As many of you know, I am a Civil War Reenactor. I portray a War Correspondent for the New York World.
I am always asked by someone in the audience if women were, in fact, reporters. I am always glad when I can give examples and documentation.
But it should not be that hard. These examples should already be known. Every one knows the name of Horace Greeley of the New York Tribune. Few know that he employed three women as Correspondents during the Civil War. But they do know that he employed men and can often name Junius Henri Brown and Clarence J. Lipsey as two of his correspondents. Others can easily recall Alfred Waud and Thomas Nast of Harpers.
Name a photographer and immediately Alexander Gardner or Matthew Brady come to mind, even though Matthew Brady employed many individuals to take the photos that bear his name.
What makes one person stand out in history, while others remain in obscurity? I do not have an answer to that question. Perhaps it is marketing. Perhaps it is being at the right place at the right time.
Whatever it is, women of all ages seem to have less of “it” then the men do.
Pictures of Francis Benjamin Johnston
Francis, standing with two of her friends. Of the two “men”, one is Francis wearing a mustache, and the other is also a female in men’s clothing, sporting a mustache. The woman seated is a male friend dressed in women’s clothing. I love the social and stereotypical statement Francis is making here regarding the social norms of the day.
Francis broke with convention, although she does not appear in her work to be a feminist or suffragist. She is, however, her own person. And is that not what we should encourage all our young women today to aspire to?
Francis, a self portrait, is every bit Bohemian and Conventional, free and restrained, independent and responsible. She encouraged other women to enter into the field of photography, stating that this would allow them an opportunity to be free from needing the support of a husband or man for their existence.
Francis, full figure, dressed in men’s clothing sporting her mustache.
more images:
