Allen, Frances Stebbins

Late deafened. Born in Deerfield, MA; became a teacher in Whitinsville, MA 1876-1877. During her 30s, progressive deafness became profound, forcing her to give up teaching. With her also-deaf sister Mary, Frances began exploring the artistic possibilities of photography. Together they took thousands of photographs that were widely exhibited and some published in books and journals. By the 1920s, Frances had become blind as well, and the sisters' style of photography fell out of favor. Frances died of pneumonia at Deerfield. A exhibition of Frances' and Mary's photographs was at Gallaudet University in 2006, and a book about them is The Allen Sisters: Pictorial Photographs 1885-1920 (2006). The photographs are preserved at Memorial Hall Museum, Deerfield.