A. T. Beals
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Name
A. T. Beals
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Dates
1870 - 1955
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Specialities
Mosses, Spermatophytes, Bryophytes
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Roles
Collector, Determiner
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Movement Details
United States of America
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Notes
A. T. (Alfred Tennyson) Beals (1870-1955) was an amateur bryologist and a professional photographer. He recorded events and persons in the educational and civic worlds of New York City and New Jersey. He succeeded E. B. Chamberlain as Secretary-Treasurer of the Sullivant Moss Society in 1925 and was active in the organization through the early 1930's. Beals also belonged to the Torrey Botanical Club and the American Fern Society. He donated his personal herbarium of 2,000 specimens to The New York Botanical Garden.
Beals was born in Greenfield, Massachusetts in 1870. He attended the Massachusetts Agricultural College, graduating in 1892.
In 1897, he married Jessie Tarbox Beals, the first female photojournalist, whose work is represented in many major photographic collections in the United States. The Beals traveled the country as peripatetic photographers, and then separated in the 1920's. In her later years, Jessie Beals became known for her garden photography.
As a professional photographer, Beals was known as A. Tennyson Beals. His studio was located at 2929 Broadway, New York City. His correspondence from the Sullivant Moss Society bears this address as well.
A. T. married again to Marie Victoria (M.V.) Beals, and they had one daughter, Mrs. Henry Brainerd. They lived at 274 Summit Ave., Hackensack, New Jersey. In 1951, Beals won a special citation from the Union County (N.J.) Park Commission for his work in providing park museum exhibits. A. T. Beals died in November 1955.
(from the NYBG Archives and Manuscript Collections Finding Guide) -
Collections