American writer and photographer
Frank Cousins (July 1, 1851 – June 6, 1925) was an American writer and photographer of Federal style architecture in New England. Cousins’s photographs added to the preservation movement in the early 1900s by documenting buildings and a style of architecture that was in danger of being demolished. He was born, lived, and worked in Salem, MA.
Biography.
As a young man he worked in the dry goods store, J.B. &amp; S.D. Shepard. Cousins and his brothers opened their own general store at 170-174 Essex Street in Salem in 1868. His brothers died and Cousins continued to run the store and called it Frank Cousins Bee Hive or "Frank Cousins's Bee Hive". As his business became more successful he was able to indulge in his interests in studying New England architecture through writing and photography.
Over the course of his life he took tens of thousands of images and sold them at his store and to more specific audiences (architects, publishers, libraries) through his business "Frank Cousins Art Company." He published books and photographic albums on colonial architecture. Some of these photo albums were salesman's order books for his company Frank Cousins Art Co. and these featured houses in Salem, Marblehead, Danvers, Waltham, and Peabody focusing on architectural details. He photographed many Samuel McIntire homes in Salem. In addition to New England, subjects of his images included landmarks and architecture in Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City, and other locations in the eastern United States as well as in Europe. In 1913, he was commissioned by the Art Commission of New York City to document buildings that were to be demolished. He was interested in locales related to Nathaniel Hawthorne, famous author from Salem, MA. He also photographed historic homes and museums such as the Peabody Museum and the Essex Institute.
References.
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