DOI article:
John Francis Strauss, Mr. Stieglitz’s “Expulsion”—A Statement
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.31045#0029
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MR. STIEGLITZ’S “ EXPULSION "― A STATEMENT.
THE recent unprecedented and indefensible action of the Trustees
of the Camera Club of New York,* in expelling Mr. Stieglitz—a
Life Member—without regard to the decent amenities usual
among gentlemen, and in direct violation of the Constitution and
By-Laws of the Club, was a matter which concerned only the parties to the
incident. But the notoriety given to this disagreeable episode through the
public press, and the refusal of the officers of the Club to state any reason
for the action they had taken, requires that some one familiar with the
history of the misunderstandings and jealousies which culminated in Mr.
Stieglitz’s expulsion, in justice to Mr. Stieglitz and his friends, and in justice
to the Camera Club, too (though most of its members would no doubt
deny the necessity for such justification), should place upon record publicly
a short statement of the facts as they exist.
As an associate of Mr. Stieglitz upon the staff of Camera Notes; as a
former member of the Camera Club, at one time active upon several of its
Committees; as a Fellow of the Photo-Secession and Associate Editor of
this magazine since its foundation, as well as by a close personal acquaint-
ance with most of the prominent and successful workers in pictorial pho-
tography, I conceive myself as being fully equipped to state the case. In
order to do this I must take our readers back for a space of about
ten years:
In 1896 there was effected a coalition of the two moribund photo-
graphic associations known as the Society of Amateur Photographers and
the New York Camera Club under the name of the Camera Club, New
York. During the first year of its existence this new Club gave little
evidence of life; but, in 1897, Mr. Stieglitz at last acceded to the repeated
importunities of the Club members and consented to take an active part in
the attempt to build up a real photographic organization upon the foun-
dation of the Camera Club. Refusing the Presidency, he accepted the Vice-
Presidency as leaving him freer to take an aggressive position in matters
relating to photography without thereby prejudicing the Club as an organ-
ization. At this time he presented to the Club a plan for the publication of
a regular quarterly magazine to take the place of a sporadic leaflet (the
* The Trustees of the Camera Club, New York: Messrs. Charles I.
Berg, President; Chauncey H. Crosby, Vice-President; Frank M. Hale,
Treasurer; Monroe W. Tingley, Secretary; John E. Hadden (Ex-Secretary,
resigned during sessions); Harry T. Leonard (resigned before “ verdict ”);
Willard P. Little, Hugo S. Mack, George W. Blakeslee.
Acting conjointly with the above as the extraordinary “ Committee on
Safety” were: Messrs. A. H. Colgate, F. Benedict Herzog, C. M. Brooks,
H. M. Close, Leonard Faibisy, Ferd. H. Stark, Harry Coutant, Sidney
Herbert, Arthur Robinson (resigned; attended no meetings). Mr. Crosby
acted as Chairman of this committee. Editor .
25
THE recent unprecedented and indefensible action of the Trustees
of the Camera Club of New York,* in expelling Mr. Stieglitz—a
Life Member—without regard to the decent amenities usual
among gentlemen, and in direct violation of the Constitution and
By-Laws of the Club, was a matter which concerned only the parties to the
incident. But the notoriety given to this disagreeable episode through the
public press, and the refusal of the officers of the Club to state any reason
for the action they had taken, requires that some one familiar with the
history of the misunderstandings and jealousies which culminated in Mr.
Stieglitz’s expulsion, in justice to Mr. Stieglitz and his friends, and in justice
to the Camera Club, too (though most of its members would no doubt
deny the necessity for such justification), should place upon record publicly
a short statement of the facts as they exist.
As an associate of Mr. Stieglitz upon the staff of Camera Notes; as a
former member of the Camera Club, at one time active upon several of its
Committees; as a Fellow of the Photo-Secession and Associate Editor of
this magazine since its foundation, as well as by a close personal acquaint-
ance with most of the prominent and successful workers in pictorial pho-
tography, I conceive myself as being fully equipped to state the case. In
order to do this I must take our readers back for a space of about
ten years:
In 1896 there was effected a coalition of the two moribund photo-
graphic associations known as the Society of Amateur Photographers and
the New York Camera Club under the name of the Camera Club, New
York. During the first year of its existence this new Club gave little
evidence of life; but, in 1897, Mr. Stieglitz at last acceded to the repeated
importunities of the Club members and consented to take an active part in
the attempt to build up a real photographic organization upon the foun-
dation of the Camera Club. Refusing the Presidency, he accepted the Vice-
Presidency as leaving him freer to take an aggressive position in matters
relating to photography without thereby prejudicing the Club as an organ-
ization. At this time he presented to the Club a plan for the publication of
a regular quarterly magazine to take the place of a sporadic leaflet (the
* The Trustees of the Camera Club, New York: Messrs. Charles I.
Berg, President; Chauncey H. Crosby, Vice-President; Frank M. Hale,
Treasurer; Monroe W. Tingley, Secretary; John E. Hadden (Ex-Secretary,
resigned during sessions); Harry T. Leonard (resigned before “ verdict ”);
Willard P. Little, Hugo S. Mack, George W. Blakeslee.
Acting conjointly with the above as the extraordinary “ Committee on
Safety” were: Messrs. A. H. Colgate, F. Benedict Herzog, C. M. Brooks,
H. M. Close, Leonard Faibisy, Ferd. H. Stark, Harry Coutant, Sidney
Herbert, Arthur Robinson (resigned; attended no meetings). Mr. Crosby
acted as Chairman of this committee. Editor .
25
