Jessie Tarbox Beals, America's 1st Female Photojournalist
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Jessie Tarbox Beals sits with John Burroughs at a cabin in West Park, New York. Beals is considered the first American female photojournalist. After spending 12 years as a teacher, Beals' began pursuing photography as a career. In 1899 a Massachusetts newspaper published her photos of a local prison. In 1902 she was hired by the Buffalo Inquirer and The Courier, and the papers allowed her to freelance for outside clients. That would be her last staff job, and she pursued a successful freelance career through the 1920s, displaying uncommon ambition and creativity for a photographer at the time.
