Description

In the early 1900s, ferry boats connected Staten Island to Manhattan and Brooklyn. Mabel Dwight often took the ferry to Staten Island and back, sketchbook in hand, to capture the unexpected interactions provided by public transportation. In this scene, two matrons, perhaps traveling to Manhattan for a day of shopping or errands, sit beside a nun, who finds a moment of quiet solace in a prayer book. A frequent character in prints of the era, nuns signaled Old World European values, often in contrast to the increasingly secular and commercial culture of the American city.