Photographer Frank L. Asher
Frank L. Asher (1881-1959) documented car accidents and fires for insurance companies and took compelling portraits. With a total of close to 2,000 photos featuring a variety of subjects and clients, including Vincent Astor, in the Asher Collection, images of Rhinebeck life and people in the late 1930s-1950s have been documented and preserved in the archives.
Asher’s wife Marion and Peter the dog take center stage on September 15, 1946. Peter sometimes accompanied Asher on assignment!
Self-portraits taken by Frank L. Asher in May 1943.
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Vincent Astor was the client for these photos of Holiday Farm on October 27, 1944.The building is now The Astor Home for Children and an example of Astor’s philanthropy in Rhinebeck. The interior shots are of a room with cots and the kitchen with stove, dustpan and broom. Astor hired McKim, Mead, and White, prominent architects in New York, to design the stately building which would be used for the welfare of children.
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Boys at Holiday Farm; Photos taken on January 7, 1950.
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Decoration Day Parade; Photos taken on May 30, 1946.
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Insurance Photos of the Gibson Burglary taken on February 27, 1946.
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Accident scene photo taken on March 8, 1944. Worth Marquardt and Junior Lloyd were going east on Chestnut and north on Mulberry when the accident happened.”
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And the prize for most photogenic dog goes to Peter on December 12, 1943!
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What a reputation for excellence in documenting events and human interest stories Frank L. Asher must have had. All of the photos in the Asher Collection have been scanned and are viewable online. Many of the photos are unidentified; contact RHS if you recognize someone!
Discover more Rhinebeck history in the July issue of “From the Archives”.
Researcher,
Bonnie Wood
June 2026