Anna Frances Levins was an Irish American photographer, publisher, author, painter and activist whose works appeared in publications including The New York Times, Vogue and The Boston Globe. She was lauded as “a pioneer woman photographer and a leader in Irish cultural pursuits.” Her portrait sitters included Pope Pius X, William Henry O’Connell, Eamon de Valera, Elisabeth Marbury and John McCormack. The Levins Press, a company she founded and ran in New York and Dublin, published illustrated books about Irish history, literature, culture and independence battles by authors including her husband, Sir Thomas Henry Grattan Esmonde (1862-1935), an Irish baronet. She turned part of her Manhattan office into “a gallery of Irish heroes,” exhibiting her photos and paintings of Irish leaders and martyrs, including Kevin Barry, who were executed after the 1916 Easter Rising.

Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image by Anna Frances Levins via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).