Allen, Frances S. (1854–1941) and Mary E. (1858–1941)

American photographers. Frances S. Allen was born in Wapping, Massachusetts, in 1854; died on February 14, 1941, in Deerfield, Massachusetts. Mary E. Allen was born in Wapping, Massachusetts, in 1858; died on February 18, 1941, in Deerfield, Massachusetts.

Growing up on the family farm in Wapping, Massachusetts, Mary Allen and her older sister Frances attended State Normal School in Westfield and obtained jobs as teachers. In the early 1890s, both sisters began going deaf, probably as the result of a childhood illness. With their teaching future in jeopardy, they turned to photography in order to make a living, specializing in portraits, genre, and scenic views. When their father died in 1895, they moved to scenic Deerfield, where they enjoyed considerable success selling souvenir views of "Old Deerfield" and typical scenes of New England life. It is believed that most of their portraits of children were posed and photographed by Frances.

The sisters were first published in 1891, when some of their early pictures appeared in a publication about Franklin, Massachusetts, Picturesque Franklin, edited by Charles Warner. Four of their photographs were in Frances Benjamin Johnston 's exhibition of 1900–1901, and Johnston also wrote about them in a series for Ladies' Home Journal called "The Foremost Women Photographers of America."

The sisters remained active until the early 1930s, when Frances became almost totally blind. They died just four days apart, Frances on February 14, 1941, and Mary on the 18th.