Mabel Cox Surdam (born October 23, 1879 – died after 1940) was an American portrait photographer based at various times in Binghamton, New York, Toronto, Ontario and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Early life Mabel E. Cox was from Scranton, Pennsylvania, the daughter of David Austin Cox and Lettie Austin Rome Cox. Her father worked for the railroad.Albert Oren Cummins, Cummings Genealogy (Argus and Patriot Printing House 1904): 120–121."Railroad Engineer Found Dead in Bed" Scranton Republican (February 21, 1916): 10. via Newspapers.com
Career In 1910, Mabel Cox Surdam hosted a meeting of the Photographers' Association of Binghamton, in her home in that city."Photographers Hold a Meeting" Binghamton Press (March 29, 1910): 5. via Newspapers.com She worked as a receptionist and portrait photographer in Toronto, for the T. Eaton Company."Our Cover Portrait and the Hall of Fame" Portrait (August 1919): cover. After eight years in Toronto, she worked at the Breckon studio in Pittsburgh, beginning in 1921,"Reception Opens Breckon Studios" Pittsburgh Sunday Post (May 22, 1921): 13. via Newspapers.com and was active in that city's photography groups too."Officers Chosen by Local Photographers" Pittsburgh Press (June 19, 1921): 67. via Newspapers.com"Exhibit Proved Local Photographers At the Top of their Profession" Pittsburgh Press (May 6, 1923): 2. via Newspapers.com She spoke at a meeting of the Professional Photographers Society of New York in 1918,"Report of the New York State Convention" Bulletin of Photography (March 13, 1918): 245. and the Professional Photographers of Pennsylvania in 1923."Pro Photographers to Meet in Town" Public Opinion (April 28, 1923): 1. via Newspapers.com
In 1911 and 1912, Surdam was elected second vice-president of the Women's Federation of the Photographers' Association of America, in the Federation's leadership with Maybelle Goodlander and Pearl Grace Loehr."Convention Honors Mrs. Mabel C. Surdam" Binghamton Press (August 4, 1911): 8. via Newspapers.comKatherine Jamieson, "Attention, Women Photographers" Studio Light (June 1912): 8. She had seven works in a traveling exhibit organized by the Photographers' Association of America in 1916."Loan Exhibit" Photographers' Association News (November 1916): 424. She spoke to the convention on the topic "Personality in Business" in 1919."Photography is Discussed by Women" The Gazette Times, Pittsburgh (March 20, 1919): 15. via Newspapers.com 1922 she was named third vice-president of the Association."Report of the P. A. of A. Convention at Kansas City" Bulletin of Photography (May 10, 1922): 613. "There is never a convention at which she is not present, either as a speaker or spectator," noted one profile of Surdam in 1919.
Personal life Mabel Cox married fellow photographer Sherman Evarts Surdam in 1898. Her husband was head of the photographic department at General Electric,"Surdam Speaks at Camera Club" Post-Star (October 4, 1941): 2. via Newspapers.com taught photography at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute,"Club Will Hear Camera Expert" Post-Star (October 3, 1941): 13. via Newspapers.com and was president of the Professional Photographers Society of New York in 1940-1941."Heads State Photographers" New York Times (May 2, 1941): 15.
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