There is only one optimist. He has been here since man has been on this earth, and that is man himself. If we hadn't had such a magnificent optimism to carry us through all these things, we wouldn't be here. We have survived it on our optimism.

They had two daughters Katherine and Mary. In 1923 Steichen married Dana Desboro Glover. In 1894 at the age of fifteen Steichen began a four-year lithography apprenticeship with the American Fine Art Company of Milwaukee.

Edward Jean Steichen (March 27 1879 – March 25 1973) was an American photographer painter and art gallery and museum curator. During these years Steichen was regarded as the best known and highest paid photographer in the world. Steichen directed the war documentary The Fighting Lady which won the 1945 Academy Award for Best Documentary.