Esther Lape | |
---|---|
Born |
Wilmington, Delaware, U.S. | October 8, 1881
Died | May 17, 1981
New York City,
New York, U.S. | (aged 99)
Nationality | American |
Academic background | |
Alma mater | Bryn Mawr College Wellesley College |
Academic work | |
Institutions | Barnard College Columbia University University of Arizona Swarthmore College |
Esther Everett Lape [1] (8 October 1881 – 17 May 1981) was a well-known American journalist, researcher, and publicist. She was associated with the Women's Trade Union League [2][ circular reference] and was one of the founders of the League of Women Voters.
Her life-partner, Elizabeth Read, was her personal attorney and financial advisor. [3]
Esther Lape taught English at Swarthmore College, the University of Arizona, Columbia University, and Barnard College. [4] [1]
She was an activist of the Women's Trade Union League and one of the founders of the League of Women Voters. [4]
Lape was the director of the American Foundation for Studies in Government of which her partner, Elizabeth Fisher Read, was director of research. [1] [5] [6] [7]
In the 1920s and 1930s, she led an unsuccessful battle for United States participation in the World Court. [1]
Lape edited a book on expert medical testimony, Medical Research: A Midcentury Survey (1955), sponsored by the American Foundation. [4] [5] [6] [7] In 1923 she collaborated with Read and Gustav Frenssen to Klaus Hinrich Baas: The Story Of A Self-made Man.... [8] Together with Read, Lape published the journal City, State and Nation. [4]
Esther Everett Lape was born on October 8, 1881, in Wilmington, Delaware. [9] She attended public school in Philadelphia, then Bryn Mawr College and Wellesley College. [1] Esther Lape lived with Elizabeth Fisher Read, Women's Suffrage activist and Eleanor Roosevelt's lawyer and friend, in Greenwich Village, at 20 East 11th Street, where today a plaque says “Eleanor Roosevelt lived here when she was first lady.” [7] The building was actually owned by Lape. [10] Roosevelt, who had met Lape through Read in 1920, rented an apartment for a time. [4] [5] [11] Nearby, at 171 West 12th Street, lived other lesbian couples involved in the Woman's Suffrage movement and of the close-knit circle of friends of Roosevelt: Marion Dickerman and Nancy Cook, Molly Dewson and Polly Porter, Grace Hutchins and Anna Rochester. [10] Lape, with her life partner, Read, and other Roosevelt's female friends, was part of Roosevelt's support network of female friends. [5]
Lape and Read also owned a country house, Salt Meadow, Westbrook, Connecticut, where Roosevelt was often a guest. [5] [7] In 1972, after Read's death, Lape donated Salt Meadow to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The estate is currently the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge. [6] Refuge staff are working on a submission for National Register of Historical Places recognition for the former Salt Meadow estate that will recognize the same-sex relationship of Lape and Read. [12]
Esther Everett Lape died on May 17, 1981, in New York City, at 99 years old. [4] [1]
Esther Lape | |
---|---|
Born |
Wilmington, Delaware, U.S. | October 8, 1881
Died | May 17, 1981
New York City,
New York, U.S. | (aged 99)
Nationality | American |
Academic background | |
Alma mater | Bryn Mawr College Wellesley College |
Academic work | |
Institutions | Barnard College Columbia University University of Arizona Swarthmore College |
Esther Everett Lape [1] (8 October 1881 – 17 May 1981) was a well-known American journalist, researcher, and publicist. She was associated with the Women's Trade Union League [2][ circular reference] and was one of the founders of the League of Women Voters.
Her life-partner, Elizabeth Read, was her personal attorney and financial advisor. [3]
Esther Lape taught English at Swarthmore College, the University of Arizona, Columbia University, and Barnard College. [4] [1]
She was an activist of the Women's Trade Union League and one of the founders of the League of Women Voters. [4]
Lape was the director of the American Foundation for Studies in Government of which her partner, Elizabeth Fisher Read, was director of research. [1] [5] [6] [7]
In the 1920s and 1930s, she led an unsuccessful battle for United States participation in the World Court. [1]
Lape edited a book on expert medical testimony, Medical Research: A Midcentury Survey (1955), sponsored by the American Foundation. [4] [5] [6] [7] In 1923 she collaborated with Read and Gustav Frenssen to Klaus Hinrich Baas: The Story Of A Self-made Man.... [8] Together with Read, Lape published the journal City, State and Nation. [4]
Esther Everett Lape was born on October 8, 1881, in Wilmington, Delaware. [9] She attended public school in Philadelphia, then Bryn Mawr College and Wellesley College. [1] Esther Lape lived with Elizabeth Fisher Read, Women's Suffrage activist and Eleanor Roosevelt's lawyer and friend, in Greenwich Village, at 20 East 11th Street, where today a plaque says “Eleanor Roosevelt lived here when she was first lady.” [7] The building was actually owned by Lape. [10] Roosevelt, who had met Lape through Read in 1920, rented an apartment for a time. [4] [5] [11] Nearby, at 171 West 12th Street, lived other lesbian couples involved in the Woman's Suffrage movement and of the close-knit circle of friends of Roosevelt: Marion Dickerman and Nancy Cook, Molly Dewson and Polly Porter, Grace Hutchins and Anna Rochester. [10] Lape, with her life partner, Read, and other Roosevelt's female friends, was part of Roosevelt's support network of female friends. [5]
Lape and Read also owned a country house, Salt Meadow, Westbrook, Connecticut, where Roosevelt was often a guest. [5] [7] In 1972, after Read's death, Lape donated Salt Meadow to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The estate is currently the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge. [6] Refuge staff are working on a submission for National Register of Historical Places recognition for the former Salt Meadow estate that will recognize the same-sex relationship of Lape and Read. [12]
Esther Everett Lape died on May 17, 1981, in New York City, at 99 years old. [4] [1]