MAY 17: Esther Lape (1881-1981)
Renowned journalist and activist, Esther Lape, passed away on this day in 1981. Esther was a part of a tight-knit circle of prominent lesbians involved in the women’s rights movement and was a close personal friend to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
Esther was born on October 8, 1881 in Wilmington, Delaware to a wealthy family. After attending Bryn Mawr College and Wellesley College, she became an esteemed English professor and taught at prestigious universities across the U.S. She eventually landed at Columbia University in New York City, where she made a home with her partner Elizabeth Read in the famous bohemian neighborhood of Greenwich Village. Elizabeth was a famed political writer in her own right and was the personal lawyer of Eleanor Roosevelt.
As First Lady, Roosevelt rented a room from Esther & Elizabeth in order to be closer to her friends. Several other lesbian couples lived along West 12th Street in the Village and they soon created a close-knit circle of friendship .These were the women who formed Roosevelt’s support network of female friends throughout her time in the White House. Esther and Elizabeth were among her closest friends and their second home in Salt Meadow, Connecticut was frequently used as a vacation getaway for the First Lady.
Throughout her life, Esther was active in the women’s rights movement as well as the environmental conservation movement. She was a member of the Women’s Trade Union League and in 1920 she helped found the League of Women Voters, an organization that remains influential today. After her partner’s death in 1972, Esther donated their Salt Meadow home to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services due to its prime location on the Connecticut coast. Esther herself passed away peacefully on May 17, 1981 at 99 years old. Currently, members of the U.S. Wildlife Reserve are petitioning for the Salt Meadow estate to be recognized for its importance in American LGBT History.
