Esther Lape Papers, 1925-1978 | Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum

Title: Esther Lape Papers, 1925-1978

Primary Creator: Lape, Esther

Extent: 2.4 Cubic Feet

Arrangement: This collection is arranged in four series: Correspondence, Subject Files (arranged in two subseries), Manuscripts, and Clippings and Printed materials.

Date Acquired: 06/01/1982

Esther Lape was born on October 8, 1881 in Wilmington, Delaware.  After graduating from Wellesley College, Lape continued in the world of academia as a professor of English at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, the University of Arizona, and Barnard College in New York City. She was a researcher, journalist, and publicist. She was associated with the Women's Trade Union League and was one of the founders of the League of Women Voters.

In accordance with her efforts to promote American understanding of the need for international cooperation, Lape served as a Member-In-Charge of the American Peace Award Policy Committee in 1924. That same year the American Foundation was established with Esther Lape as director. She held that position until her reirement in 1956, but even then remained as a member of the Board of Directors. Her work with the Foundation prompted Calvin Coolidge to send her to Europe in 1927 as an unofficial envoy to secure the renewal of negotiations regarding the United States participation in the World Court. Lape's work for the Foundation also included promoting U.S. recognition of the Soviet Union in 1933 and studies of the problems of medical care in the United States.

Through her life partner, Elizabeth Read, Esther Lape became friends with Eleanor Roosevelt who worked with Lape and Read to draft articles for a weekly bulletin, City, State, and Nation.  Together, the three advocated for their shared political causes, including U.S. recognition of the Soviet Union, U.S. involvement in the World Court, and the inclusion of health care in the Social Security Act. Lape particularly worked to further health care through her writings, even after World War II came to the political forefront.

Esther Lape worked closely with Eleanor Roosevelt, Narcissa Vanderlip, and Helen Reid in the women's suffrage movement in New York. In the early 1960s, Esther Lape, Lady Stella Reading, and Helen Reid established the Organizing Committee for the group asking the Nobel Committee to consider granting a posthumous award of the Peace Prize to Eleanor Roosevelt.

In July of 1972, Lape donated her 147 acre Connecticut country estate, Salt Meadow, to the Federal Government as a wildlife refuge. Esther Lape died in 1981.

Repository: Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum

Access Restrictions: Material that consitutes an unwarranted invasion of privacy has been closed. The remaining materials are available for use by the general public.

Use Restrictions: Esther Lape's copyright interests in these papers have been donated to the United States Government. This material is subject to copyright restrictions under Title 17 of the U.S. Code.

Acquisition Source: Olaga M. Bendix, The Bank of New York

Acquisition Method: Gift