Ester F. Bentley

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Ester F. Bentley
Born
Ester Frances Bentley

October 24, 1915
Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
DiedJanuary 20, 2004 (age 88)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)Social worker, community organizer, activist

Ester Frances Bentley (October 24, 1915 – January 20, 2004) was an American social worker and community organizer, based in Southern California. Her papers are part of the June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives at UCLA.

Early life and education

Bentley was born in Louisville, Kentucky, the daughter of Charles Arthur Bentley and Minnie (or Winnie) Bentley, and granddaughter of Emma Frances Foster, with whom she lived.[1] In 1941 she graduated from Catherine Spalding College with a degree in education, and she earned a master's degree in social work (MSW) at Catholic University of America in 1949, with a thesis on child welfare services in Kentucky.[2]

Career

Bentley was president of the Municipal Hockey League in Louisville in 1942.[3] She worked for the USO during and after World War II.[4][5][6] She was director of field services of the Kentucky Society for Crippled Children in Harlan County in 1950.[7][8] In 1954 she worked for United Community Defense Services in Key West, Florida, consulting on community planning and agency development.[9][10][11] She was a national field consultant for the National Catholic Community Service, at the agency's headquarters in Washington, D.C.[12][13][14]

Bentley moved to Southern California by 1958.[15][16] She was a caseworker at Metropolitan State Hospital in Norwalk, and editor of the Directory of Health, Welfare, and Recreational Services. She was executive director of the Girl Scout Council in Santa Ana.[17] She supervised students and taught in the UCLA School of Social Welfare from 1966 to 1974.[18] She worked in the regional center system in Orange County before she retired.[19] In 1982, she received the Caritas Medal from her alma mater, Spalding University.[20][21]

Bentley was active in LGBTQ and Catholic organizations, including Old Lesbians Organizing for Change, Uptown Gay & Lesbian Alliance, and Woman Against Violence Against Women. She served on an advisory committee at the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center. In her late years, she was one of the founding members of the Coalition of Older Lesbians (COOL).[22]

Personal life

Bentley died in 2004, at the age of 88, in Los Angeles. Her papers constitute one of the largest collections[23] in the June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives at UCLA.[17][24] One of the unusual artifacts in the collection is a folding screen room divider, decorated by Bentley with hundreds of photos of her friends, colleagues, and lovers, many of them labeled with their first names; Bentley added the title "Celebrating the Women in My Life" to the top edge of the screen.[25]

References

  1. ^ "Obituary for Emma F. Foster". The Courier-Journal. 1941-01-29. p. 20. Retrieved 2024-06-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ Research Relating to Children. Clearinghouse for Research in Child Life. 1954. p. 283.
  3. ^ "Hockey Champs--Ursuline and Amazons--Get Trophies". The Courier-Journal. 1942-12-13. p. 54. Retrieved 2024-06-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Walker, Heber P. (1951). Indiana at War: A Directory of Hoosier Civilians who Held Positions of Responsibility in Official, Volunteer, and Cooperating War-time Organizations. Indiana War History Commission. p. 345.
  5. ^ "USO Director Ester Bentley". The Courier-Journal. 1946-02-17. p. 63. Retrieved 2024-06-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Schodolski, Vincent J. (2002-12-27). "Elderly gays find isolation adds to ills of aging". Chicago Tribune. pp. 1–11. Retrieved 2024-06-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Crippled Child Society Chapter is Formed Here". The Harlan Daily Enterprise. 1950-11-22. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-06-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Plans Made Here for Opening of 1950 Easter Seal Campaign". Messenger-Inquirer. 1950-03-17. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-06-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Citizen Partiipation Stressed by Social Agencies at Meeting". The Key West Citizen. 1954-06-03. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-06-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Community Chest Chairman Speaker at Council of Social Agencies". The Key West Citizen. 1954-09-30. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
  11. ^ "Council of Social Agencies Will Compile Directory of Resources". The Key West Citizen. 1954-06-26. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-06-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Bishop". Nevada State Journal. 1956-12-02. p. 24. Retrieved 2024-06-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "CSS Volunteer Case Aides Hear National Consultant". The San Bernardino County Sun. 1958-06-24. p. 16. Retrieved 2024-06-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Volunteers' Tea Held in Spain Home". The San Bernardino County Sun. 1959-04-19. p. 30. Retrieved 2024-06-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Catholic Social Service Agency Opens S.B. Doors". The San Bernardino County Sun. 1958-02-26. p. 18. Retrieved 2024-06-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Buzz Session". The San Bernardino County Sun. 1959-02-21. p. 29. Retrieved 2024-06-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ a b "Finding Aid for the Ester F. Bentley papers, circa 1880s-2000s". Online Archive of California. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
  18. ^ "Ester F. Bentley Collection". June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives. 2024-02-20. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
  19. ^ "Parley to Focus on Mentally Retarded". The Los Angeles Times. 1979-06-01. p. 45. Retrieved 2024-06-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "Caritas Medalists". Spalding University. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
  21. ^ Colwell, Carolyn (1982-05-17). "Spalding grads told to find own endings". The Courier-Journal. p. 9. Retrieved 2024-06-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ "Bentley, Ester F. Papers". LGBTQ Religious Archives Network. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
  23. ^ Cvetkovich, Ann. "Ordinary Lesbians and Special Collections: The June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives at UCLA" in Daniel Marshall and Zeb Tortorici, eds., Turning Archival: The Life of the HIstorical in Queer Studies (Duke University Press 2022): 123-130; size of collection comment on p. 124.
  24. ^ Hollingsworth, Abigail (2022). "The Role the LGBTQ+ Community Plays in Preserving Their Own History: The Rise of LGBTQIA+ Grassroots Archives". SLIS Connecting. 11 (2). doi:10.18785/slis.1102.05.
  25. ^ Bessette, Jean (2018). Retroactivism in the Lesbian Archives: Composing Pasts and Futures. SIU Press. pp. 86–89. ISBN 978-0-8093-3623-4.

External links

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