Arden Eversmeyer

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Arden and Charlotte

Jean Arden Eversmeyer, known as “Arden,” founded both Lesbians Over Age Fifty (LOAF) and the Old Lesbian Oral Herstory Project (OLOHP)^[1] and was a mayoral appointee to the Houston, Texas Agency on Aging.^[2] Ms. Eversmeyer dedicates her efforts to ensure that older lesbians have access to community resources and that their unique life stories are recorded and celebrated.

Eversmeyer realized and accepted her love for women while still a teenager. Because it was a time when women suspected of being lesbians were routinely expelled from college and fired from their jobs, she led a very closeted life. She met her first partner, Tommie Russum, early in her career and they were together 33 years.

Born to Herbert and Audrey Eversmeyer in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, in 1931,^[1] Eversmeyer graduated from Texas State College for Women in 1951; she later completed graduate work at Sam Houston State University. She worked in Texas public schools, starting in Plano and the majority of her career with the Houston Independent School District, as both an educator and counselor for over 30 years.^[1]

After Russum's death in 1985, Eversmeyer began to volunteer openly with lesbian rights initiative. She started Lesbians Over Age Fifty (LOAF) in 1987 to encourage a safe environment, meeting places, and a social network for mid-life and older lesbians.^[1][3] She also served on the steering committee of Old Lesbians Organizing for Change, a national network of women over 60 confronting ageism and improving the lives of lesbians everywhere. After being with her second partner, Charlotte, more than 25 years, the couple legally married in California. (Charlotte died on April 14, 2018).^[1] Today Eversmeyer is proud to live in a time when she can be her true self with acquaintances, friends, family, medical professionals, and everyone.^[4]

In 1997 Eversmeyer, realizing that many of her friends were reaching the end of their lives, founded the Old Lesbian Oral Herstory Project "to collect and preserve our life stories (focusing on lesbians aged 70 and older), to honor the lives of old lesbians."^[5] OLOHP offers outreach by sharing Herstories with isolated old lesbians and via education of senior care providers and the general public, to create environments that improve the lives of all old lesbians.^[1] The project quickly grew by word of mouth through friends of friends, as well as newsletter calls for interviews,^[6] to become more than a personal project. Eversmeyer began training others to extend the project's reach. Project volunteers have documented over 750 diverse life stories recording the sacrifices and obstacles faced by lesbians of that era. The collection is now archived, and continues to grow, as part of the Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College (see WorldCat record). OLOHP has published two books of collected interviews: A Gift of Old Age (2009; Purchase from OLOHP or borrow from a library (see WorldCat holdings); and Without Apology (2012; Purchase from OLOHP or borrow from a library (see WorldCat holdings).

In August 2011, a room in the Montrose Counseling Center was dedicated to Eversmeyer, “whose achievements are too numerous to list.”^[7]

During National Women's History Month, March 2014, Eversmeyer was one of twelve honorees recognized for their contributions by the National Women's History Alliance.^[8] The 2014 theme was “Women of Courage, Commitment, and Character.”

“Every one of us has a story,” Eversmeyer says. “You don’t have to climb Mt. Everest to have a story. Every one of these stories is important and interesting.”^[9]

Mary Speegle, creator of The Lesbian Story Project, combines two interviews with Ms. Eversmeyer into a single 45-minute podcast published on 17 October 2016. In The Lesbian Story Project with Arden Eversmeyer, Eversmeyer talks about the motivation for, development of, and benefits from the Old Lesbian Herstory Project.

In June 2017, Eversmeyer was selected to join Tony Carroll and Marion Coleman as Grand Marshals of the Houston Gay Pride Parade.^[10] Pride Houston cited Eversmeyer's efforts in founding LOAF, initiating the Old Lesbian Oral Herstory Project, and the donation of her personal library of lesbian books, music, videos, and memorabilia to the Texas A&M University library.

Honors and Awards[]

1981

Appreciation award from Houston School Counselors Association for 30 years service to children.

1995

Houston Pride Committee award for community service

2001

An Uncommon Legacy Foundation, Inc. -- Extra Mile Award for Founding Lesbians Over Age Fifty (LOAF) in 1987

2004

Houston Zoological Gardens honors for 23 years service as a Docent

2008

Old Lesbians Organized for Change (OLOC) honors for founding the Old Lesbian Herstory Project (OLOHP)

2010

LOAF Founders Award as a Visionary/Dreamer

2011

Proclamation from City of Houston for community service through LOAF and OLOC

2012

Bold Woman Award, BoldFest Conference, Vancouver BC

2012

Proclamation from City of Houston on the 25th Anniversary of LOAF

2013

Proclamation from City of Houston for founding the Old Lesbian Oral Herstory Project

2014

Women's Trailblazer Award from the Department of Energy, Washington DC, "for helping women to excel with their similarities and differences in a complex world."

2014

Honoree, National Women's History Project, Washington DC, "Celebrating Women of Character, Courage, and Commitment"

2014

Featured speaker for Pride Month Celebration, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Washington DC

2017

Grand Marshal, Houston Pride Parade, Houston TX

^[11]

References[]