Arden Eversmeyer

Jean Arden Eversmeyer, known as Arden (1931–2022), 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] After retirement, she dedicated her efforts to ensuring that older lesbians have access to community resources and that their unique life stories are recorded and celebrated. Arden Eversmeyer died in Houston, TX on November 14, 2022.[3]

Arden and Charlotte

Eversmeyer realized and accepted her love for women while still a teenager, but remained closeted for half of her life.

Born to Herbert and Audrey Eversmeyer in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, on April 4, 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 spent the majority of her career with the Houston Independent School District, both as an educator and counselor.[1] She met her first partner, Tommie Russum, shortly after moving to Houston.

After Russum's death in 1985, Eversmeyer began to volunteer openly with lesbian rights initiatives. 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.[4] She also served on the steering committee of Old Lesbians Organizing for Change, a national network of women over 60 working to confront ageism and improve the lives of lesbians everywhere.

After being with her second partner, Charlotte, for more than 25 years, the couple were legally married in California. Charlotte died on April 14, 2018.[1]

In 1997, Eversmeyer 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] 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).

Mary Speegle, creator of The Lesbian Story Project,[6] combined two interviews with Ms. Eversmeyer into a single 45-minute podcast published on October 17, 2016.