[3][4] Esther Lape worked as a journalist, researcher, publicist, and teacher, educating the public about the progressive causes she supported, including peace, workers' rights, and feminism.

Lape collected what she considered to be twenty of the strongest entries and published them alongside her own analysis in the book Ways to Peace.

"[6][7] In 1923, Lape also became the director of the American Foundation for Studies in Government, a public interest group supporting U.S. participation in the World Court.

As part of her work for the foundation, Lape promoted U.S. recognition of the Soviet Union in 1933 and studied access to medical care within the United States.

[5][9][15] Nearby, at 171 West 12th Street, lived other lesbian couples involved in the Woman's Suffrage movement and of the close-knit circle of friends of Roosevelt: Marion Dickerman and Nancy Cook, Molly Dewson and Polly Porter, Grace Hutchins and Anna Rochester.

[10] Refuge staff are working on a submission for National Register of Historical Places recognition for the former Salt Meadow estate that will recognize the same-sex relationship of Lape and Read.