Price, Esther Gaskins, 1892-

Esther Louise Gaskins Price was born in Needham, Massachusetts on July 11, 1892. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mt. Holyoke College in 1913 and also studied at the Cleveland School of Art, Montana State University, Famous Artists School in Westport, Connecticut, and the Institution de San Miguel d'Allende in Mexico. In addition to her creative work as an artist, Price also pursued a career as a medical researcher and author. She wrote three published works; Fighting Tuberculosis in the Rockies: A history of the Montana tuberculosis (1943), Fighting Spotted Fever in the Rockies (1948), Pennsylvania Pioneers against Tuberculosis (1952). She also served as Associate Editor for one of the Mayo Clinic publications. Price lived in Montana from 1939-1944 to conduct research on the state's medical history and other topics of interest to herself. Often her writing and research involved collaboration with others, particularly I. D. O'Donnell, an eastern Montana farmer who was active in helping establish modern irrigation methods for Montana agriculture. Price worked with O'Donnell to gather information in preparation for a proposed book on irrigation history. After leaving Montana, Price apparently returned to her profession as an artist, living in Hawaii and California. Price married at least twice, first to George Hunt Ingraham and also to Eli A. Zeitlin. When she died in La Jolla, California in August, 1992 her listed name with the Social Security Administration was "Esther I. Zeitlin."

From the guide to the Esther Gaskins Price Papers, 1931-1949, (Montana State University-Bozeman Library, Merrill G Burlingame Special Collections)