Hester D. Richardson (1862–1933)

Hester D. Richardson, née Hester Crawford Dorsey, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of James L. Dorsey and Sarah A. W. Dorsey, both members of old colonial families. Hester began writing early in life, and published poems in the Baltimore Sunday newspapers. At the request of the Baltimore American, she wrote a series of articles on ethical and sociological subjects under the pen name "Selene." The "Selene Letters" at attracted wide attention in the city. Her writings helped to spur improvements to hospital service in Baltimore, and to rescue the Mercantile Library from destruction. In 1890, with Louisa C. Osburne Haughton, she co-founded the Woman's Literary Club of Baltimore. That year, she married journalist Albert Levin Richardson and moved to New York City. She contributed articles and short stories to Lippincott's Magazine, The Philadelphia Press, The Baltimore American, and the Baltimore Sunday Sun. She served as president of the Public Records Commission of Maryland in 1904–1908 and was vice-president of the Maryland Original Research Society. She was also the historian of the Baltimore Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and a fellow of The Manorial Society of England. She wrote The Origin and Customs of English Manors: With an Account of Feudal Rights and Privileges in the American Colonies (1912) and Sidelights on Maryland History: With Sketches of Early Maryland Families (1913), originally serialized in the Baltimore Sun. She was a member of the American Historical Association, the Maryland Historical Society, and the Société Académique d'Histoire Internationale, Paris.