Elizabeth Lester Poole collection, 1947-2006
Collection Scope and Content
This collection includes Poole’s CV, correspondence, published photography and writings, and materials related to her work at Stanley Museum, including posters, brochures, slides, Stanley family interviews, and clippings.
Biographical/Historical Note
Elizabeth Lester Poole (known as Lizzy Poole) was born in Boston, MA, on March 18, 1934. A partial list of Poole’s personal and professional roles includes journalist and photojournalist; elementary school teacher; lobsterman and fisherman; visual artist; women’s rights advocate and publisher of the feminist publication Fish Rapper Digest (later Radical Journey); peace activist; environmental advocate; Master Gardener and active member of various local and state committees as well as a museum board. During her adult life, Poole has been very active in local and state organizations and published numerous newspaper and magazine articles and letters to the editor in New England and the southeast.
Bylines that she has used over the years include (in chronological order) Betty Lester, Elizabeth Lester, Betty Beane and Lizzy Poole. Moving to Raymond, Maine, during high school, Poole attended Bridgton Academy, the University of Maine, Westbrook Junior College, and Rockport Photography School. In 1957, she married Emery O. Beane, an attorney and Maine State Representative. They had two children, Charles Emery and Nancy Lee. In 1969, the couple divorced and in 1979, Poole married Herbert Sheldon Poole of York, Maine. Tragedy struck Poole’s life when, in 1995, her son Charles Beane, an aerospace engineer and Air Force Captain, died in California.