In Memoriam: Esther Sue Kanipe, 1945-2020

Esther Kanipe, professor of history emerita at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, died at a local hospice facility on March 19. She was 74 years old and had suffered from pancreatic cancer.

A native of Rockingham, North Carolina, Dr. Kanipe was a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She went on to earn a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

In 1976, Dr. Kanipe came to Hamilton College and taught there for 35 years, retiring in 2011. She was the first woman scholar ever granted tenure at the college. Her research focused on modern French history and governmental social policy toward women and family.

At Hamilton, Dr. Kanipe served as a posse mentor with the Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) and created the Disability Studies program. She was an associate dean from 1985 to 1988. In 2000, Dr. Kanipe was appointed the Marjorie and Robert W. McEwen Professor of History