Alice Lee

Alice Lee was born on May 27, 1853, in Westport, Essex County, New York, and died on February 18, 1943, in Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, living approximately 89 years. As one of the most influential figures of the Social Movement, she had a same sex partner, Katherine Teats, who died in 1952. They were both aspects of the social environment by hosting two U.S. presidents and their wives at their San Diego, California, residence. Lee and Teats are, according to the San Diego Historical Resource Board, "one of the first documented domestic partnerships in San Diego," being documented living together in various Census records; in the 1930 Census, Lee was the Head of Household and Teats was Partner (and not Lodger while often used in such cases). Together they owned various real estate properties in San Diego, had an active civic and social life, and were accepted as a couple.

Lee is viewed as a “Civic Leader in San Diego Union, the Ticonderoga Sentinel, the Boston Globe, and Women of the West: A Series of Biographical Sketches of Living Eminent Women in the Eleven Western States of the United States of America”.

Lee died on February 18, 1943.

Early life and education Alice Lee was born on May 27, 1853, in Westport, New York, the daughter of Colonel Francis L. Lee (1823-1886) and Sarah Mary Anne Wilson. The Westport Inn remained until 1966, 80 years after it was opened.

In San Diego Lee was a member of First Unitarian Church, Wednesday Club, Civic Committee of the Chamber of Commerce, and other groups for cultural and civic development. The public playground system kept kids from developing bad habits and instead gave them somewhere to socialize in a healthy manner.

Personal life & LGBTQ+ Significance Lee and her partner Katherine Teats, shared a home on Seventh Avenue in San Diego from 1902 till Alice's death in 1943, when Katherine continued in their home by herself. Katherine's grand niece, according to San Diego Magazine, said, "the family lore considered the pair to be lesbians."

Together, they lived in the main house of the residence and rented the other two homes on the property. They hosted accuatences like the wife of Grover Cleveland, Frances Folsom Cleveland Preston, and Theodore Roosevelt's, and Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt whom they were friends with. Because of these interactions they were also continuous guests at the White House. Theodore Roosevelt and his wife Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt, and Frances Folsom Cleveland Preston were often guests at Lee's San Diego home at 7th Ave.