Lillian Gest

Lillian Gest (May 29, 1897 – January 4, 1986) was an American writer, alpinist, and social worker. She was president of the Philadelphia Children's Bureau. She was described as "an indefatigable lover of the Canadian Alps" and "one of the most celebrated climbers in the Canadian Rockies".

Early life and education Gest was born in Merion, Pennsylvania, the daughter of William Purves Gest and Isabel Thorn Howell Gest. Her father was a lawyer and a bank president, as was her grandfather, John B. Gest. She graduated from Vassar College in 1919. She earned a master's degree in social work from the University of Pennsylvania in 1931. She lived and volunteered at a settlement house, was president of the Philadelphia Children's Bureau and vice president of the Philadelphia Children's Aid Society. and a founder of the Philadelphia Trail Club. She was part of a trend, of women touring in the Canadian Rockies in the 1930s. She worked with hike organizer Caroline Hinman or mountain guide Christian Haesler Jr., and with the Alpine Club of Canada. She and British climber Kate Gardiner climbed Mount Bryce and Quéant Mountain in 1937; Polly Prescott and Marguerite Schnellbacher were other climbing companions. She wrote about the Rockies in three books, and spoke about her travels to community groups.

Publications "Mt. Assiniboine and Mt. Eon" (1935) History of Lake O'Hara in the Canadian Rockies at Hector, British Columbia, Canada (1961) History of Morraine Lake in the Canadian Rockies East of Lake Louise, Alberta (1970) History of Mount Assiniboine in the Canadian Rockies (1979)

Personal life and legacy Gest lived with her mother in Merion, into the 1950s; her mother died in 1954. Gest died in 1986, at the age of 88, in Newtown Square. The Whyte Museum digitized Gest's films and slides in the 2020s.