Air Heritage Aviation Museum

6 days ago

THE FORGOTTEN WRIGHT SISTER ~ "Katharine Wright, known to her brothers as “Swes” an affectionate German diminutive for "little sister. and to friends as “Kate,” was born on her brother Orville’s third birthday, August 19, 1874. The youngest child and only surviving girl of the Wright family, Katharine was forced to grow up early as her mother passed away when Katharine was only fourteen years old. She quickly stepped into the role of hostess and house mother despite the fact that she was younger than her brothers. Outgoing and conversational, Katherine was very different from her brothers, who were shy. Still, she was close to her siblings, especially her youngest two brothers, Orville and Wilbur. Kate attended Oberlin College from 1893 to pursue certification as a teacher. Time away from school to care for her brother Orville when he came down with typhoid fever in 1896 resulted in Katharine finishing her degree slightly later than she planned, but she finished her training and began her teaching career in 1899. The same year, Orville and Wilbur commenced their famous flying experiments. While continuing to run the Wright household, she also supported her brothers in their flight experiments. She entertained engineers, aeronautics experts, and other scientists at the family home and recruited teacher friends to help her brothers with their large and heavy pieces of equipment as they conducted tests and trials. In 1906, her brothers had created a working flying machine along with a patent for it and needed help selling it. Perhaps most importantly, she took on the role of essentially a "public relations" officer. Katharine also became their executive assistant, dealing with correspondence, corralling journalists, screening purchase offers, and accounting. She did all of this while continuing to teach high school. Her dedication to the airplane business increased when Orville was in an accident in 1908, breaking bones and suffering a concussion. At the same time as she was caring for her brother, she was dealing with communication relating to the business, receiving visitors, and helping investigate the cause of the crash. Once Orville healed, he and Katharine joined Wilbur in Europe, and Wilbur made his sister an offer she couldn’t refuse—he hired her on as their social manager at a higher rate of pay than she was receiving as a teacher. She proved successful in this role, charming Europeans who attended the brothers’ demonstrations. Katharine was fluent in French, which was a real boon to the brothers because France had long been seen as the forerunner in aviation. The brothers were not nearly as adept socially as their sister, and her efforts helped them charm buyers and investors for their products. During their European stint, Katharine became the third woman to ever fly in an airplane. In 1912, Wilbur suddenly became ill and, to everyone’s surprise, died a month later. Surviving brother Orville became president of the Wright Company, and Katharine stepped into the role of company secretary. After a couple of successful years, they sold the company amid legal and patent struggles in which they attempted to defend their standing as the creators of the first airplane. Katherine's crusade on behalf of her brothers was not the only cause was near and dear to her heart, though. She fought vigorously for women's rights and became a spokesperson on women's suffrage! Katharine Wright was an active participant and advocate in the women's suffrage movement, leading a Dayton suffrage march in 1914 alongside her brother Orville and their father Milton. She became president of the Young Women's League of Dayton and a trustee at Oberlin College, using her position to support the cause for which she felt passionately. Her letters reveal her strong beliefs, writing that gaining the vote helped women "be taken seriously" by men and fought against living in a "man's world." Katharine continued to help her brother Orville in his research lab but reconnected with and fell in love with an old friend from Oberlin College. Harry Haskell and Katharine were married on November 20, 1926. Orville, convinced that his sister had violated a family pact to remain unmarried, refused to attend the wedding and severed all contact with his sister. In early 1929, as the Katharine and Harry Haskell were preparing to embark on their belated honeymoon in Europe, Katharine contracted pneumonia. When Orville found out, he still refused to contact her. Their brother Lorin prevailed on Orville to visit her, and he was at her bedside when she died on March 3, 1929, at age 54." ... See MoreSee Less