Katherine Peden

Katherine Graham Peden (January 2, 1926 – January 8, 2006) was the first woman appointed as the Commissioner of Commerce in Kentucky. Peden was engaged in economic growth policy making at the national and state level during the 1960s and 70s. She was appointed to advisory positions by United States Presidents John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Jimmy Carter during a time that few women were selected to serve in these positions. Peden was the only woman on the Kerner Commission that investigated the race riots in the United States in the mid 1960s.[1]

Katie Peden
Personal details
Born	Katherine Graham January 2, 1926 Hopkinsville, Kentucky, U.S.
Died	January 8, 2006 (aged 80) Lexington, Kentucky, U.S.
Political party	Democratic

In May 1968, Peden won the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate over John Y. Brown Sr. of Lexington and other candidates. She was the first woman in Kentucky to win a statewide Senate primary. Peden lost the general election to Republican Marlow Cook of Louisville by a 51.4 to 47.6 percent margin. [2]

In 1969 she was appointed to the board of directors of MeadWestvaco, then called Westvaco, becoming one of the first women in the nation named to a Fortune 500 company board of directors. The company had a major plant near Wickliffe, on the Mississippi River in far Western Kentucky.

Peden was the national president of the National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs in 1961.[3]

Early life and education

Katherine Graham was born in Hopkinsville, Kentucky in 1926.[4] Her father was a construction supervisor and her mother was a school teacher.[1]

Her career started in 1944 when she went to work at radio station WHOP (AM) where 20 years later she was general manager of the station and owner of WNVL in Nicholasville. She also worked as national sales manager for five CBS stations.

National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Club

Peden was the national president of National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Club (BPW) in 1961.[3]

Death and legacy

Peden died on January 8, 2006.[3]

References

1. O'Malley, Mimi (2012-01-24). More Than Petticoats: Remarkable Kentucky Women. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 123–133. ISBN 9780762783786.
3. "Katherine Graham Peden". www.bpw-international.org. Retrieved 2017-01-01.
4. Disorders, United States National Advisory Commission on Civil (2 September 1968). "Report". U.S. Government Printing Office – via Google Books.