Katharine Ludington

Katharine Ludington (October 16, 1869 – March 9, 1953) was an American suffragist. She was the last president of the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association, and a founding leader of the League of Women Voters.

Katharine Ludington
An older woman wearing a dark hat, and a dress with a white collar. she has a pendant on a choker at her neck.
Katharine Ludington, from a 1916 publication.
Born(1869-10-16)October 16, 1869
New York City, US
DiedFebruary 9, 1953(1953-02-09) (aged 83)
Old Lyme, Connecticut, US
OccupationSuffragist

Early life

Ludington was born in New York City, one of the seven children of Charles Henry Ludington (1825–1910) and Josephine Lord Noyes Ludington (1839–1908).[1] Her mother was part of the prominent Noyes family.[2] Her father was a banker and a member of the prominent Ludington family of New York and New England.[3] Revolutionary War colonel Henry Ludington was her great-grandfather, and Sybil Ludington was her great-aunt. The library in Old Lyme, Connecticut, is named for her maternal grandmother, Phoebe Griffin Noyes.[4]

Ludington was educated at Miss Porter's School, and studied painting with portrait artist Montague Flagg at the Art Students League in New York City.[5][6]

Board of Directors, National League of Women Voters, Chicago Convention, February 1920; Ludington is standing at the far left of the photo. Others in the photograph include Maud Wood Park, Grace Wilbur Trout, and Carrie Chapman Catt.

Career

Ludington was a founding member of the Old Lyme Equal Suffrage League in 1914, and president of the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association from 1918 until it disbanded in 1921, succeeding Katharine Houghton Hepburn.[5][7][8] In 1917 she spoke at a suffrage event in Washington, D.C. She created a library of women's works at the Old Lyme Inn, and held a suffrage study group in her home.[9] Despite her vigorous efforts,[10][11][12] Connecticut did not ratify the Nineteenth Amendment until after it became part of the United States Constitution in 1920.[7]

Ludington helped to form and lead the Connecticut League of Women Voters.[13] She continued to be active in civic leadership,[14] and in 1922[6] became the first New England director of the League of Women Voters (LWV).[15][16] She was also head of the LWV's financial committee on the national level,[17] and president of the Connecticut Women's Suffrage Association.[13] She actively supported the establishment of the United Nations.[5][18] She published a pamphlet, "The Connecticut Idea" (1919), and a family history, Lyme — And Our Family (1928).[19]

Personal life

Ludington died in 1953, aged 83 years, at her home in Old Lyme, Connecticut.[13] She was survived by her younger sister, suffragist Helen Ludington Rotch.[20] Some of her papers are in the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Movement Collection at Western Connecticut State University.[21] Her name is on a plaque honoring Connecticut's suffrage leaders, located in the south corner of the Connecticut State Capitol building.[22][23]

Businessman Charles Townsend Ludington and art collector Wright S. Ludington were her nephews. American Studies professor C. Townsend Ludington is her great-nephew.[24][25]

References
  1. Menard, Micaela. "Biographical Sketch of Katharine Ludington". Alexander Street Documents. Retrieved 2020-08-28.
  2. Noyes-Gilman Ancestry: Being a Series of Sketches, with a Chart of the Ancestors of Charles Phelps Noyes and Emily H. (Gilman) Noyes, His Wife ... author. 1907. p. 44.
  3. "Guide to the Ludington Family Papers, 1776-1945, MS.2962". New-York Historical Society Museum and Library. Retrieved 2020-08-28.
  4. "Home". Old Lyme Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library. Retrieved 2020-08-28.
  5. Lampos, Jim; Pearson, Michaelle (June 16, 2015). "LOOKING BACK: Legacy of Katharine Ludington, and that of her grand home". Shoreline Times. Retrieved 2020-08-28.
  6. "Miss Katharine Ludington". Hartford Courant. 1926-07-02. p. 7. Retrieved 2020-08-28 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. Wajda, Shirley T. (2020-03-08). "A Day for Women – Today in History: March 8". Connecticut History | a CTHumanities Project. Retrieved 2020-08-28.
  8. "Suffrage Summary". The Woman Citizen. 1: 476. 1917.
  9. Wakeman, Carolyn (2015-03-26). "Old Lyme Women Oppose Suffrage". Florence Griswold Museum. Retrieved 2020-08-28.
  10. Blackwell, Alice Stone (February 21, 1920). "Must Connecticut Owe Its Freedom to Kentucky?". The Woman Citizen. 4: 902.
  11. Blackwell, Alice Stone (May 1, 1920). "Speeding the Emergency Corps". The Woman Citizen. 4: 1195.
  12. "A Trio of Connecticut Workers". The Woman's Journal and Suffrage News. 47: 288. September 2, 1916.
  13. "Katharine Ludington". Hartford Courant. 1953-03-11. p. 14. Retrieved 2020-08-28 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. Blackwell, Alice Stone (June 17, 1919). "Launch $100,000 Campaign". The Woman Citizen. 4: 16.
  15. "Miss Katharine Ludington". The Cincinnati Enquirer. 1936-04-12. p. 1. Retrieved 2020-08-28 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. Danelle L. Moon. "Treading Water in a Sea of Male Politicians—Women’s Organizations and Lobby Activities in Historical Perspective" Joint Annual Meeting of NAGARA, COSHRC, and SAA (2006).
  17. "U. S. Women's League Official Guest Here". St. Louis Globe-Democrat. 1926-01-28. p. 11. Retrieved 2020-08-28 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. Strauss, Anna Lord (March 21, 1953). "Tribute to Miss Ludington". The New York Times. p. 16 – via ProQuest.
  19. Ludington, Katharine (1928). Lyme--and Our Family. Privately printed.
  20. "Katharine Ludington". The New York Times. 1953-03-09. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-08-28.
  21. "Connecticut Woman Suffrage Movement Collection". Western Connecticut State University Library. Retrieved 2020-08-28.
  22. "CT Suffragists – Connecticut Suffrage Centennial". Retrieved 2020-08-28.
  23. "CT Suffragists". Connecticut Suffrage Centennial.
  24. Townsend Ludington Papers (#4951) 1968-1969, The Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina Library.
  25. "Old Lyme". Hartford Courant. 1985-08-03. p. 22. Retrieved 2020-08-28 – via Newspapers.com.
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