Katharine Croan Greenough

(Sept. 8, 1888-Dec. 12, 1977). Katharine Foster Croan was born in Shenandoah, Iowa, and grew up in Anderson, Indiana. Katharine graduated Phi Beta Kappa, with an A.B. in English, from Indiana University in 1911. In 1912, she married Walter Sidney Greenough, also an Indiana University graduate. The couple moved to Indianapolis and had two children, William and Charles. Walter became a banker and political reporter for the Indianapolis Star and Indianapolis News.

Greenough became involved with the women’s suffrage movement in 1916, and her interest in women’s causes became a lifelong commitment. In 1919, Greenough chaired the Woman’s Franchise League of Indiana, which organized support for women’s suffrage throughout the more than 1,000 Indiana townships (see Women’s Rights And Suffrage). After the committee’s whirlwind campaign, the Indiana General Assembly ratified the Amendment in 1920. Greenough then headed the first Citizenship School in Indiana, a school designed to instruct women in the proper use of their newly acquired voting privilege. From then on, she was a tireless worker for the intelligent use of the vote by both men and women.

Greenough helped to found the national LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS (established 1921) and became the second president of the Indiana league in 1922. She served twice as president of the Indianapolis league, served as a state director continuously until 1955, and published A History of the League of Women Voters in Indiana, 1920-1952.

From 1932 to 1939, Greenough was a board member of the national league, first as secretary, and later as chair of the national Department of Government and Its Operation. During the 1930s, she edited the league’s national publication, The Woman Voter, and wrote numerous league pamphlets and study kits for national distribution. She published informal studies of local governments, including “Know Your County,” “Know Your Town,” “The Amending Process,” and “Is Politics Your Job? ”

Greenough served on the executive council of the National Civil Service League and on the board of the National Municipal League. She organized the Indiana Merit System Association, which sponsored legislation to improve the quality of personnel in Indiana state government, serving as its vice president from 1940 to 1955. She published “Indiana’s New Merit System” in 1941.

From 1945 to 1950, Greenough served as an executive board member of the Health and Welfare Council of Indianapolis, and in 1948-1949 chaired the Family and Child Welfare Division of the Indianapolis Council for Social Agencies  (Community Service Council).

Greenough belonged to Phi Beta Kappa Associates, the Indiana Propylaeum, the Fortnightly Literary Club, and served as a board member of the Indianapolis Day Nursery. She maintained a lifelong devotion to her alma mater. In 1938, she was named to the Indiana University Alumni Council, a position she held for many years. She created the Katharine Croan Greenough Award Fund in Government, a scholarship fund administered by the Indiana University Foundation.

Help improve this entry

Contribute information, offer corrections, suggest images.

You can also recommend new entries related to this topic.