Katherine Devereux Blake

Lived:July 10, 1858—February 2, 1950 (aged 91)

For more information about Blake's mother, Lillie Devereux Blake, visit her profile here: https://wp.las.iastate.edu/cattcenter-awpc/directory/lillie-devereux-blake/

Katherine Devereux Blake was an educator, author, and second-generation suffragist.

Blake was born on July 10, 1858, in New York City to suffragist Lillie Devereux Blake and her first husband, Frank Umsted. She graduated from Normal College, now Hunter College, in 1876 and worked in the New York City public school district for her whole career. Initially a teacher, Blake became the principal of the Girls Department of Public School 6 in 1894. P.S. 6 was renamed after Lillie Devereux Blake in 1916 and is still an operating elementary school. Blake served as the first female treasurer for the New York Board of Education and was president of the National Education Association.

Blake followed in her mother’s footsteps as an active member of the New York suffrage movement. She was the head of a group of 15,000 teacher-suffragists in the state and marched in the 1915 New York woman suffrage parade. She also campaigned for suffrage across the country during the summers. Blake was also active in the peace movement as a member of the Ford Peace Expedition and the New York chair of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. She was the chief spokesperson for the Disarmament Caravan from 1931 to 1932. Blake co-authored the first biography of her mother, Champion of Women: The Life of Lillie Devereux Blake, in 1943.

Katherine Devereux Blake died on February 2, 1950.

“Biographical Sketch of Katherine Devereux Blake,” written by Melissa K. White. Included in Biographical Database of NAWSA Suffragists, 1890-1920, Online Biographical Dictionary of the Woman Suffrage Movement in the United States. https://documents.alexanderstreet.com/d/1009860195