By: E.S.
Like many other attractions, the Outer Banks are on the bucket list of most North Carolinians in the summer months. Just as it was mine, I had always seen the Wright Brothers Memorial driving by, but never actually went to the monument. It wasn’t until last summer, on a little getaway to the beach, my mother and I decided to go.
I can definitely say that standing in the museum became extremely more memorable than hearing about it in the classroom. Walking around the interior of the building, photos of the Wright Brothers were plastered throughout. From when they were infants, starting their bicycle shop, and conducting experiments, they ultimately changed the world of travel as we know today.
However, after my view changed from the photos of the brothers to a photo with a woman between the two of them I was ultimately confused. I thought to myself, surely it was their mother? I ruled that possibility out when the woman's complexion looked too young to be their mother. It wasn’t until I read further I discovered the two famous brothers had a sister.
Katherine Wright, the baby of the family, was born August 19, 1874. At the young age of 15, Katherine stepped up to become the backbone of the Wright household; due to her mother dying of tuberculosis. The loss of losing her mother weighed heavy on the household, yet life still had to move along. Her father, a bishop of the church, often dealt with business elsewhere, leaving Katherine to deal with affairs within the house.
Despite the heavy load, Katherine pursued an education in teaching at Oberlin College. Oberlin was one of the few colleges that began to accept women to get an education. Katherine decided on teaching as a career because as a woman at the time, that was one of the only respectable careers she was allowed to pursue.
Katherine found herself immersed in college life. Because of growing up in a secluded household, college allowed her to make many friends. One of whom was Katherine's roommate, Margaret Goodwin. They both regularly shared intellectual ideas and related to one another's lives as they were both daughters of fathers who were part of a church. Katherine became very interested in languages, specifically in Latin and Greek, and began to pursue that as her area of interest in teaching. Wright ended up graduating in 1889; although it took her 5 years to finish her degree, she became the only Wright to become college educated.
Even after her graduation, Katherine still showed astounding support for her family. She returned as the head of household and pursued a teaching career in 1901 at Steele High School; there she taught Latin.
As her career continued to develop, Wilbur and Orville spent their time perfecting their design at Kitty Hawk NC. Managing the flyer required many forms of manpower that the brothers had difficulty attaining on their own. It was Katherine that used her connections to gather a few teachers to help them out.
While the brothers continued to work on their newly perfected design, Margaret Goodwin died in 1906, leaving Katherine in a wave of grief once again. Due to this large loss, it made Katherine eager to do something in order to get her mind off of things.
After all of their success in their experiments, the brothers accomplished flight in 1905. However, the brothers needed word of mouth and the help of the media to get a major breakthrough out to the world. Katherine gave the brothers a helping hand and became their executive secretary. This was not the first time that Katherine had managed her brother’s affairs and projects; beforehand she helped run the household, the bicycle shop, and paying bills; all the while she still maintained her teaching job.
As the brothers received more attention and more endeavors were conducted, they secured two contracts to sell their airplanes to the French and the US Army. Things were going well for the two brothers. All the while things back in Ohio were going wrong. Her father’s nephew came down with a nasty edition of typhoid fever, and she took upon the responsibility to nurse him back to health. In addition to her cousin becoming ill, Orville was extremely injured in a flight incident and Katherine spent weeks nursing him back to health and managing the businesses while he recovered.
To make matters worse the Dayton School superintendent started to reduce the salary of female teachers thinking it was the right thing to conserve his own budgets; this ultimately led to Katherine's financial despair; therefore, she had to quit teaching.
Things started to look a bit brighter as both of them recovered and were nursed back to health. Wilbur then invited Katherine and Orville to Europe, and there he proposed to Katherine that she become their official social manager, with an official salary for her service so that she could leave her teaching job.
As the brother’s social manager, Katherine had to carry out many duties in her new job. She spent time learning French in order to communicate with business correspondents. She endured many brutal meetings with businessmen that were not the kindest, along with the atrocities of the selfish rich.
Eventually, the Wright company became overtaken by American investors and then Orville sold it in 1915. Because of this, Katherine stepped down from her position as a social manager. To fill her time she became indulged in volunteering and fighting for women’s rights. Katherine passed away due to pneumonia in 1929.
Time fades the faces in history, leaving behind generations of messages, explorations, and accomplishments. But let us not forget Katherine Wright. Her undying support, determination, and love for her family propelled aviation to the success that we know it is today.
Works Cited “Katharine Wright.” Www.wright-Brothers.org, www.wright-brothers.org/Information_Desk/Just_the_Facts/Wright_Family/Katharine_Wright/Katharine_Wright.htm. “Katharine Wright (U.S. National Park Service).” Www.nps.gov, www.nps.gov/people/katharine-wright.htm. “Katharine Wright — Aviation’s Unsung Heroine.” Christies.com, Christies, 14 June 2018, www.christies.com/features/Katharine-Wright-Aviations-unsung-heroine-9222-1.aspx. Ruffing, Katherine, and Dorothy Cochrane. “Katharine Wright: The Wright Sister.” Airandspace.si.edu, 31 Mar. 2023, airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/katharine-wright-wright-sister.
Very interesting I never knew they had a sister. Thank you for sharing.😀