Katharine Conway, Journalist & Editor: Irish Women of Massachusetts

Katharine Conway

(1853 – 1927)

Born in Rochester, NY to Irish parents, Conway was a noted poet and journalist working in Western New York. She became co-editor of the Boston Pilot under John Boyle O’Reilly and then became the first woman editor of the paper in 1904. She became prominent in Boston, serving on the Mass Prison Commission board and as a trustee for the Boston Public Library. She was an officer in the New England Women’s Press Association, and a Professor of Journalism at Notre Dame University, which also awarded her the prestigious Laetare Medal.

Katharine Conway is part of BITA's 2019 Irish Women of Massachusetts series in celebration of Irish Heritage Month and Women's History Month.

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Irish Boston History & Heritage

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