Katharine Kennedy Brown (1891-1986), born in
Dayton, was a leading figure in local, state, and
national Republican politics. Soon after the 19th
Amendment was passed In 1920, she earned a seat
on the Montgomery County Republican Executive
Committee. She moved up to the Ohio State
Republican Central Committee in 1928 and to the
Republican National Committee in 1932, and
served on both until 1968. She founded the first
Republican Women's Club in the county.
As president of the Ohio Federation of Republican
Women from 1940-1971, Katharine Kennedy Brown
presided over a rise in membership that, by 1970,
included 40,000 women in 369 clubs. Brown was an
advisor to many prominent Republican office
holders, including Senator Robert Taft, Governor
James Rhodes, and President Richard Nixon. In
1921, she married Kleon Thaw Brown (1886-1925).
Mrs. Brown was a director of the Dayton Art Institute
from 1930 to 1947 and helped found the Comedy Club
of Dayton, active from 1916 until 1925.
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