JANUARY 2008

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Kate Gleason:

The Ideal

Business

Woman

8 | The ROCHESTER ENGINEER | JANUARY 2008

The above inscription was found within a book that was later donated to the Cary Collection of the RIT Library by the family.

Who was Kate Gleason and how had she gained such respect and admiration from the suffrage movement leader? What were her achievements and what may have been her inspirations during a time when women did not even have the right to vote? And how is she serving as an inspiration for engineers today? These questions and more will be explored in order to share with you the basis by which she was termed an ideal business woman during her lifetime and an exceptional innovator and entrepreneur today.

Catherine Anselm Gleason was born in Rochester during 1865, the same year that Abraham Lincoln was assassinated and the Civil War ended. Her parents, William Gleason and Ellen McDermott Gleason, each emigrated from Ireland to Rochester with their respective families while still in their youths. As a teenager, William became an apprentice and eventually achieved the status of mechanic and tool maker. He married and became a widower, leaving him alone with his young son, Tom. He wed for a second time to Ellen and opened his first machine shop in 1865, shortly before Catherine was born. Catherine was the first of their four children (James, Andrew, and Eleanor).

While growing up in Rochester, Catherine who was commonly called “Kate” was an active, strong-willed child and a proverbial tomboy. She was also intelligent and mechanically inclined, beginning to read

books regarding machines and engineering at the age of nine. Her older half brother, Tom, had become his father’s helper in the machine shop. When Kate was eleven years old, Tom developed typhoid and died. The family was distraught over their loss and her father found himself without a helper or the income to hire a suitable replacement. In his anguish, Kate’s father discussed the situation with her mother and she overheard him make the statement “if only Kate were a boy.”

What happened next was a singular moment in Kate Gleason’s life. A few days after overhearing her father’s comment, an eleven year old Kate went to his shop to ask him if she could work there and remarkably, he agreed. It is not coincidental that both of her

parents supported the women’s suffrage movement. Ellen was a dedicated suffragist and close personal friend of Susan B. Anthony. Thus began Kate’s career in 1877 within the tool machining industry which lead to her eventually becoming one of the first women engineers in the United States. To establish an historical context for 1877, five years earlier Anthony was arrested for voting in Rochester, indicted in Albany, and tried in Canandaigua. During her trial, the judge ordered the all male jury (women could not lawfully serve as jurors) to find her guilty.

After hearing her father wish she had been a boy, Kate worked very hard and became an asset to the growing business. At the age of fourteen, she requested the company bookkeeping position and her father agreed. As her brothers got older, they too joined the business. In 1884, she became the first women engineering student to enroll in the Mechanical Arts program at Cornell University. Kate’s father was forced to hire an expensive employee to fill her position, eventually causing the firm to struggle financially and she was summoned home. Health issues ended a later return to Cornell and she never graduated, although she earned the title of engineer through training and self-learning.

The realization that she lived in a world that valued men above women did not discourage Kate; rather it compelled her to work harder and take greater risks than her peers. In 1893, at the age of 27 (Figure 1), Kate led sales and finance within the business. When the

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Kate Gleason:The Ideal Business Woman

by Margaret B. Bailey, Ph.D., P.E.

Figure 1

“Kate Gleason, the ideal business woman of whom I dreamed fifty

years ago – A worthy daughter of a noble father. May there be

many such in the years to come is the wish of Yours affectionately,

Susan B. Anthony, Rochester, N.Y., Dec. 2, 1903”

JANUARY 2008 | The ROCHESTER ENGINEER | 9

tool business dried up in the US that year, Kate knew the company’s financial needs and reasoned that the European market was still strong; therefore she decided to expand her sales territory to include Europe. Her voyage took two months one-way and she ultimately returned home with orders from England, Scotland, France, and Germany. This successful trip was among the first attempts by any American manufacturer to globalize their business. To put her achievement in perspective for Gleason Works, the company’s international sales currently account for between two-thirds and three-quarters of their overall sales, therefore her creative business practices made a significant contribution to this long-standing company.

She became very successful in the United States and in Europe, despite her family misgivings about her ability to be taken seriously by men. Somewhat larger than life stories developed about Kate, launching her into further success. Kate worked closely with her brothers, but as she gained fame, she began to inadvertently receive credit for work that was not her own. Kate was also more outgoing and customer-driven than her brothers and she enjoyed publicity, all of which irritated her brothers. In addition, she viewed marriage as a hindrance to her business life, and therefore never settled down with a husband or children. Her behavior, success, and reputation embarrassed her brothers.

In 1913, her brother Andrew gave an ultimatum “either Kate leaves the firm or I do.” Therefore, Kate left Gleason Works and set out on another series of careers adding to her growing list of firsts. In 1914, Kate was the first woman in New York to be named Receiver in Bankruptcy for the Ingle Machine Company in East Rochester. That same year, she was unanimously elected to membership in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers as its first woman member. In 1917, Kate Gleason became President of the First National Bank of East Rochester, another first for an American woman. In later years, Kate left Rochester for business ventures in California and South Carolina. She travelled extensively and eventually purchased an estate in France which

she restored while assisting in the town’s recovery after World War I.

Kate Gleason continues to inspire many who study the story of her life through her associations with Susan B. Anthony and Gleason Works, most notably Jan Gleason whose notes and conversations have been relied upon in the creation of this article. Kate Gleason also serves as an inspirational role model for the engineering students studying within the RIT College named in her honor. Fittingly, the Kate Gleason College of Engineering (KGCOE) is committed to producing engineering graduates who provide innovation in product development, some becoming leaders within our future global engineering

community.

In the past few months, Kate Gleason has been remembered and honored on several occasions within the college. This fall’s kick-off celebration hosted by WE@RIT (Women in Engineering Program) for women RIT engineering students had the theme, “Make Your Own History,” which was reflected by the evening’s speakers. Bonnie-Ann Brigs, Susan B. Anthony House (Figure 2), and this article’s author explored the lives of Anthony and Gleason. Both were pioneers who worked to push the limits of what was considered acceptable behavior for women, and both were not afraid to make history their own. The dinner was attended by a record breaking 72 technically driven women from across the RIT campus (Figure 3). In November, Kate Gleason’s birthday was belatedly celebrated by several hundred members of the KGCOE community (Figure 4). Most recently, in early December, 28 women engineering students toured the Susan B. Anthony House (Figure 5) in hopes of learning more about Kate’s well-known mentor and friend. Kate Gleason was an exceptional innovator and entrepreneur and it is fitting that an increasing number of young engineers and others are interested in learning more from her amazing legacy.

Margaret Bailey, Ph.D., P.E. is the Kate Gleason Endowed Chair & Associate Professor and WE@RIT Executive Director, Kate Gleason College of Engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology, Mechanical Engineering Department

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Figure 2 top; Figure 3

above; Figure 4 to

right, Figure 5 below