author
Kate Stephens
1853–1938
A pioneering classics scholar and writer, she became the first woman to chair a department at the University of Kansas and later turned her energy toward essays, fiction, and outspoken advocacy for women's rights.
1 Audiobook
American Thumb-prints: Mettle of Our Men and Women
by Kate Stephens
About the author
Born in Moravia, New York, in 1853, she studied at the University of Kansas and built an early academic career there. She taught Greek and, in 1888, became the first woman to earn a Ph.D. from the university. She also broke new ground as the first woman to chair a department at KU.
Her life reached well beyond the classroom. She wrote on literature, education, and public life, and she was known as a strong supporter of women's suffrage and broader rights for women. Her work combined scholarship with a clear interest in social progress.
As an author, she published essays, stories, and longer works that reflected both historical learning and contemporary concerns. She died in 1938, remembered as a teacher, writer, and one of the notable early women in American higher education.