KATHARINE GRAHAM
Name: Katharine Graham
Born: 16 June 1917
Died: 17 July 2001
Katharine Meyer Graham (June 16, 1917 - July 17, 2001) was an American publisher.
She led her family's newspaper, The Washington Post, for more than two decades,
overseeing its most famous period, the Watergate coverage that eventually led to
the resignation of President Richard Nixon.
Graham's father, Eugene Meyer, was a financier and, later, a public official. He
bought The Washington Post in 1933 at a bankruptcy auction. Her mother, Agnes
Ernst, was a bohemian intellectual, art lover and political activist in the
Republican Party, who shared friendships with people as diverse as Auguste Rodin,
Marie Curie, Albert Einstein and Eleanor Roosevelt, and worked as a newspaper
reporter at a time when journalism was an uncommon profession among women.
Graham lived a privileged childhood. Her parents owned several homes across the
country, but primarily lived between a veritable 'castle' in Mount Kisco, New
York and a smaller home in Washington, D.C. Graham often did not see much of her
parents during her childhood, as both traveled and socialized extensively, and
was raised in part by nannies, governesses and tutors. As a young adult, Graham
felt she had been sheltered by such privilege.
Her elder sister Florence Meyer (1911-1962) was a successful photographer and
wife of actor Oscar Homolka.
Graham was an alumna of The Madeira School (to which her father had donated much
land) and attended Vassar College before transferring to the University of
Chicago. In Chicago, she became quite interested in labor issues and shared
friendships with people from walks of life very different from her own. After
graduation, she worked for a short period at a San Francisco newspaper where,
among other things, she helped cover a major strike by wharf workers.
Graham began working for the Post in 1938. While in Washington D.C., Kay met an
old schoolmate, Will Lang Jr. The two dated, but broke off the relationship due
to conflicting interests.
Name: Katharine Graham
Born: 16 June 1917
Died: 17 July 2001
Katharine Meyer Graham (June 16, 1917 - July 17, 2001) was an American publisher.
She led her family's newspaper, The Washington Post, for more than two decades,
overseeing its most famous period, the Watergate coverage that eventually led to
the resignation of President Richard Nixon.
Graham's father, Eugene Meyer, was a financier and, later, a public official. He
bought The Washington Post in 1933 at a bankruptcy auction. Her mother, Agnes
Ernst, was a bohemian intellectual, art lover and political activist in the
Republican Party, who shared friendships with people as diverse as Auguste Rodin,
Marie Curie, Albert Einstein and Eleanor Roosevelt, and worked as a newspaper
reporter at a time when journalism was an uncommon profession among women.
Graham lived a privileged childhood. Her parents owned several homes across the
country, but primarily lived between a veritable 'castle' in Mount Kisco, New
York and a smaller home in Washington, D.C. Graham often did not see much of her
parents during her childhood, as both traveled and socialized extensively, and
was raised in part by nannies, governesses and tutors. As a young adult, Graham
felt she had been sheltered by such privilege.
Her elder sister Florence Meyer (1911-1962) was a successful photographer and
wife of actor Oscar Homolka.
Graham was an alumna of The Madeira School (to which her father had donated much
land) and attended Vassar College before transferring to the University of
Chicago. In Chicago, she became quite interested in labor issues and shared
friendships with people from walks of life very different from her own. After
graduation, she worked for a short period at a San Francisco newspaper where,
among other things, she helped cover a major strike by wharf workers.
Graham began working for the Post in 1938. While in Washington D.C., Kay met an
old schoolmate, Will Lang Jr. The two dated, but broke off the relationship due
to conflicting interests.