Katharine McCormick American biologist, suffragette, philanthropist Date of Birth: 27.08.1875 Country: USA

Biography of Catherine McCormick

Catherine Dexter McCormick was an American biologist, suffragist, and philanthropist, best known for funding the research that led to the development of the first oral contraceptives.

Early Life and Education
Catherine Dexter was born on August 27, 1875, in Dexter, Michigan, in the family mansion known as Gordon Hall. She grew up in Chicago, where her father, Wirt Dexter, was a well-known lawyer. Unfortunately, her father passed away when Catherine was only 14 years old, and she and her mother, Josephine Dexter, soon moved to Boston. Tragedy struck again when her 25-year-old brother, Samuel Dexter, died from meningitis four years later.

Career and Activism
In 1904, Catherine became the second woman to attend and the first woman to receive a scientific degree, a Bachelor's degree in biology, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She had plans to attend medical school but instead married Stanley McCormick, the younger son of Cyrus McCormick, who had made a fortune with the company 'International Harvester'. They married on September 15, 1904, and a year later, they moved to Brookline, Massachusetts.

However, Stanley began exhibiting signs of a progressive mental disorder, and in September 1906, he was admitted to the McLean Hospital, where he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. In June 1908, Stanley was transferred to Riven Rock, the McCormick estate in Montecito, California, where his older sister, Mary Virginia McCormick, had previously lived until she was moved to a specialized facility. In 1909, Stanley was declared legally incompetent, and Catherine and his family shared guardianship over him.

Catherine McCormick was an active suffragist and became the vice president and treasurer of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. She financed the association's journal, 'Woman's Journal,' and played a significant role in the passage of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, granting women the right to vote. In 1920, she became the vice president of the League of Women Voters.

Philanthropy and Contributions to Science
Through her work with suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt, Catherine McCormick became acquainted with other social activists, including Margaret Sanger, the founder of the American Birth Control League. Together with Sanger, McCormick smuggled vaginal diaphragms from Europe to New York City for research purposes. In 1927, she hosted delegates from the World Population Conference at her house in Geneva.

McCormick established the Neuroendocrine Research Foundation at the Harvard Medical School and subsidized the publication of the journal 'Endocrinology.' She inherited over 10 million dollars from her mother's estate in 1937, and in 1947, Stanley passed away, leaving her an inheritance exceeding 35 million dollars.

Later Life and Legacy
In 1953, Catherine McCormick met Gregory Goodwin Pincus, who had been working on hormonal birth control methods. She agreed to finance Pincus's research on oral contraceptives. In the summer of 1960, the first oral contraceptives became available in the United States.

Catherine McCormick passed away on December 28, 1967, at the age of 92. In her will, she bequeathed 5 million dollars to the Stanford University School of Medicine to support women physicians, 5 million dollars to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and 1 million dollars to the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology. She was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame in 2000.