The following is republished with permission from WAPUSH Wednesday, part of the campaign to get a Women’s AP US History course in high schools. It was written by Hannah Cevasco.
Born: 3 October 1868, United Kingdom
Died: 21 January 1921
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Kate Herford
NWP suffragist, aviator, inventor
Kate Jane Boeckh (née Herford) was born on October 3, 1868 in England. She immigrated to Canada in 1888 and married August Charles Boeckh in Indiana on November 30, 1889. They had two sons together, Everand, born in 1893 in Illinois, and Victor, born in 1897 in Canada. Charles died suddenly of a stroke in 1909 and Kate subsequently moved to Washington D.C. and became the head of household, listing “own income” as her occupation in the 1910 U.S. Census.
Boeckh was an aviator and inventor who worked on several patents with her son, Everand, including a patent for a monoplane which Everand filed in 1909. She is reported to be one of the earliest female aviators in the U.S. and wanted to inspire fellow flyers. For example, she initiated a public competition and offered a prize to the first aviator in the D.C. area to fly a continuous five mile flight in a plane of their own design over a course she had scouted.
Boeckh was a longtime member of the Congressional Union and became an active fundraiser for the Susan B. Anthony Committee in 1915. In June of 1915, she attended a fair in upstate New York along with other suffragists and drew attention by flying overhead in a biplane she invented and scattering suffragist literature from the sky. After attending a convention in San Francisco in September 1915 to discuss the formation of the Woman’s Political Party, she flew from California to D.C. to convince congress that women were a political force to be reckoned with, distinctive from their husbands, brothers, and fathers whose political views they were presumed to duplicate should women be granted suffrage. On August 23, 1917 she was arrested with five other suffragists for picketing the White House with banners featuring President Wilson’s own words in support of suffrage: “I tell you solemnly, ladies and gentlemen, we cannot postpone justice any longer in these United States” and “I don’t wish to sit down and let any man take care of me without my having at least a voice in it.” They were given a choice between a $25 fine or 30 days in Occoquan but were released awaiting appeal. Boeckh was arrested again while picketing with the same banners on August 28, 1917 on the charge of obstructing traffic. Her $25 bail was paid for by Ann E. Martin, the vice chairman of the executive council for the NWP. Boeckh was one of many suffragists who sued the D.C. jail directors for false imprisonment. Boeck was arrested again in January 1919 for applauding Bertha Arnold’s testimony about her Watchfire for Freedom demonstration and served three days in prison. In November 1919, she presided at a tea held at the NWP headquarters in D.C. for the delegates to the international congress of working women to discuss the position of women in foreign countries. She was one of the NWP hostesses for a reception honoring British militant suffragist Mrs. Pethick Lawrence in October 1920. Less than one year after the passage of the 19th Amendment, Boeckh passed away on January 21, 1921 in Chicago.
Works cited
Ancestry.com. “1901 Census of Canada.”
Ancestry.com. “1910 United States Federal Census.”
Ancestry.com. “Indiana, U.S., Select Marriages Index, 1748-1993.”
Ancestry.com. “New York, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1847-1849, 1907-1936.”
Ancestry.com. “U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918.”
Chicago Daily Tribune. “Women Pickets Out On Bonds Arrested Again.” August 29, 1917.
Cincinnati Enquirer. “Six Suffragists Nabbed: In Front of White House as They Are Carrying Banners.” August 24, 1917.
Evening Star. “Pickets File Plea In Appeal.” December 7, 1917.
Evening Star. “Reported To Be Improving – Condition of Mrs. K. J. Boeckh, Who Is Suffering From Burns.” December 20, 1911.
Evening Star. “Society Column.” November 6, 1919.
Evening Star. “Woman Offers Prize For Local Aviators.” November 21, 1910.
Fleischman, Doris. “Mrs. O. H. P. Belmont Proposes the Woman’s Political Party to Secure Legislative Reforms Desired by Woman Voters.” New York Tribune, May 1, 1915.
Haynes Irwin, Inez. The Story of the Woman’s Party. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1921. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/56701/56701-h/56701-h.htm.
New York Tribune. “Suffrage Pickets Renew the Siege; Six Arrested: White Honse Sentries Are Given Short Shrift by Police – ProQuest.” August 24, 1917.
The Buffalo News. “Buffalo Suffragist Picket Again Arrested.” August 29, 1917.
The Montreal Star. “Briefs By Wire – Sues for $82,000.” July 27, 1921.
The Suffragist. “Ten Picket Cases Heard in District Court of Appeals.” January 12, 1918. Nineteenth Century Collections Online.
The Toronto Star. “Obituary – Charles Boeckh.” June 24, 1909.
The Washington Herald. “Eight Pickets To Press Suit More Firmly.” March 5, 1918.
The Washington Post. “Ten Pickets Arrested.” August 29, 1917.
Times Herald. “Adding Members to Aid Anthony Fund.” February 5, 1915.
Times Herald. “Militant Suff Does Not Look Part, One Bit.” October 27, 1920.
Times Union. “Woman Suffragist in Biplane Creates Sensation.” June 11, 1915.