Katherine Peden, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Katherine Peden

first woman appointed as the Commissioner of Commerce in Kentucky

Date of Birth: 02-Jan-1926

Place of Birth: Hopkinsville, Kentucky, United States

Date of Death: 08-Jan-2006

Profession: official

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Capricorn

Katherine Graham Peden (January 2, 1926 – January 8, 2006) was the first woman appointed as the Commissioner of Commerce in Kentucky.
Peden was engaged in economic growth policy making at the national and state level during the 1960s and 70s.
She was appointed to advisory positions by United States Presidents John F.
Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Jimmy Carter during a time that few women were selected to serve in these positions.
Peden was the only woman on the Kerner Commission that investigated the race riots in the United States in the mid 1960s.In May of 1968, Katherine Peden, won the Democratic primary for Senate over John Y.
Brown Sr.
of Lexington.
She was the first woman in Kentucky to win a statewide senate primary.
Peden lost the general that fall to Marlow Cook by a 51-49 margin.In 1969 she was appointed to the board of directors of MeadWestvaco, then called Westvaco, becoming one of the first women in the nation named to a Fortune 500 company board of directors.
Peden was the national president of the National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs in 1961.