Katherine Peden

Katherine Graham Peden was born in Hopkinsville, Kentucky in 1926. Her father, William Edward Peden (1887–1973), was a construction supervisor; and, her mother, Mary Gorin Peden (1890–1972), was a school teacher. She graduated from Hopkinsville High School. She was a member of the First Christian Church of Hopkinsville. Her professional career started in 1944 when she went to work at radio station WHOP (AM). She became general manager of the station and owner of WNVL in Nicholasville, Kentucky. She also worked as the national sales manager for five CBS television stations. == National and State Leadership ==

Federation of Business and Professional Women's Club Peden, first a member of the Hopkinsville local chapter, was elected the national president of National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Club (BPW) in 1961. By the end of her four years in that position, "150,000 new jobs had been created, unemployment in Kentucky was cut in half and personal income had increased by 30 percent." President Johnson appointment to Kerner Commission 1967 Peden was the only woman on the Kerner Commission that investigated the race riots in the United States in the mid-1960s. Peden lost the general election to Republican Marlow Cook of Louisville by a 51.4 to 47.6 percent margin. In 1968 Peden started her own company, Peden and Associates, which specialized in industrial and community development and brokerage. President Carter appointment 1978 President Jimmy Carter appointed her in 1978 to the Executive Committee of the White House Conference on Balanced Growth and Economic Development. == Death and legacy ==

Peden died in Lexington, Kentucky on January 8, 2006, after a long illness. She is buried at Riverside Cemetery near her parents' graves in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. The Phelps Dodge Company was recruited by Peden to Hopkinsville and upon the development of the first Pembroke Road Industrial Park, a street is named in her honor. In 1996, the Industrial Development Research Council, an association of corporate and real estate executives and development professionals now known as the International Development Research Council, designated her "Master Professional"—the first woman with this title. == References ==