The Wright Sister: Katharine Wright and her Famous Brothers

by Richard Maurer

Overview

Not many people know that the Wright brothers had a sister, Katharine Wright. She supported her high-flying, inventor brothers through their aviation triumphs and struggles. This is her story.

On a chill December day in 1903, a young woman came home from her teaching job in Dayton, Ohio, to find a telegram waiting for her. The woman was Katharine Wright; the telegram, from her brother Orville, announced the first successful airplane flight in history. In this, the first authoritative biography of the Wright brothers’ sister, Richard Maurer tells Katharine’s story. Smart and well-educated, she was both confidant and caregiver to her bachelor brothers, managing many of their affairs, traveling with them on frequent trips to demonstrate and promote their invention, and caring for them when they were sick from disease and injury. In doing so, she gave up her ambitions as a teacher and her early hopes of marriage. Only in middle age, when the Wrights’ fame and fortune were secure, did she find personal happiness, with a man she had met years before in college—something that was to cost her the affection of her surviving brother Orville, who had come to depend on her, and who disowned her after her marriage.

Richard Maurer’s account of this little-known but pivotal member of the Wright family is based on an in-depth study of her personal papers and of the Wright family archives. Katharine’s portrayal of family life in the Wright household, her descriptions of the wondrous early days of flight, and her intimate recollection of her reclusive, publicity-shy brothers cast a unique and fascinating light on one of the twentieth century’s great technical achievements and two of its most famous men.

The Wright Sister: Katharine Wright and her Famous Brothers by Richard Maurer is the acclaimed, first complete biography of the Wright Brothers' sister.

“Maurer ably handles all aspects of Katharine's life, from explanations of flight . . . to the love letters she exchanged with an old college friend.” —The New York Times

“She emerges as a vivacious, supremely competent woman. . . . A perpetually rewarding and illuminating read, illustrated with black-and-white period photographs.” —Publishers Weekly

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250073433
Publisher:	Square Fish
Publication date:	01/26/2016
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	311,406
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.30(d)
Lexile:	1010L (what's this?)
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Richard Maurer is the author of The Wild Colorado and Airborne: The Search for the Secret of Flight, winner of the American Institute of Physics Science Writing Award. A native of West Texas, he lives in central Massachusetts with his wife, a famous book designer.

Table of Contents

Part 1 December 17, 1903 9

Part 2 Taking Off 21

Part 3 The Journey 51

Part 4 The Arrival 91

Author's Note 120

Source 123

Index 126

Credits 128

Editorial Reviews

Maurer shows all the ways Katharine refused to live in the shadow of her brothers, no matter how high-flying they were.” —The New York Times
“Maurer seizes the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the flight at Kitty Hawk to examine the role of Wilbur and Orville Wright's older sister, Katharine, and in the process liberates her from the obscurity history often assigns those whose sacrifices and support enable others to triumph. Where Jane Yolen's My Brothers' Flying Machine (reviewed above), for the picture-book crowd, casts Katharine as a narrator of her brothers' story, Maurer's dynamic biography explores the woman as a subject in her own right. Katharine began keeping house for her father and brothers at the age of 14 (when her mother died), and Maurer depicts her as neither drudge nor martyr; she emerges as a vivacious, supremely competent woman. The only member of her family to graduate from college, she was nevertheless expected to continue to care for her father and unmarried brothers-acting as secretary as well as managing the household-while she also taught school. Excerpts from her correspondence demonstrate how Katharine sails through these challenges, enthusiastically maintaining a social and intellectual life as she encouraged and aided her brothers, and, later, charmed European dignitaries and royals. The author also discusses the Wright Brothers' accomplishments and, engrossingly, uses family letters to paint a picture of the household dynamics. The relationships merit scrutiny: Orville disowned Katherine when, in middle age, she finally married. A perpetually rewarding and illuminating read, illustrated with black-and-white period photographs.” —Publishers Weekly

“Written for an older audience than the one for Jane Yolen's My Brothers' Flying Machine, this handsome biography also spotlights the inventors' sister. Katharine Wright ran the household for her older brothers and their father during the years when Orville and Wilbur were developing and promoting their airplane. A graduate of Oberlin College, she gave up her career as a teacher to help them turn their airplane from a curiosity into a viable business. Clearly reflecting the societal rules and expectations of the time, the book portrays Katharine as an intelligent woman, valued for her role within the family, yet restricted by it. Even her brothers emerge as individuals here rather than the interchangeable "Wright brothers" found in many presentations. Quotations from diaries and letters bring the close-knit Wright family to life, making it all the more poignant when readers discover that Orville refused to see Katharine after her marriage at the age of 52, relenting only when she was on her deathbed. The layout is spacious, and the many well-chosen, black-and-white photos help visualize the Wrights and their times. An author's note and an extensive list of sources are appended.” —Booklist, Starred Review

“Working from Katharine Wright's papers, correspondence, and family archives, Maurer chronicles the events surrounding Wilbur and Orville, while all along filling in the details of their younger sister's life and the relationship among the three. This strong young woman took over running the household at age 15 when her mother died. Encouraged to pursue a higher education by her father, a bishop, she graduated from Oberlin College and later became its second female trustee. Her teaching career did seem to take a backseat to managing her brothers' affairs and appointments after their historic flight. To some observers, and as Maurer establishes, she was "the third member of the team." But he dispels, as Katharine did, the notion that she actually sewed the muslin to cover the wings and measured the wood to build the Flyer. The Wright Sister is a handsome piece of bookmaking. Maurer has found photographs not used elsewhere that help to focus on Katharine and give this treatment a unique touch.” —School Library Journal

“This is an important biography of a woman who also had the Wright stuff.” —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher