46 Facts About Katharine Graham

Katharine Meyer Graham was an American newspaper publisher.

Katharine Graham led her family's newspaper, The Washington Post, from 1963 to 1991.

Katharine Graham was the first 20th century female publisher of a major American newspaper and the first woman elected to the board of the Associated Press.

Katharine Graham Meyer was born in 1917 into a wealthy family in New York City, to Agnes Elizabeth and Eugene Meyer.

Katharine Graham's father was a financier and, later, Chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Katharine Graham's grandfather was Marc Eugene Meyer, and her great-grandfather was rabbi Joseph Newmark.

Katharine Graham's father bought The Washington Post in 1933 at a bankruptcy auction.

Katharine Graham's father was of Alsatian Jewish descent, and her mother was a Lutheran whose parents were German immigrants.

Katharine Graham's siblings included Florence, Eugene III, Ruth and Elizabeth Meyer.

Katharine Graham's older sister Florence Meyer was a successful photographer and wife of actor Oscar Homolka.

Katharine Graham attended high school at The Madeira School, then Vassar College before transferring to the University of Chicago.

William Katharine Graham died at 69 on December 20,2017, in his Los Angeles home.

Philip Katharine Graham became publisher of the Post in 1946, when Eugene Meyer handed over the newspaper to his son-in-law.

Katharine Graham was Chairman of the Washington Post Company until his death in 1959, when Philip Graham took that position and the company expanded with the purchases of television stations and Newsweek magazine.

Katharine Graham tried to push lawyer Edward Bennett Williams into the role of Washington DC's first commissioner mayor in 1967.

Katharine Graham was known for a long-time friendship with Warren Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway owned a substantial stake in the Post.

Philip Graham dealt with alcoholism and mental illness throughout his marriage to Katharine.

On Christmas Eve in 1962, Katharine Graham learned her husband was having an affair with Robin Webb, an Australian stringer for Newsweek.

Katharine Graham was sedated, flown back to Washington, and placed in the Chestnut Lodge psychiatric facility in nearby Rockville.

Katharine Graham assumed the reins of the company and of the Post after Philip Graham's suicide.

Katharine Graham held the title of president and was de facto publisher of the paper from September 1963.

Katharine Graham formally held the title of publisher from 1969 to 1979, and that of chairwoman of the board from 1973 to 1991.

Katharine Graham became the first female Fortune 500 CEO in 1972, as CEO of the Washington Post company.

Katharine Graham outlined in her memoir her lack of confidence and distrust in her own knowledge.

Katharine Graham hired Benjamin Bradlee as editor, and cultivated Warren Buffett for his financial advice; he became a major shareholder and something of an eminence grise in the company.

Katharine Graham presided over the Post at a crucial time in its history.

When Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein brought the Watergate story to Bradlee, Katharine Graham supported their investigative reporting and Bradlee ran stories about Watergate when few other news outlets were reporting on the matter.

In conjunction with the Watergate scandal, Katharine Graham was the subject of one of the best-known threats in American journalistic history.

On November 16,1988, Katharine Graham gave a speech titled "Secrecy and the Press" to a packed auditorium at CIA headquarters as part of that agency's Office of Training and Education's Guest Speaker series.

Katharine Graham had strong links to the Rockefeller family, serving both as a member of the Rockefeller University council and as a close friend of the Museum of Modern Art, where she was honored as a recipient of the David Rockefeller Award for enlightened generosity and advocacy of cultural and civic endeavors.

At the University of Chicago, Katherine Katharine Graham has a dormhouse in Max Palevsky Residential Commons named after her.

In 1966, Katharine Graham was the named honoree of Truman Capote's Black and White Ball.

In 1973, Katharine Graham received the Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award as well as an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Colby College.

In 1974, Katharine Graham became the first woman elected to the board of directors at the Associated Press.

In 1975, Graham received the S Roger Horchow Award for Greatest Public Service by a Private Citizen, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards.

In 1987, Katharine Graham won the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism.

In 1988, Katharine Graham was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Katharine Graham found it an amazing story of how Graham was able to succeed in a male-dominated industry.

In 1999, Katharine Graham received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.

In 2000, Katharine Graham was named one of the International Press Institute's 50 World Press Freedom Heroes of the past 50 years.

In 2002, Graham was presented, posthumously, with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W Bush.

In 2002, Katharine Graham was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

In 2017, Katharine Graham was portrayed by Meryl Streep in the Steven Spielberg film The Post.

On July 14,2001, Katharine Graham fell and struck her head while visiting Sun Valley, Idaho; she died three days later at the age of 84.

Katharine Graham's funeral took place at the Washington National Cathedral.

Katharine Graham is buried in historic Oak Hill Cemetery, across the street from her former home in Georgetown.