Kathleen Culman Ridder (October 2, 1922 – April 3, 2017) was an American philanthropist, educator, writer, and feminist. She graduated from

University of Minnesota Duluth The University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) is a public university in Duluth, Minnesota. It is part of the University of Minnesota system and offers 16 bachelor's degrees in 88 majors, graduate programs in 25 different fields, and a two-year progr ...

as a teacher, advocated for women's athletic programs at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

, and was a benefactor of

Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey The Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey team plays for the University of Minnesota at the Twin Cities campus in Minneapolis. The team is one of the members of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) and competes in the National C ...

. She was active in Republican politics, supported the

Equal Rights Amendment The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution designed to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex. Proponents assert it would end legal distinctions between men and ...

, and later turned to writing and philanthropy to help her causes. She was married to

Robert Ridder Robert Blair Ridder (July 21, 1919 – June 24, 2000) was an American ice hockey administrator, media businessman, and philanthropist. He was the founding president of the Minnesota Hockey, Minnesota Amateur Hockey Association, and managed the ...

, and is a namesake of the

Ridder Arena Ridder may refer to: Places *DeRidder, Louisiana, city in US state of Louisiana *Ridder, Kazakhstan, settlement in Kazakhstan (named for Philip Ridder) Things *Ridder (title), Dutch and Belgian title equivalent to knight * Knight Ridder, newspaper ...

Early life

Ridder was born Kathleen Marie Culman on October 2, 1922, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Her father was a

stockbroker A stockbroker is a regulated broker, broker-dealer, or registered investment adviser (in the United States) who may provide financial advisory and investment management services and execute transactions such as the purchase or sale of stocks an ...

who went broke during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, and her mother worked in a dress shop to support the household. Ridder was active in sports in her youth, attended the all-girls

Brearley School The Brearley School is an all-girls private school in New York City, located on the Upper East Side neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan. The school is divided into lower (kindergarten – grade 4), middle (grades 5–8) and upper (grades 9 ...

, and later went to

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...

. After college she married

, who was part of the family which founded

Knight Ridder Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. Until it was bought by McClatchy on June 27, 2006, it was the second largest newspaper publisher in the United States, with 32 daily newspaper brand ...

media company, and moved with him to

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

in 1943. She resided in

Duluth , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...

with her husband while she completed a teacher's degree at the

, then relocated to

Saint Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

Activism

Ridder dedicated her life to fighting for women's access to opportunities in education and athletics, that she did not have as a young lady who grew up before

Title IX Title IX is the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other educat ...

came into effect. Ridder felt that supporting women's athletics was a means to help women succeed in life, and in the business world. She volunteered on the boards of non-profit organizations, and multiple committees at the

while being an advocate for women. Ridder supported the Republican Party, embraced

civil and political rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...

, was opposed to United States involvement in the Vietnam War, supported legalized

abortion in the United States Abortion in the United States and its territories is a divisive issue in American politics and culture wars, with widely different abortion laws in U.S. states. Since 1976, the Republican Party has generally sought to restrict abortion ac ...

LGBT rights in the United States Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights in the United States are among the most socially, culturally, and legally permissive and advanced in the world, with public opinion and jurisprudence on the issue changing significantly si ...

, and the proposed

at the

1980 Republican National Convention The 1980 Republican National Convention convened at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan, from July 14 to July 17, 1980. The Republican National Convention nominated retired Hollywood actor and former Governor Ronald Reagan of California for pre ...

. Ridder befriended

Rosalie E. Wahl Sara Rosalie Wahl (née Erwin; August 27, 1924 – July 22, 2013) was an American lawyer and judge and the first woman to serve on the Minnesota Supreme Court. Early life of adversity and tragedy Born in Caney, Kansas, Wahl suffered several tr ...

as the first female on the

Minnesota Supreme Court The Minnesota Supreme Court is the Supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The court hears cases in the Supreme Court chamber in the Minnesota State Capitol or in the nearby Minnesota Judicial Center. History The court wa ...

, funded a book about Wahl and a

Twin Cities Public Television Twin Cities Public Television, Inc. (abbreviated TPT, doing business as Twin Cities PBS) is a nonprofit organization based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, that operates the Twin Cities' two PBS member television stations, KTCA-TV (channe ...

documentary about Wahl. Ridder collaborated with

Marlene Johnson Marlene Johnson (born January 11, 1946) is an American politician and businesswoman who served as the 42nd lieutenant governor of Minnesota, the first woman to hold the office. She was elected as the running mate of Governor Rudy Perpich and s ...

in 1982 to set up the Minnesota Women's Campaign Fund, in an effort to encourage more women in political office. Ridder's other involvement included serving on the

Metropolitan Council The Metropolitan Council, commonly abbreviated Met Council or Metro Council, is the regional governmental agency and metropolitan planning organization in Minnesota serving the Twin Cities seven-county metropolitan area, accounting for over 55 pe ...

, the Minnesota State Board of Human Rights, the Saint Paul Urban League, and the Minnesota Foundation Board of Trustees. She also sat on the board of trustees for the

William Mitchell College of Law William Mitchell College of Law was a private, independent law school located in St. Paul, Minnesota, United States, from 1956 to 2015. Accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA), it offered full- and part-time legal education in pursuit of ...

Philanthropy

In 1983, Ridder established the first endowment awarded to a female student-athlete at the University of Minnesota, known as the Kathleen C. Ridder scholarship for studies in math, medicine, or science. The University of Minnesota also awards the "Kathleen C. and Robert B. Ridder Scholarship" annually to a student athlete on the Golden Gophers women's ice hockey team. Ridder and her husband helped build the first women's-only college ice hockey facility, and which became the

, home to the

. The Ridders gifted $500,000 towards the project which opened in 2002, and remained the sole facility dedicated to college women's ice hockey until the

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin). They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivisi ...

opened

LaBahn Arena LaBahn Arena is the home ice of the Wisconsin Badgers women's ice hockey team. It was the second arena to be purpose-built for a women's collegiate hockey team; the first was Minnesota's Ridder Arena. The arena is connected via a tunnel to the Ko ...

in 2010. Robert Ridder died in 2000 before the arena's completion, but Kathleen Ridder attended the opening night and dropped the ceremonial first puck.

Publications

Ridder authored a total of seven books and articles, including three autobiographical books of her life: Books *''Kathleen Incorporated''. (1990). Privately published, St. Paul Minnesota. *''A Woman Ahead of her Time''. (1995). Privately published, St. Paul Minnesota. *''Shaping My Feminist Life: A Memoir''. (1998).

Minnesota Historical Society The Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) is a nonprofit educational and cultural institution dedicated to preserving the history of the U.S. state of Minnesota. It was founded by the territorial legislature in 1849, almost a decade before statehoo ...

Press. *''Stories by Minnesota women in sports: leveling the playing field''. (2005).

St. Cloud, Minnesota St. Cloud is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the largest population center in the state's central region. The population was 68,881 at the 2020 census, making it Minnesota's 12th-largest city. St. Cloud is the county seat of Stear ...

. North Star Press Articles *''Kathleen C. Ridder papers, 1978–1985''. Minnesota Historical Society. *''The Women's Institute and how it revived downtown St. Paul: speakers, style shows, and 12,000 shoppers''. (1997). Ramsey County history. Vol 32, no. 3. *''A win at Wimbledon in 1959: links, courts, lanes, diamonds: Ramsey County's women athletes and their history of success''. (1998). Ramsey County history. Vol 33, no. 3.

Later life

Ridder was married to Robert for 56 years, until his death in 2000. She moved to Florida in 2008. She died at home in

Lantana, Florida Lantana is a town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is 37 miles north from Fort Lauderdale. This town is part of the Miami metropolitan area. The population was 10,423 at the 2010 United States Census. History The first settlers c ...

on April 3, 2017.

Honors and awards

Ridder was inducted into the University of Minnesota M Club Hall of Fame in 1990 as a benefactor, and received the Director's Award in 2004 in recognition of her generosity and service to the

Minnesota Golden Gophers The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 25 (12 men's, 13 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and competes in the Big Te ...

sports programs. The

American Hockey Coaches Association The American Hockey Coaches Association was formed in 1947 in Boston. The founding members coached college ice hockey but membership has grown to include coaches at every level of the sport from youth hockey to professional ice hockey, although ...

recognized Ridder and her late husband in 2009 with the Joe Burke Award, for dedication to women's ice hockey.

References

External links

Kathleen Ridder tribute video (1922–2017) on YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ridder, Kathleen 1922 births 2017 deaths 20th-century American essayists 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American philanthropists 21st-century American essayists 21st-century American women writers Activists from Minnesota American feminist writers American suffragists American women educators American women essayists Brearley School alumni Educators from Minnesota Educators from New York City Ice hockey people from Minnesota Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey Minnesota Republicans People from Lantana, Florida Philanthropists from Minnesota Philanthropists from New York (state) Ridder family Smith College alumni Sportspeople from the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area University of Minnesota Duluth alumni Writers from New York City Writers from Saint Paul, Minnesota