Marie Louise Hilson Katzenbach (December 8, 1882 – February 4, 1970) was an American educator who was the first female president of the

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

State Board of Education. Marie Louise Hilson was born in 1882 in

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.Casimir Pulaski Kazimierz Michał Władysław Wiktor Pułaski of the Ślepowron coat of arms (; ''Casimir Pulaski'' ; March 4 or March 6, 1745 Makarewicz, 1998 October 11, 1779) was a Polish nobleman, soldier, and military commander who has been called, tog ...

to America and settled in Trenton in 1778, and Moore Furman (1728–1808), the first mayor of Trenton. She attended the Trenton Model School and at 18 went to work at an

orphanage An orphanage is a Residential education, residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the Childcare, care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parent ...

, the Union Industrial Home. She pushed for the children at the home to be educated in public schools, and when she joined the Board of Managers in 1913, she advocated for psychiatric treatment and special education."Women in Education"
, New Jersey Education Association. Accessed June 28, 2008. She also worked as a librarian at the Trenton Free Library for 10 years, serving as chief of the cataloguing department.
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', February 5, 1970. Accessed June 26, 2008. In November 1911 she married Edward L. Katzenbach, who would go on to serve as

Attorney General of New Jersey The attorney general of New Jersey is a member of the executive cabinet of the state and oversees the Department of Law and Public Safety. The office is appointed by the governor of New Jersey, confirmed by the New Jersey Senate, and term limited. ...

from 1924 to 1929. They had two sons: Edward Lawrence Katzenbach, Jr. (February 24, 1919 – April 23, 1974), who served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Education and Manpower Resources under

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

, and

Nicholas Katzenbach Nicholas deBelleville Katzenbach (January 17, 1922 – May 8, 2012) was an American lawyer who served as United States Attorney General during the Lyndon B. Johnson administration. He previously served as United States Deputy Attorney General u ...

(January 17, 1922 – May 8, 2012),

United States Attorney General The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

and

Under Secretary of State Under Secretary of State (U/S) is a title used by senior officials of the United States Department of State who rank above the Assistant Secretaries and below the Deputy Secretary. From 1919 to 1972, the Under Secretary was the second-ranking of ...

under

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

. In 1921 she was appointed to the State Board of Education. Two years later she was named to the board for the New Jersey School for the Deaf and was involved in the planning of the school's Trenton campus. She would remain associated with the school for the rest of her life, and in 1965 it was renamed the

Marie H. Katzenbach School for the Deaf Marie H. Katzenbach School for the Deaf (MKSD), also known as the New Jersey School for the Deaf and Blind, initially the New Jersey State Institution for the Deaf , is a K-12 statewide school in West Trenton, Ewing Township, New Jersey. Its age r ...

in her honor. During her tenure on the State Board of Education she was instrumental in the formation of the state college system, helping to transform two-year normal schools into four-year colleges. She also pushed for the designation of

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...

as the State University in 1955, taking particular interest in developing

Douglass College Douglass Residential College, is an undergraduate, non degree granting higher education program of Rutgers University-New Brunswick for women. It succeeded the liberal arts degree-granting Douglass College after it was merged with the other unde ...

for women. Katzenbach Hall, a residential hall on the Douglass Campus built in 1963, is named for her."Building History"
,

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

. Accessed June 26, 2008. In 1956 Katzenbach became the first woman to head the State Board of Education. She remained active on the Board until 1964, when, at the age 81, she was seriously injured when her car ran into the education building. She died in 1970 at the age of 87 at her home in

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Katzenbach, Edward L. 1882 births 1970 deaths People from Trenton, New Jersey School board members in New Jersey 20th-century American educators American people of French descent Educators from New Jersey 20th-century American women educators Katzenbach family