Kathryn Elizabeth Slaughter Wittichen (January 8, 1896 – June 22, 1985) was an American socialite and clubwoman. She was a leader in various women's organizations, serving as president of the

Miami Women's Club The Miami Women's Club is a historic site in Miami, Florida, Miami, Florida. It is located at 1737 North Bayshore Drive. On December 27, 1974, it was added to the United States, U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The organization has face ...

from 1938 to 1939 and as president general of the

United Daughters of the Confederacy The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) is an American neo-Confederate hereditary association for female descendants of Confederate Civil War soldiers engaging in the commemoration of these ancestors, the funding of monuments to them, a ...

from 1957 to 1960. In 1962, Wittichen founded the

Southern Dames of America The National Society Southern Dames of America (often abbreviated as SDA or NSSDA) is a lineage society and charitable organization for women of Southern United States, Southern heritage that supports Ophthalmology, ophthalmic research and promote ...

Biography

Wittichen was elected as the president of the

in 1938. During her first year in office, the club's building was faced with foreclosure. Due to her efforts, the club secured it's permanent home in a five-story building. She served as the president of the Florida Division of the

from 1952 to 1954. In 1954, she advocated for referring to the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

as the "

War Between the States War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organize ...

" and falsely claimed that the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), also known as the Confederate States (C.S.), the Confederacy, or Dixieland, was an List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United State ...

was a separate nation from the United States instead of an unrecognized breakaway within the Union. In 1957, she was elected as President General of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and served in that capacity until 1960. Shortly after her election, the United Daughters of the Confederacy were faced with a $30,000 deficit on their new headquarters, the

Memorial to the Women of the Confederacy The Memorial to the Women of the Confederacy, also known as the U.D.C. Memorial Building, is a historic building located in Richmond, Virginia, that serves as the national headquarters of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. It was listed o ...

. Wittichen called the society's executive committee together for emergency action and asked every member of the UDC to contribute $1.00 towards paying off the deficit. The new headquarters was paid off in 1958. Wittichen was also a member of the

Daughters of the American Revolution The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (often abbreviated as DAR or NSDAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a patriot of the American Revolutionary War. A non-p ...

, the

National Society of Daughters of Founders and Patriots of America The National Society of Daughters of Founders and Patriots of America (often abbreviated as NSDFPA) is a lineage society for women who directly descend from an American colonist who arrived in the colonies between May 13, 1607, and May 13, 1687, a ...

, the

Daughters of Colonial Wars The National Society Daughters of Colonial Wars (often abbreviated as NSDCW) is a List of hereditary and lineage organizations in the United States, lineage society for women who descend from American colonists that lived between 1607 and 1775 and ...

, and the

Order of the First Families of Virginia The Order of the First Families of Virginia was instituted on 11 May 1912 "to promote historical, biographical, and genealogical researches concerning Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in ...

. She lived in

Coral Gables, Florida Coral Gables is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida and is located southwest of Greater Downtown Miami, Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

. She and her husband, Murray Forbes Wittichen, were charter members of the Historical Association of Southern Florida.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wittichen, Kathryn Slaughter 1896 births 1985 deaths American socialites American women company founders Clubwomen Daughters of the American Revolution people Daughters of Colonial Wars Daughters of Founders and Patriots of America Founders of lineage societies People from Coral Gables, Florida Presidents General of the United Daughters of the Confederacy