Gleason, Kate, 1865-1933

Kate Gleason (b. November 25, 1865, Rochester, New York-d. January 9, 1933, Rochester, New York) was and engineer, businesswoman, and philanthropist. Her father was the owner of a machine tool company, Gleason Works, which later became one of the most important makers of gear-cutting machine tools in the world. She received her degree at the Rochester at the Mechanics Institute, later renamed Rochester Institute of Technology. Due to conflicts with her family she left Gleason Works in 1913 and joined the Ingle Machining Company. Gleason was a supporter of women's suffrage: according to an account of 1912 National America Woman Suffrage Association Convention, shed promised $1,200 to the suffrage movement, one of its largest pledges. After her death in 1933, Gleason left much of her $1.4 million estate to institutions in the Rochester area, including libraries, parks, and the Rochester Institute of Technology.