Katherine E. Conway was born on September 6, 1853 to Irish Catholic parents in Rochester, New York. Conway completed her primary education at St. Mary’s Academy in Buffalo, New York. Following her graduation, Conway began working as a reporter for the Rochester Daily Union, and as a correspondent for several New York newspapers. During this time, Bishop McQuaid took notice of her, opening up his library to her and encouraging her authorial endeavors.
From 1873-1878, Conway worked at the West End Journal. In 1878, she became assistant director at the Catholic Union and Times in Buffalo, New York. In 1883, John Boyle O’Reilly recognised the quality of her work and offered her a position as assistant editor for The Pilot, an independent, lay-owned Catholic weekly in Boston, Massachusetts. Conway became the first female managing editor of the paper in 1904, succeeding James Jeffrey Roche. When The Pilot became the official paper for the Archdiocese of Boston in 1908, Conway moved on to become managing editor of another Boston publication, The Republic.
Conway simultaneously pursued a literary career as an author of poetry, fiction, and Catholic history. Her published works include her 1881 poetry collection, On the Sunrise Slope, her 1901 novel, Lalor’s Maples, and her 1907 non-fiction work, In the Footprints of the Good Shepherd. From 1911 to 1915, Conway served as an adjunct professor of English at St. Mary’s College at Notre Dame, Indiana. Conway was also an active public speaker and protofeminist. She was a leader in literary and Catholic circles around Boston, helping to found the League of Catholic Women. She served as a member of the executive council of the New England Women’s Press Club and as chairperson of its literary committee. In 1912, Conway was awarded the Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice by Pope Pius X. Conway died on January 2, 1927.
