Alvord, Katharine Louise, 1861-1963

Actress, Northwestern University alumna.

From the description of Katharine Alvord Papers, 1880-1969 (1880-1881). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 80781608

Actress.

From the description of Papers, 1880-1969 (inclusive), 1880-1881 (bulk). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 86141297

Katharine Louise Alvord was born in Geneseo, Illinois in 1861 and spent much of her early life with her parents and sister in Cairo, Illinois. A graduate of Northwestern University, Alvord returned to NU as a drama teacher in 1894. Alvord never married.

She attended the Northwestern University Preparatory School between 1878 and 1879 and from 1879 to 1880 she studied rhetoric and elocution under Professor Robert M. Cumnock at Northwestern University. Alvord returned to Cairo in June, 1880 where she resided until July, 1881 when she moved to Chicago with her family.

Alvord was a member of the Louis James Company, a performing troupe, from 1890 to 1894. The group toured the country performing Greek dramas and Shakespearian plays with Kate often cited as the outstanding actress. She returned to Northwestern as a teacher of Dramatic Art and Presentation in the Cumnock School of Oratory in 1894-1895. She later returned to the stage to present programs of dramatic readings. Alvord never married. She died in November, 1963 at age 102 in Chicago's Beckwith Nursing Home.

Frederick W. Randolph was born in 1860. He was the son of Charles Randolph, Secretary of the Chicago Board of Trade, and lived with his parents and two sisters in South Evanston, Illinois. Randolph entered Northwestern University in 1877 and after two years of classes there became a student at Chicago's Union College of Law. His efforts to obtain degrees from both Northwestern and Union College in the same year were unsuccessful and in 1881 he was awarded a Bachelor of Law degree only. In 1880 he became a member of Sigma Chi fraternity.

In the summer of 1880 Randolph worked as an assistant special agent for the Tenth Census of United States. He worked part-time for his father at the Board of Trade in the summer of 1881. Randolph moved in the fall of 1881 to Lake Benton, Minnesota where he became the village lawyer. On March 12, 1882 he died from coal suffocation caused by a faulty stove in his office/apartment. Memorial services were held in the Randolph home in Evanston on March 15 followed by interment at Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago.

Alvord and Randolph met at Northwestern between 1878 and 1880. They became close friends and maintained an intimate correspondence.

From the guide to the Katharine Alvord (1861-1963) Papers, 1880-1969, (Northwestern University Archives)