Katherine Eleanor Conway

Katherine Eleanor Conway (pen name Mercedes; September 6, 1853 – January 2, 1927) was an American journalist, editor, and poet. A devout Catholic, she supported women's education but opposed suffrage. A native of Western New York, Conway worked on various newspapers, including The Pilot, where she served as associate editor (1890–1905) and editor-in-chief/managing editor (1905-1908), "the first and only woman to hold that position, despite never receiving credit on the masthead". She organized the first Catholic reading circle in Boston, serving as its president, and as well as presiding officer of the New England Woman's Press Association. Conway was an active member of the Boston Authors Club, and a reader of original essays on religious and intellectual topics before prominent literary and social clubs. In 1907, she received the Laetare Medal from the University of Notre Dame.