Dr Katherine Kendall

Attribution: unknown or not recorded

Dr Katherine Kendall

Catherine Ann Tuach was born at Forresthill, Corrie Road in 1910. Her father, Roderick was the son of William Tuach of Ardarroch. Her father emigrated to Canada in 1913 with the intention of the family joining him at a later date however, with the advent of WW1, this was not to happen until 1920, by which time Roderick had settled in Chicago. Here, young Catherine witnessed the oppressive conditions of the stockyards and the Polish immigrants which influenced her passions for social justice.
She attended the University of Illinois where she studied romance languages, history and philosophy with the intention of becoming a foreign correspondent. She however fell in love with her Spanish teacher, Willmore Kendall, a young assistant professor. She gained her BA in 1933 and the couple moved to Oxford and were married at London in 1935. Willmore became a foreign correspondent for the United Press which saw them move to Spain, where they associated with left wingers, returning to academic life at Illinois in 1936. They later moved to Louisiana where Willmore had a university post and Katherine gained a Masters degree in Social Work by 1939 followed by becoming a US citizen in 1940.

Dr Katherine Kendall nee Tuach

Attribution: not recorded or unknown

Dr Kendall

Attribution: The Independant

During the war she worked as a home service correspondent and then as a regional assistant director of training for the American Red Cross. By 1945, she had taken a position as assistant director in the international service of Federal US Children’s Bureau and in 1947 she joined the United Nations where she carried out a world survey of social work training to assess the qualifications required in the field of social welfare. The Kendall’s bust work schedule led to their divorce in 1950, the same year as Katherine gained her doctorate in social work and he joining the board of the then International Association of Schools od Social Work, bringing together social work academics. The IASSW was formed in 1928 and by 1954 Katherine was the Secretary, followed by Secretary – General in 1966, turning the predominantly European body into an internationally recognised organisation. By the time she retired in 1978, the IASSW had 500 school members in 70 countries.

She also worked in different capacities for the Council of Social Work Education which accredits US social work qualifications which she had been a member of since its inception in 1952. In 2004, the CSWE established the Katherine A Kendall Institute for International Social Work Education to foster the development of the international content in the discipline.

Over the year, Katherine still kept in touch with her family back home in Muir of Ord, with her annual Christmas letters. Several of them still exist and were written when she was in her 90’s. In 2000, she published her book ‘Social Work Education: Its Origins in Europe. She also celebrated her 90th birthday with 9 separate parties, one for every decade, many of which had been organised by the CSWE and the IASSW. Amongst the most memorable party was the one organised by her brother Jim in Chicago where he had arranged for a piper and drummer to remind them all of their Scottish heritage. Sadly, Jim died in October 2000, aged almost 93. Aged 89, Katherine was still travelling around the world attending an IASSW meeting in Singapore whilst visiting old colleagues in the Philippines and Honolulu. She had also undertaken research for a further book to mark the 50th anniversary of the CSWE, which meant it required to be published by 2002.
2001, saw her make her final trip to the UK, taking advantage of a 2 for 1 offer on the Queen Elizabeth II. She spent a week in London followed by a week in the Highlands with all her remaining Scottish relatives. In 2005, aged almost 95 she also managed a Baltic cruise visiting St Petersburg, Denmark Finland, Norway and Sweden. In fact, she was still travelling, albeit, interstate in her 98th year.
Katherine died at her home in Mitchelville, Maryland in 2010 she had been born as social work emerged from its origins in Victorian and Edwardian Urban society and at the time of her death she had contributed so much to moulding social work practices and education.

Dr K Kendall at Stirling University

Attribution: Stirling University

Page created on 26 July 2024

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