Kathleen Mary Burrow

Last updated
Kathleen Mary Burrow

MBE
Born
Kathleen Mary Graham

(1899-04-18)18 April 1899
Mudgee, New South Wales, Australia
Died20 May 1987(1987-05-20) (aged 88)
Croydon, New South Wales, Australia
Other namesKate Burrow
Occupation(s)Physiotherapist, teacher, Catholic lay leader
Years active1930s - 1950s
Known forPresident, Legion of Catholic Women, Archdiocese of Sydney
AwardsPro Ecclesia et Pontifice Medal; MBE; UN Peace awards

Kathleen Mary Burrow MBE (1899 - 1987) was an Australian physiotherapist, businesswoman and Catholic lay leader. She and her sister Anne founded the Graham-Burrow School of Physical Education in 1926. They organized courses in dance, physical education and deportment for Catholic schools. As a lay leader, Burrow served as president of the Legion of Catholic Women in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney for ten years, and was president of the Catholic Women's League of Australia from 1957 to 1959. She served as president for the Pan-Pacific and South East Asia Women’s Association of Australia from 1969 to 1972. A supporter of the United Nations, she was a leader in the NSW state chapter of the United Nations Association of Australia for thirty years.

Contents

Burrow was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1956, and was awarded the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice medal in 1977. She also received two peace awards from the United Nations, one in 1976 and one in 1989. [1] Burrow died in 1987.

Biography

Early life and education

Burrow was born on 18 April 1899 in Mudgee, New South Wales, Australia. Her parents were Elijah and Catherine Graham. [2] Her father was a mining engineer, and the family lived in a gold mining area near Clarkes Creek. [1] She had a sister, Anne, with whom she would later start a business. [1]

Burrow attended St. Mathews Convent of Mercy School, run by the Sisters of Mercy, for her secondary education. [1] [3] She then enrolled in the University of Sydney, and completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1922. She became a founding member of the University Catholic Women’s Association, [1] and was elected treasurer in 1926, as a graduate. [4] She was also involved in the Newman Association of Catholic Graduates, serving on the executive team. [5] She later returned to the University of Sydney to complete a Diploma in Social Studies in 1944. [1]

Career

Teaching and physiotherapy

Burrow began her career as a physical culture teacher in North Sydney's Girls' High School. She also worked as a volunteer at Catholic orphanages, providing physical educational programming. Burrow and her sister Anne then established their own school, the Graham-Burrow School of Physical Education, in 1926. The school served the Catholic community, and provided classes in physical education, dance and deportment in Catholic schools. Burrow continued to develop her professional credentials, earning a certificate in massage in 1936. She was a registered physio-therapist for close to forty years. [1] Among other events, Burrow oversaw the performance of a "Living Rosary" display, which was part of the Archdiocese of Sydney's Catholic celebrations for the Commonwealth Jubilee held in April 1951; [6] [1] [7] the "Living Rosary" pageant featured five thousand children performing "Five Mediations" [6] In addition to planning this event, Burrow also served as a lay representative on the Archdiocese's Jubilee planning committee. [8]

Leadership in civic and women's organizations

In addition to her professional life as a business owner and teacher, Burrows was an active leader in Catholic women's organizations. In 1949, she was appointed president of the Sydney branch of the Legion of Catholic Women, by Norman Gilroy, then serving as Sydney's Cardinal Archbishop. [9] Prior to becoming president, she had been treasurer of the regional branch of the Legion, and a member of the Ashfield local branch. [5] She served as president for ten years, from 1949 to 1959. [1] During this time, Burrow led efforts to increase Catholic women's participation in civic organizations and governmental boards. [10] In 1949, she participated in and spoke at a protest in Sydney against the imprisonment of Cardinal József Mindszenty, in Hungary. [11]

Burrow also took on leadership roles within Catholic women's organizations at the national level. She represented the Federation of Catholic Women of Australia at the Jubilee Women's Convention, held in Melbourne in October 1951, [12] and served as national president of the Catholic Women's League of Australia from 1957 to 1959. [13] Burrow also served as the Australian representative to the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organisations, from 1957 to 1965. [1] She attended the second Congress of the Lay Apostolate held in Rome in 1957, as well as the 14th world congress of Catholic women's organizations, held in Rome that same year. [14]

Beyond her work within Catholic women's organizations, Burrow was a leader in several other civic and women's organizations. A strong supporter of the United Nations, she was involved in the New South Wales chapter of the United Nations Association of Australia for thirty years. [1] In 1959, she was serving on the standing committee for the Status of Women, as well as the committee for World Health, for the NSW chapter. [15]

From 1954 to 1960, Burrow was international secretary for the Australian National Council of Women. In 1957, she travelled to Washington D.C., to attend the National Conference on Negro Women, as a guest. [15] This was the annual convention of the National Council of Negro Women, and at the same 1957 conference, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of the keynote speakers. [16] [17]

In 1958, Burrow represented Australia at the Tokyo Pan-Pacific and South East Asia Women’s Conference. [15] She later served as president of the Pan-Pacific and South East Asia Women’s Association of Australia, from 1969 to 1972. From 1976 to 1982, she was again in a leadership role with the Australian National Council of Women, now known as the National Council of Women of Australia, serving as their convenor for mass media. [1]

Personal life and death

On 17 January 1925, she married Kenney Burrow, who was a librarian. They were married at St Mary’s Catholic Church in Mudgee, New South Wales. The couple had three children together, a daughter and two sons. Her husband died in 1954. One of her sons pre-deceased her as well. [1]

Burrow passed away on 20 May 1987, and is buried in the Rookwood cemetery. [1]

Honours

Burrow was appointed a member of the Order of the British Empire on 2 January 1956, as part of the New Year Honours. The award was granted "In recognition of service to social welfare." [18] She received the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Papal Cross in 1977. [1] Burrows also received two United Nations peace medals, the first one in 1976 and a second in 1986. [1]

Legacy

In 1931, Burrow donated funds to the Catholic Women's Society at Sydney University for an annual prize on a paper on the theme of "The Sacraments as a means of Grace." The prize was named in her honour as the Kathleen Burrows Prize. [19]

A Kathleen Burrow Research Institute has been established in the Catholic Schools New South Wales (NSW). The institute website states that it "conducts and publishes research on contemporary issues in school education". [3] In 2021, Anthony Fisher, Archbishop of Sydney, gave the inaugural Kathleen Burrow Research Institute Lecture. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seton Hall University</span> Catholic university in South Orange, New Jersey, US

Seton Hall University (SHU) is a private Roman Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesan university in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catholic Church in Australia</span> Overview of the role of the Catholic Church in Australia

The Australian Catholic Church or Catholic Church in Australia is part of the worldwide Catholic Church under the spiritual and administrative leadership of the Holy See. From origins as a suppressed, mainly Irish minority in early colonial times, the church has grown to be the largest Christian denomination in Australia, with a culturally diverse membership of around 5,075,907 people, representing about 20% of the overall population of Australia according to the 2021 ABS Census data.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manhattanville University</span> Private university in Purchase, New York, U.S.

Manhattanville University is a private university in Purchase, New York, United States. Founded in 1841 as a school at 412 Houston Street in Lower Manhattan, it was initially known as the Academy of the Sacred Heart. In 1917, the academy received a charter from the Regents of the State of New York to raise the school officially to a collegiate level, granting degrees as the College of the Sacred Heart. In 1937, it became known as Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart, and from 1966 to 2024 as Manhattanville College.

Rosemary Follett is a former Australian politician who was the first Chief Minister of Australian Capital Territory, serving in 1989 and again between 1991 and 1995. She was the first woman to become head of government in an Australian state or territory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enid Lyons</span> Australian politician (1897–1981)

Dame Enid Muriel Lyons was an Australian politician. She was notable as the being the first woman to be elected to the House of Representatives and to serve in the federal cabinet. Prior to her own political career, she was best known as the wife of Joseph Lyons, Prime Minister of Australia from 1932 to 1939, who served previously as Premier of Tasmania from 1923 to 1928.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kylie Tennant</span> Australian novelist and playwright

Kathleen Kylie Tennant AO was an Australian novelist, playwright, short-story writer, critic, biographer, and historian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorothy Tangney</span> Australian politician

Dame Dorothy Margaret Tangney DBE was an Australian politician. She was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served as a Senator for Western Australia from 1943 to 1968. She was the first woman elected to the Senate and one of the first two women elected to federal parliament, along with Enid Lyons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary MacKillop</span> Australian religious sister and saint (1842–1909)

Mary Helen MacKillop RSJ, religious name Mary of the Cross, was an Australian religious sister of Scottish descent who has been declared a saint by the Catholic Church. She was born in Melbourne but is best known for her activities in South Australia. Together with Julian Tenison-Woods, she founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, a congregation of religious sisters that established a number of schools and welfare institutions throughout Australia and New Zealand, with an emphasis on education for the rural poor.

Francis Patrick Carroll was an Australian archbishop, the fifth Roman Catholic Archbishop of Canberra–Goulburn, serving between 1983 until his retirement in 2006. Prior to his election as archbishop, Carroll served as Bishop of Wagga Wagga between 1968 and 1983. Carroll served as president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference between 2000 and 2006. He died in Wagga Wagga on 14 March 2024, at the age of 93.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marcia Langton</span> Australian Aboriginal scholar and activist

Marcia Lynne Langton is an Aboriginal Australian writer and academic. As of 2022 she is the Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne. Langton is known for her activism in the Indigenous rights arena.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linda Burney</span> Australian politician

Linda Jean Burney is an Australian politician who is an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing Barton since the 2016 federal election. She is Minister for Indigenous Australians in the Albanese ministry, and the first woman who identifies as Aboriginal to serve in that position.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn</span> Catholic ecclesiastical territory in Australia

The Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in the Australian Capital Territory, and the South West Slopes, Southern Tablelands, Monaro and the South Coast regions of New South Wales, Australia. Erected in 1948, the archdiocese is directly subject to the Holy See.

<i>Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice</i> Roman Catholic award

Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice is a decoration of the Holy See. It is currently conferred for distinguished service to the Catholic Church by lay people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Ursula's College, Kingsgrove</span> School in Australia

St Ursula's College, Kingsgrove, founded in 1957, is an independent Roman Catholic single-sex secondary day school for girls, located in Kingsgrove, a southern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The College is a member of the Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Daly (Australian writer)</span> Australian writer and humanitarian (1896–1983)

Dame Mary Dora Daly, was an Australian writer, humanitarian and charity worker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deborah O'Neill</span> Australian politician

Deborah Mary O'Neill is an Australian politician who has served as a Senator for New South Wales with the Australian Labor Party since 2013. Before entering politics O'Neill was a school teacher and university academic. In her Senate role, she has been described as taking "a fierce approach to accountability." In June 2023, O'Neill was appointed to chair the newly formed Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services. In this role, the committee has largely focused on failures of governance and public accountability amongst the large consulting firms Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elisabeth MacIntyre</span> Australian childrens writer and illustrator

Elisabeth MacIntyre was an Australian writer and illustrator. She mainly produced children's picture books and cartoon strips, but also created cartoon strips for adults and novels for young adults. She is recognised as "a staunch advocate of promoting Australian animals and surrounds in an era when the majority of children's books were imported from England". Her picture books appealed for their lively, bright illustrations and "irresistible", "infectious", stories, which used line and words economically and effectively. She was successful in the Australian, American and British markets, and some of her novels were also translated into German and Japanese. Her best known works are Ambrose Kangaroo, Susan, Who Lives in Australia, and Hugh's Zoo, for which she won the Australian Children's Book of the Year Award: Picture Book in 1965.

Mary Kate Barlow was an Australian Catholic lay leader, philanthropist, editor, and women's advocate. Born in Ireland, she settled in Australia in 1884. She served as president of the Catholic Women's Association in New South Wales for twenty years. She chaired the women's conference at the International Eucharistic Congress of 1928 in Sydney. In recognition of her service to the Catholic Church, she was awarded the Leo Cross, and was made a Dame of the Holy Sepulchre, the female equivalent of a knighthood.

Louise Burrows is a former Australian rugby union player. She represented Australia at four Rugby World Cups — 2002, 2006, 2014 and 2017.

Bernice Moore is an Australian educator and former Sister of the Good Samaritan from Sydney. She is known for her significant contributions to the fields of education, feminist theology and social justice. Moore was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 1997.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Payten, Marianne, "Burrow, Kathleen Mary (Kate) (1899–1987)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 2022-06-24
  2. ↑ Melbourne, The University of. "Burrow, Kathleen Mary (Kate) - Woman - The Encyclopedia of Women and Leadership in Twentieth-Century Australia". www.womenaustralia.info. Retrieved 2022-08-25.
  3. 1 2 3 "Kathleen Burrow Research Institute". Catholic Schools NSW. Retrieved 2022-08-25.
  4. ↑ "University Catholic Women's Society". Freeman's Journal. 1926-08-19. Retrieved 2022-06-24.
  5. 1 2 "New President Named For Legion Of Catholic Women". Catholic Weekly. 1949-02-24. Retrieved 2022-06-24.
  6. 1 2 "Catholic Jubilee Celebrations Open in Sydney". Advocate. 1951-04-19. Retrieved 2022-08-26.
  7. ↑ "The Jubilee Pageant". Catholic Weekly. 1951-04-26. Retrieved 2022-08-25.
  8. ↑ "Details of Jubilee Events". Catholic Weekly. 1951-01-11. Retrieved 2022-08-25.
  9. ↑ "Our Past Bishops". Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney. Retrieved 2022-08-25.
  10. ↑ "Catholic Move". Courier-Mail. 1954-02-19. Retrieved 2022-06-24.
  11. ↑ "Catholic Women Participate In Domain Protest Meeting". Catholic Weekly. 1949-02-03. Retrieved 2022-06-24.
  12. ↑ "Catholic Women At Jubilee Convention". Catholic Weekly. 1951-10-18. Retrieved 2022-06-24.
  13. ↑ "Women's Leader Honored". Canberra Times. 1959-04-09. Retrieved 2022-06-24.
  14. ↑ "Australian For Catholic Rome Congress". Canberra Times. 1957-09-18. Retrieved 2022-06-24.
  15. 1 2 3 "Catholic Woman Leader To Visit Canberra". Canberra Times. 1959-03-24. Retrieved 2022-08-26.
  16. ↑ University, © Stanford; Stanford; California 94305 (2017-06-15). "National Council of Negro Women (NCNW)". The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute. Retrieved 2022-08-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  17. ↑ "Program from the 1957 National Council of Negro Women annual convention". National Museum of African American History and Culture. Retrieved 2022-08-26.
  18. ↑ "Mrs Kathleen Mary Burrow". Australian Honours Search Facility. Retrieved 2022-08-25.
  19. ↑ "Sydney University Catholic Women's Society". Freeman's Journal. 1931-12-10. Retrieved 2022-06-24.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.