| Honored by: | Susan Marie van der Linden |
| Brick location: | D:5 map |
Kathleen Harter was born in Dilley, Oregon, September 27, 1893. She grew up in Lake Arthur, New Mexico, where her father was a fruit farmer. She married John van der Linden and later moved to Ames, Iowa where her three sons, John, Louis, and Spencer were born. Her husband died at Ames in 1953.
Kathleen was always interested in young people. She helped organize a Recreation and Playground Commission into a legal body for the city of Ames and served as its secretary for 18 years. She was president of the Ames P.T.A. Council and of the State P.T.A. Council. She was influential in setting up a division of special education in state government. She was one of the organizers of the Easter Seal Society (then the Iowa Society for Crippled Children and Adults) and served as its legislative chairman; for several years, she was a volunteer lobbyist for the society and her lobbying was largely responsible for founding the Hospital-School for Crippled Children in University Hospitals, Iowa City.
In 1958 she was married to Will Harter, a former professor at Iowa State University, whose family had been lifelong friends of the van der Linden family. They moved to California to the home in Venice where Kathleen continued to reside until her death in 1975.
Submitted on 7/1/96