A member of one of Connecticut 's most literate and intellectual families - devoted herself to women's education

The oldest daughter of the Reverend Lyman and Roxana Beecher devoted her life to the education of women, establishing the Hartford Female Seminary in 1823 and Cincinnati's Western Female Seminary in 1832. Unlike her sisters, Catherine was neither an abolitionist nor a suffragette.

She was educated at home until the age ten when she was sent to a private school. The school's curriculum was limited to the few subjects taught women during this time and through self-study, Catherine learned the subjects not offered to young ladies.

Catherine brought of her knowledge of subjects such as rhetoric and Latin to her educational facility, the Hartford Female Seminary. Her seminaries taught all the subjects of the male curriculum which had been neglected by traditional "domestic" education for women. Her schools were also remarkable for their model of mutual instruction and their collegial, egalitarian policies.

Catherine helped organize the American Women's Educational Association and was the author of several books on education, domestic economy, women's health and calisthenics; she co-authored The American Woman's Home with Harriet.