Betty Blake

Betty Blake (September 20, 1931 – April 13, 1982) was an American historic preservationist and promoter. She was best known for preserving historic riverboats in Cincinnati. Her biggest preservation project was helping to save the Delta Queen.

Biography Blake was born on September 20, 1930, in Lexington, Kentucky, and grew up in Carlisle, Kentucky. Blake was part of the campaign to help elect her father, Stanley Blake, to the Kentucky Senate in 1936. Blake attended the University of Kentucky and earned a degree in business in 1952. Blake's first job was working at WLW-TV in Cincinnati, and while she was there, applied to work as a salesperson for Avalon Steamboat Lines. When she applied for the job, the president said, "Look, this little lady wants to sell our boat. Isn't that wonderful?" Blake promoted the Delta Queen using a steamboat race between the Queen and the Belle of Louisville in 1963. Greene Line had to renegotiate the exemption every two to four years. In 1970 Betty Blake and Bill Muster led the campaign to get the exemption and Blake collected signatures for a petition on a roll of newsprint and unfurled it on the steps in front of the Capitol Building. They won the exemption at the very end of 1970, despite Congressman Edward A. Garmatz, Chairman of the House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, who tried to block the exemption.

Thanks to the efforts of Betty Blake and Bill Muster, the Delta Queen was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 and was later declared a National Historic Landmark in 1989.

In 1975, Blake was one of two women on the board of trustees of the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce. When she was promoted to president of the Delta Queen Steamboat Company in 1976, she became the first woman to serve as the president of a major American cruise line.

Blake became ill in December 1981.