Kate Rotan

Kate Sturm McCall Rotan (1851–1931) was an American civic activist from Waco, Texas. She was the organizer and first president of the Texas Federation of Women's Clubs, earning her the sobriquet "The Mother of the Texas Federation." She was also a regent of the Henry Downs Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, a National Committeewoman of the Colonial Dames, vice president of the Texas Congress of Mothers, and a member of the state Board of Control. Rotan was an early supporter of the library movement in Texas, which included helping to establish the first traveling library in the state in 1901, and an advocate for new legislation to develop Texas public libraries.

Early life

Rotan was born on March 27, 1851, in Mount Vernon, Kentucky to parents James L. L. McCall and Eliza Ann Sturm McCall. The family relocated to Waco, Texas in 1852 via covered wagon. Kate was the fourth born of 13 McCall children, and she and her siblings were homeschooled. According to the job file of Charles J. Connick, the window's designer, the Rotans "became a legend in Waco, so much so that at their deaths the town went into mourning." Delegates from 18 clubs convened in Waco in May 1897 to form the Texas Federation of Women's Clubs. Rotan was elected its first president. Likewise, libraries and education became some of the first concerns for the Texas Federation of Women's Clubs, which supported the funding and establishment of public libraries in the state. The support of the Texas women's clubs helped to establish more than 70% of the public libraries in Texas.

Waco's first public library, a result of a donation by notorious library supporter Andrew Carnegie, came about as the culmination of a decade of community action by Waco residents, including businessmen, town leaders, and club women, like Rotan. Carnegie committed to a $1,000 donation towards the library if the citizens of Waco could raise $2,000. If they were able to reach their fundraising goal, Carnegie pledged an additional $30,000 grant for a free-standing building, if Waco city leaders budgeted $3,000 per year for its upkeep and operation.

In "Of What Use is a Federation Organ?" from The Federation Bulletin of 1906, Rotan advocated for a "properly edited and well-sustained" periodical of women's clubs activities. She suggested that "she who seeks to make the most of her ability, who feels her need of suggestion and inspiration for serious study, who desires to know what is being done by club women for enrichment of life, and for the promotion of ethical, education and civic betterment ... who seeks to feel the heart throb of that larger, nobler impulse in our twentieth century womanhood" will "find all these hinted or expressed, suggested or evolved in the pages of the carefully edited club journal."

Rotan died at her home in Waco on October 17, 1931, and was buried at Oakwood Cemetery.

The Rotan mansion, known as one of the most distinctive houses in Waco, has also been preserved. The Rotan-Dossett House was built in 1891. Edward Rotan later added a two-story porch to the front of the home. The Rotans sold the home, which was purchased by local businessman Andrew J. Dossett in 1917.