Kathryn Eidmann '05

About Kathryn

Hometown:
Lake Bluff, IL

University Partner:
Harvard College

Degree:
A.B. in Social Studies, 2006

Grant Partner:
Facing History and Ourselves

Senior Mentor:
Adam Strom, Director of Research and Development

"While I learned a great deal of substantive history and non-profit management skills from Facing History and Ourselves, I feel the real growth, reflection and contemplation of the summer's experience stemmed from my interactions with the Steamboat Foundation executives and other Scholars."

Scholar Background

Having experienced family struggles and witnessed first-hand the tenuous nature of poverty in Africa as a legal aid in Tanzania in 2004, Kathryn has remained grateful and more motivated to mobilize for the fight against social injustice. In 2005, Kathryn lost her father to a heart attack, leaving her to comfort her mother and siblings while struggling with the debilitating task of reconciling the chaotic family finances. Through this hardship, Kathryn persevered and found strength in her studies and community service. Valedictorian of her high school class and a National Merit Scholar, Kathryn earned citations for her advanced studies of Swahili and Italian. While at Harvard, She trained as a domestic violence worker at the Transition House Domestic Violence Center and served as the Director of Training of the Small Claims Advisory Service, a student-run non-profit that provides information on Massachusetts small claims law to low-income clients. Kathryn gained international experience when she interned at the Women’s Legal Aid Centre in Tanzania, where she initiated and coordinated a conference and a comprehensive campaign against domestic violence, cementing her dedication to rectify inequality.

Internship Highlight

At Facing History and Ourselves, Kathryn participated in researching and writing case studies for use in program curricula and was the primary researcher on a case study about the grassroots effort Just Democracy, an organization founded by law students to monitor Election Day polling practices. Also, Kathryn accompanied a Facing History staff writer and historian on a trip to Maine to interview Marjorie Agosin, an expert on the artistic and political accomplishments of the women who started the Arpillera movement in Chile during the Pinochet dictatorship from 1974 to 1994.