The Wright Sister

Sidedoor

Smithsonian Institution

African American History And Culture, American History, Exhibits, Dc, History, Science, Sidedoor, History Of The World, Society & Culture, The Smithsonian, Washington, Natural History, Pop Culture, Smithsonian, Exhibit, Tony Cohn, Zoo, National Museum, Air And Space, National Zoo, Art19, Museum, Postal Museum

4.6 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 4 February 2026

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Orville and Wilbur Wright have been immortalized as the men opened the skies to human flight. But could they have achieved such great heights without the wind beneath their wings — their sister? Katharine Wright was her brothers' biggest champion, official spokesperson, closest confidante and the only one of the Wright siblings with a college degree. For years, Katharine, Wilbur and Orville were inseparable — until tragedy and a love affair upended everything. This is the story of the Wright sibling that history almost left out.

Guests:

Thomas Paone, museum specialist at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum
Tom Crouch, curator emeritus of the aeronautics division at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum and author of The Bishop’s Boys: A Life of Wilbur and Orville Wright

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Side Door, a podcast from the Smithsonian with support from PRX.
0:13.8	I'm Lizzie Peabody.
0:31.2	In 1909, the Wright brothers, Wilbur and Orville were invited to meet President William Howard Taft at the White House.
0:38.0	This was six years after their pioneering first flight at Kitty Hawk, and the rights had just returned from Europe, where demonstrations of their flying machine had made them into international
0:43.7	superstars.
0:45.7	In honor of the returning heroes, dignitaries and congressmen gathered at the White House.
0:50.9	There were speeches, and then President Taft presented the rights with gold medals on behalf
0:56.3	of the Arrow Club of America. There's a picture from that day. In the photo, 10 men, all in dark
1:05.4	suits, stand in a line outside the White House. In the center is President Taft, broad-shouldered and mustachioed,
1:13.6	flanked on each side by the Wright brothers,
1:16.0	Wilbur looking slender in his too large jacket,
1:19.3	and Orville looking dapper in shiny shoes and dark mustache.
1:24.4	But next to Orville is a woman, the only woman in the picture.
1:31.6	Women as a rule were not allowed at the Cosmos Club, where the lunch reception was held.
1:36.8	But for this particular VIP, that rule was suspended.
1:41.8	Unlike the dark-clad men, she is dressed in white, long white skirt, long white
1:48.6	sleeves, on her head an elaborate feathered cap. She holds a bouquet and looks directly into
1:55.3	the camera lens with a half-smile. And of course, she would be there,
2:01.1	because back then, the Wright siblings came as a package.
2:05.5	And this was the Wright sister, Catherine.
2:10.9	Wilbur and Orville Wright invented the airplane.
2:14.9	But could they have done that without Catherine Wright?
	...

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