| Katharine Stephen | |
| Birth Date: | 26 February 1856 |
| Birth Place: | South Kensington, London, England |
| Death Place: | South Kensington, England |
| Other Names: | Sarah Brook |
| Known For: | Principal of Newnham College |
| Education: | Bedford College |
| Occupation: | Librarian |
| Nationality: | English |
Katharine Stephen (26 February 1856 – 16 June 1924) was a British librarian and later principal of Newnham College at Cambridge University.[1]
Katharine Stephen was born in 1856 in London, the daughter of Sir James Fitzjames Stephen (1829–1894) and Mary Richenda Cunningham (1829–1912), daughter of Rev. John William Cunningham.[2] Her siblings included Rosamond Stephen and Sir Harry Stephen. She was the niece of Caroline Stephen and of Leslie Stephen and the cousin of Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell.[1]
Katharine Stephen worked at Newnham College, Cambridge. She first joined the college as Helen Gladstone's secretary,[3] and worked with Anne Jemima Clough to teach working men on Sunday mornings in St Matthew's Schoolroom, Barnwell.[4] She was appointed Librarian of Newnham's 'first purpose-built library' in 1888.[5] She went on to become Vice-Principal and, in 1911, Principal of the college during the First World War years,[6] and kept her seat on the Council after her retirement in 1920.
Stephen sat for a portrait by her cousin Vanessa Bell but that painting is lost. The painting at Newnham College is by Glyn Philpot.[7]
Stephen died of cancer on 16 June 1924 at her home in South Kensington. She was loyal to her family; every day she would either see her mother or write her a letter. Her aunt, Caroline Stephen, was another relative; she was a Quaker as well. Caroline came to live in Cambridge in 1895 where she evangelised to Newnham students.[8] Caroline's final book contained a short memoir written by Katherine.[2]
The Katharine Stephen Rare Books Library at Newnham was built in 1981-82. It was designed by Joanna van Heyningen and was listed Grade II in 2018 with other post-modern buildings.