# Kathleen Ridder *Republican co-founder of the bipartisan Minnesota Women's Campaign Fund (1982)* Kathleen Ridder (born Kathleen Marie Culman; October 2, 1922 – April 3, 2017) was an American feminist, philanthropist, educator and writer. She lived in [[Minnesota]] from 1943 and was active in Republican politics.[^1] Her death at 94 was reported on April 5, 2017.[^2][^3] In 1982 Ridder, a Republican, and [[Marlene Johnson]] of the DFL, Minnesota's first woman Lieutenant Governor, co-founded the bipartisan [[Minnesota Women's Campaign Fund]] (now WomenWinning) "to elect women candidates in both parties".[^4][^1] She funded women's athletics at the [[University of Minnesota]]. With her husband she gave $500,000 toward Ridder Arena, which opened in 2002 as home to the Golden Gophers women's ice hockey team. She backed the proposed Equal Rights Amendment at the 1980 Republican National Convention.[^1] ## Early life Kathleen Marie Culman was born in New York City on October 2, 1922. Her father was a stockbroker who lost his money in the Great Depression, and her mother kept the household going by working in a dress shop.[^1] She played sports as a girl, went to the Brearley School, a school for girls, and then attended Smith College.[^1] After college she married Robert Ridder, whose family had founded the Knight Ridder media company. The couple came to Minnesota in 1943.[^1] They lived in Duluth while she earned a teaching degree at the University of Minnesota Duluth, and later moved to Saint Paul.[^1] ## Activism Ridder's work centered on opening education and athletics to women. She had grown up without those opportunities, before [[Title IX]], and she saw women's sports as a route to success in life and in business.[^1] Her political positions included support for the [[Republican Party (United States)]], for civil and political rights, for legal abortion and for LGBT rights. She opposed U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, and she supported the Equal Rights Amendment at the 1980 Republican National Convention.[^1] She was a friend of [[Rosalie E. Wahl]], the first woman to sit on the [[Minnesota Supreme Court]]. Ridder paid for a book about Wahl and for a Twin Cities Public Television documentary about her.[^1] In 1982 she and Johnson set up the Minnesota Women's Campaign Fund to bring more women into political office.[^1][^4] Ridder held seats on the [[Metropolitan Council (Minnesota)]], the Minnesota State Board of Human Rights, the Saint Paul Urban League and the Minnesota Foundation Board of Trustees.[^1] She also served as a trustee of the William Mitchell College of Law[^1][^3] and sat on an accreditation committee of the American Bar Association.[^1] ## Philanthropy In 1983 Ridder created the Kathleen C. Ridder scholarship for studies in math, medicine, or science. It was the first endowment at the University of Minnesota awarded to a female student-athlete.[^1] Each year the university also gives the Kathleen C. and Robert B. Ridder Scholarship to a player on the Golden Gophers women's ice hockey team.[^1] The Ridders contributed $500,000 toward the first college ice hockey arena built for women only, which opened in 2002 as Ridder Arena.[^1] It remained the only such facility until the Wisconsin Badgers opened LaBahn Arena in 2010.[^1] Robert Ridder died in 2000, before the building was finished. Kathleen Ridder was present on opening night and dropped the ceremonial first puck.[^1] ## Publications Ridder wrote seven books and articles, three of them autobiographical.[^1] Two of her books were privately published: *Kathleen Incorporated* (1990) and *A Woman Ahead of her Time* (1995).[^1] The [[Minnesota Historical Society]] Press published *Shaping My Feminist Life: A Memoir* (1998), and North Star Press published *Stories by Minnesota women in sports: Leveling the playing field* (2005).[^1] Her listed works also include the *Kathleen C. Ridder papers, 1978–1985* at the Minnesota Historical Society and a 1998 article on Ramsey County's women athletes.[^1] ## Later life The Ridders were married for 56 years, until Robert Ridder's death in 2000.[^1] In 2008 she relocated to Lantana, Florida. She later volunteered in hospice work and paid for exhibits at the South Florida Science Center and Aquarium on water quality and Everglades restoration. She also funded education programs run by the [[League of Women Voters]] in Palm Beach.[^1] She died in her home on April 3, 2017, at age 94.[^1][^2] ## Honors and awards The University of Minnesota M Club Hall of Fame admitted Ridder as a benefactor in 1990. In 2004 she received the Director's Award for her support of Golden Gophers athletics.[^1] In 2009 the American Hockey Coaches Association gave her and her late husband the Joe Burke Award for their dedication to women's ice hockey.[^1] ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - Ridder, a Republican, co-founded the Minnesota Women's Campaign Fund with Marlene Johnson (DFL), Minnesota's first woman Lieutenant Governor.[^4] ### What - The fund was bipartisan and is now WomenWinning.[^4] ### When - The fund was co-founded in 1982.[^4][^1] ### Why - It was founded "to elect women candidates in both parties".[^4] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia, *Kathleen Ridder* (revision 1372581283, retrieved 2026-10-26) — biographical sections on early life, activism, philanthropy, publications, later life and honors. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Ridder [^2]: MPR News, *Kathleen Ridder dies at 94* (2017-04-05) — obituary report of her death. https://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/04/05/kathleen-ridder-dies-at-94 [^3]: Mitchell Hamline School of Law, *Kathleen Ridder leaves strong legacy in Minnesota and at Mitchell Hamline* (2017-04-05) — tribute on her death and her ties to the law school. https://mitchellhamline.edu/news/2017/04/05/kathleen-ridder-leaves-strong-legacy-in-minnesota-and-at-mitchell-hamline/ [^4]: Star Tribune, *Kathleen Ridder made a difference for Minnesota women* (date not given in pack) — cited, with MPR and WomenWinning, by the project's validated research master *The Instrument No One Will Name* (2026-06-18, note 25). The research master uses it for the 1982 co-founding of the bipartisan Minnesota Women's Campaign Fund (now WomenWinning) by Marlene Johnson (DFL) and Kathleen Ridder (R) "to elect women candidates in both parties". https://www.startribune.com/kathleen-ridder-made-a-difference-for-minnesota-women/418269773/