[4] McKee attended the local public school before continuing on to Peace Institute in Raleigh; there she became class president before graduating in 1905.
She served as president of the North Carolina Federation of Women's Clubs between 1925 and 1927, and from 1928 to 1930 led the state's chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
[3] In 1925 McKee managed to persuade Governor Angus McLean to sponsor a study about the conditions of women in industry, something which he had previously refused to do.
In 1931 she joined the Commission for Consolidation of The University of North Carolina, and from 1933 to 1935 she chaired the Board of Education in Jackson County.
McKee was also prominent in the Sylva Methodist Church, in whose choir she sang and at which she played the piano; she was also recognized locally for her skills as a homemaker.
[1][2] During her time in the Legislature McKee sat on numerous committees, including Appropriations; Education; Election Laws; Finance; Internal Improvements; Manufacturing, Labor, and Commerce; Institutions for the Deaf; Mental Institutions; Pensions and Soldiers' Home; Public Health; Conservation and Development; Library; and Printing.
[6] She also fought for educational parity for all children in North Carolina, and secured, over opposition, passage of a bill requiring all pupils in the state's schools to complete sixth grade.
[6] In recognition of the assistance she had provided the school over the years, Western Carolina University named McKee Hall on its campus in her honor;[1][9] the building was constructed in 1939, and has more recently been renovated.