[1][2][3] Davis was a former school teacher from upstate New York, who later became one of the nation's first female doctorates when she received her Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago in 1901.

[5] Katharine Bement David was designated as one of the three most distinguished women in America by the Panama-Pacific Exposition, alongside Zelia Nuttall and Jane Addams.

[10] Oscar Davis worked for Bradstreet company, and when Katharine was seventeen he relocated to Rochester, New York, to manage a regional office there.

While studying at Barnard, Davis managed a project to develop a model home for New York State's display at the Chicago World Fair.

[1] The settlement house movement began in the late 19th century to socialize the poor and uneducated residents that occupied immigrant neighborhoods in a city to American values and customs.

the seventh ward which contains about 10,000 Negroes, nearly one fourth the entire number in the city" would be carried out "by means of house-to-house canvass.

[15] In the beginning Davis fashioned the reformatory to be more likely a boarding school than a prison, as she wanted to help women start a new life.

[15] In 1910, Davis advocated for judges to have access to pre-sentencing background research and evaluations so that they could make appropriate placements.

"[17] Rockefeller established the agency as a result of his appointment in 1911 to a special grand jury to investigate white slavery in New York City.

[4] Gender discrimination in the organization played an important role as many male colleagues under her disliked her and some even actively sought to end her leadership.

She criticized men and women for engaging in nonmarital sex and even supported the federal government's crusade against prostitution and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

Around 5000 women, whose names were found from club memberships directories and college alumnae lists, were asked to participate in the research.

[4][13] Scandalous for the time, it contested the Victorian notion of female "passionlessness" and shocked readers due to its liberal discussion of masturbation.

[4] Overall, today Katherine Bement Davis is known to be one of the most influential people when it comes to research regarding human sexuality and sex.

Davis was a eugenicist and during her tenure as General Secretary, she affiliated the Bureau with leaders in the field of eugenics such as Harry Laughlin, Charles Davenport and E. S. Gosney, director of The Human Betterment Foundation in California.

[19] Davis was not always leaning towards eugenics however, she first gave equal weighting to heredity and environment, describing the two as "hopelessly entangled.

"[19] In 1909, Davis would show her support of eugenics as she warned of "bad heredity" was the cause of problems made by "moral imbeciles.

[20] Back in 1928, Katherine Bement Davis was not able to continue her activities due to her worsened health, in regards to her gallbladder specifically.

Consequently, on February 2, 1928, the Waldorf-Astoria ballroom was filled with Progressive Era reformers to honor Davis at a testimonial dinner.

Harry Emerson Fosdick, Walter Lippman, Judge William McAdoo, John D. Rockefeller Jr., Lillian Wald and Felix Warburg.

[6] Davis also received honorary degrees from Mount Holyoke College, Western Reserve and Yale universities.

[1] King Victor Emmanuel and the Pope gave honor to Davis for providing aid to refugees of the 1908 Italian earthquake.