Katherine Gabel papers

Katherine Gabel was born on April 9, 1938 in Rochester, New York. She earned a B.S. in sociology and anthropology from Smith College in 1959, having written a thesis on African women (The Urbanization of the Lone African Woman) and traveling with a Smith group to Africa in 1957. She earned a M.S.W. from Simmons College School of Social Work in 1961; a Ph.D. in Criminology from Syracuse University in 1967; and a J.D. from the Albany (New York) Law School in 1970.

She was employed by the Boston Children's Service from 1959 to 1960; the Massachusetts Mental Health Center Children's Unit from 1960 to 1961; the Central Island Mental Health Center in Uniondale, New York from 1960 to 1962; and the Georgia State Training School for Girls in Atlanta, Georgia from 1962 to 1964, first as a psychiatric social worker and then as Acting Superintendent. From 1968 to 1970, Gabel served as a consultant to the New York State Crime Control Council and during her tenure there wrote the legislative report New York State's Prostitution Problem: The Streetwalker. She served as Superintendent at the Adobe Mountain School (for juvenile offenders) in Phoenix, Arizona, 1970-76, and also as part-time faculty member and lecturer at the Center for Criminal Justice, Arizona State University, Tempe from 1974 to 1976. In 1976, she was awarded a Smith College Medal. From 1976 to 1985, she was Dean and Professor at the Smith College School for Social Work, also working as a Lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology.

Gabel continued to be interested in Africa, and traveled there on several occasions. She assumed the presidency of Pacific Oaks College in Pasadena, CA in 1985; the length of her tenure there is unknown. Gabel was active in several professional associations, including the UN Commision for Social Development, the UN Economic and Social Council, the UN Association of the USA, the Council on Social Work Education, and the American Psychoanalytic Association.