Josephine Young Case, the daughter of Owen D. Young, was a poet and writer and the first woman to be a director of the Radio Corporation of America. She was educated at the Brearley School and at Bryn Mawr College. In 1931, after her marriage to Everett Needham Case, she received an M.A. in American literature at Radcliffe College. After her family moved to her father’s native town of Van Hornesville, she wrote and published her first book, At Midnight on the 31st of March (1938), in blank verse.
For 20 years while her husband was president of Colgate University, Mrs. Case taught a literature course at Colgate and published Written in Sand (1945), a historical novel, and Freedom’s Farm (1946), a poetry collection. Her writing included a biography of her father, Owen D. Young and American Enterprise (Godine, 1982), in which her husband collaborated.
She became the first female director of RCA in 1961, and remained in the post until 1972. She was also a board member of Bryn Mawr, the Fund for the Advancement of Education and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. She was also a member of the national board of the Girl Scouts from 1948 to 1953 and was on the board of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., in the mid-60’s.
A trustee of Skidmore College for many years, Mrs. Case became chairwoman of the board in 1960.
