Katherine Augusta Westcott Tingley (July 6, 1847 – July 11, 1929) was a social worker and prominent theosophist. She led the American Section of the Theosophical Society after W. Q. Judge. She founded and led the Theosophical community Lomaland in Point Loma, San Diego.
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Early life
Tingley was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, on July 6, 1847, the daughter of James P. and Susan Westcott, of early colonial ancestry.
Career
Tingley was employed as a social worker in New York City when she met William Quan Judge. She joined the Theosophical Society on October 13, 1894.
In 1895, disputes between Judge and Annie Besant led to a split, with Judge taking most of the American section with him. After converting Tingley to Theosophy, Judge appointed her as the Outer Head of the Theosophical Society.
In 1901, the Los Angeles Times printed a story entitled Outrages at Point Loma; Exposed by an ‘Escape’ from Tingley. Startling Tales told in this City. Women and Children Starved and Treated Like Convicts. Thrilling Rescue. It made various claims against Tingley, and she immediately filed a lawsuit against the paper for libel. She won the following year, resulting in other papers being much more reluctant to attack her publicly.
In 1913 she founded the Parliament of Peace and Universal Brotherhood and in 1919 the Theosophical University at Point Loma. She established several theosophical branch centers in America and in Europe, and also a summer school for children at Visingsö, Sweden. She was the editor of the Theosophical Path. Many theosophical magazines were published under her direction in Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden. She was the author of "Theosophy and Some of the Vital Problems of the Day," "Marriage and the Home," "Theosophy, the Path of the Mystic."