Katherine Goldsmith was born in 1916 in Kansas City, Missouri. She studied at the University of Kansas City (now University of Missouri-Kansas City) and then moved to Washington, D.C. where she worked as a writer and editor at the American National Red Cross. She later returned to Kansas City and worked as a historian in the Missouri Valley Special Collections at the Kansas City Public Library in the 1960s. She also later taught in the Kansas City, Missouri Public School District in the 1970s. Goldsmith died in 2006, leaving the research materials she collected and created throughout her life to several cultural heritage institutions in the Midwest, including the Spencer Research Library.

Goldsmith was an active member in several historical and cultural clubs and organizations in the Kansas City area. During her time as a student at the University of Kansas City, she co-founded the Inter-American Club, a club centered around the study of Spanish language and Latinx culture. She remained a member of the club throughout her adult life and later became the club's archivist. She was also a member of the Steering Committee of the Missouri Urban Studies Group and served terms as president of both the Mid-America Heritage Council and the Steering Committee of the Urban History Research Center.

Goldsmith was an avid writer of historical articles and monographs, particularly relating to Kansas City history. She wrote a number of essays and short monographs as part of the History of Kansas City Project under the direction of Professor A. Theodore Brown. She is the author of a substantial unpublished monograph titled J. C. Nichols - City Builder, and was the recipient of the third annual Native Sons of Kansas City Award for a short history monograph about Willard E. Winner.