This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!
Petticoats at the Bar: Arabella Mansfield’s Trailblazing Path
Arabella Aurelia Babb Mansfield became the United States first woman law graduate in 1869 though she never practiced. She led as a college administrator at DePauw University, later serving as dean of the Schools of Music and Art, and remained active in Iowa women’s rights circles. Her husband John Mansfield faced mental decline and died in 1894. Arabella died in 1911 in Mount Pleasant.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Arabella Babb Mansfield
United States
Arabella Aurelia Babb
Belle
Burlington
Iowa Wesleyan College
Simpson College
Indianola
Iowa Wesleyan
John Melvin Mansfield
Wesleyan
Iowa
John
Arabella
Mansfield
Europe
Iowa Woman’s Suffrage Society
Des Moines
John Mansfield
Leipzig
Germany
Asbury University
DePauw University
Greencastle
Napa
Calif
Indiana
DePauw
California
Ladies’ Hall
School of
Art
School of Music
Ventura County
Ventura Vidette
Vidette
Indianapolis
San Francisco
State University At
Berkeley
Congress of Women Lawyers
Chicago
Japan
School of Art
Mount Pleasant
Gazette
Ind
Schools of Art and Music
Arabella Mansfield
Union Block