Arabella Mansfield

Who was Arabella Mansfield?

Arabella Mansfield, née Belle Aurelia Babb, became the first female lawyer in the United States when she was admitted to the Iowa bar in 1869. She was allowed to take the bar exam and passed with high scores, despite a state law restricting applicants to white males over 21. Shortly after Mansfield passed the exam, Iowa amended its bar licensing statute and became the first state to allow women and minorities into its bar.

She was born on a family farm in Burlington, Iowa as the second child to Mary Moyer and Miles Babb. Her older brother, Washington Irving Babb, born in 1844, was Mansfield’s lifelong friend. While she was still young, her father left to California for the gold rush. In 1852, he became superintendent of the Bay State Mining Company. The two children and their mother then moved to Mount Pleasant, Iowa.

In 1862, Mansfield began college at Iowa Wesleyan College in Mount Pleasant and began using the name Arabella. With many men leaving to fight in the civil war, universities were admitting more women students and teachers. She graduated in three years as valedictorian; Washington was salutatorian in the same class.