Mansfield, Arabella Babb (1846-1911), was the first woman admitted to the practice of law in the United States. She did not work as a lawyer but instead pursued a college teaching career.
Mansfield was born on a farm near Burlington, Iowa, on May 23, 1846, and graduated from Iowa Wesleyan College. Her original name was Belle Aurelia Babb, but she came to be called Arabella. In 1868, she married John Melvin Mansfield, a professor of natural history. The couple joined the faculty of Iowa Wesleyan, where Arabella taught English and history. She studied law and was admitted to the legal profession in 1869. In 1870, she helped found the Iowa Woman Suffrage Association, which worked to gain voting rights for women.
In 1879, the Mansfields moved to Indiana Asbury University, now DePauw University. There, Arabella became dean of the school of art in 1893 and dean of the school of music in 1894. She held both positions until her death on Aug. 1, 1911.
