15 Facts About Isabel Barrows

Isabel Hayes Chapin Barrows was the first woman employed by the United States State Department.

Isabel Barrows worked as a stenographer for William H Seward in 1868 while her husband, Samuel June Barrows, was ill.

Isabel Barrows later became the first woman to work for Congress as a stenographer.

Isabel Barrows ended her work at the sanatorium when she became engaged and, in 1866, they both moved to New York City.

Isabel Barrows began to study shorthand in addition to her medical studies while Samuel worked as a stenographer.

The next summer Samuel came down with an illness and Isabel Barrows filled in for him, making her the first woman to officially work for the State Department.

Isabel Barrows then went abroad for the second time to study ophthalmology as a specialty at the University of Vienna, becoming the first woman to enroll at the institution.

Once she completed those studies, Isabel Barrows returned to Washington, DC, and became its first woman to open a private medical practice in ophthalmology.

Isabel Barrows focused on Italian, French, and German, while Samuel took courses in music and political economy.

Isabel Barrows participated and was an editor at the Mohawk Conferences on the Negro and Native American question.

Isabel Barrows continued her work in prison reform and other activities throughout the nation, primarily delivering speeches for her cause.

Isabel Barrows began writing articles and books with her husband about prison reform and the treatment of the feeble-minded.

Isabel Barrows's activism was not limited to the boundaries of the United States.

Isabel Barrows continued her work vying for reform, primarily in prisons, and on other issues, both national and international.

Isabel Barrows died of cirrhosis on October 25,1913, in Croton-on-Hudson, New York.