On November 12, a Pomeroy marker honoring Belle Babb Mansfield was unveiled on the campus of Iowa Wesleyan University in Mount Pleasant, IA, as part of their annual Belle Babb Mansfield Symposium.
“With all of the alterations to our annual symposium due to the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic, it was wonderful having the chance to celebrate the marker unveiling. Mary Elgar, a member of our Belle Babb Mansfield Symposium Leadership Team and Kristen Corey [NVWT State Coordinator] were at the heart of the project and we are so grateful for their work,” said Anna Mullen Villareal, a member of the symposium leadership team and director of the Harlan-Lincoln House museum on campus.
Belle, an 1866 Iowa Wesleyan University graduate, is often recognized for being the first woman to pass the Bar Exam in the United States in 1869. But, she also served as the presiding president of the state’s first “enfranchisement” convention in June 1870. This two-day event yielded the establishment of the Iowa Women’s Suffrage Association.
For more information about the unveiling, check out:
Belle Babb Mansfield – Iowa Wesleyan statue picked for Votes for Women Trail
Belle Babb Mansfield – Iowa Wesleyan statue picked for Votes for Women Trail