Who is Arabella Mansfield?

Arabella Mansfield born on May 23, 1846 near Burlighton, Iowa was an american educator and the first woman to be admitted to the legal field in the United States.

History

Prior to the year 1869, the bar exam and the practice of law in America was solely limited to white males. Males dominated the field as literacy rates increased throughout the eighteenth century. In the middle of this century, sixty to seventy-five percent of male literacy was representive in New England and Pennsylvania. Being slightly higher in the Carolinas and Virginia.

The Legal Loophole

This all changed when Wesleyan university valedictorian, Arabella Mansfield gained access to the bar through a legal loophole. While the official Iowa state legislation only allowed white men with a "good moral character" to participate in the exam, an advocate for women's rights, Judge Franis Springer used Iowa Code 3.29(3) (1860) to expand the practice to females with an interest in law. The code declared , "words importing the masculine gender only may be extended to females". Judge Springer interpreted that the diction, specifically the use of the word "male" in the bar admission statute, was not meant to be explicitly exclusionary of women. With this in mind, Mansfield was given access to taking the exam and with passing be admitted to the bar. By becoming the first woman in the US to be admitted and pass the bar, Iowa became the first state in the Union to allow women to practice law.

The Significance of Arabella Mansfield

By becoming the first woman in the US to be admitted and pass the rigorous bar exam, Iowa became the first state in the Union to allow women to practice law. Mansfield's profound achievment preceded the ammendment of the Iowa code regarding law students taking the bar he following year. The state legislature was ratified, removing the words, "white male" and naming the chapter "Women and Colored Persons May Be Attorneys at Law." [Chapter 21].

Mansfield's Future

Instead of persuing a career in law, Mansfield devoted her time in academia. Her support for women's suffrage persisted. She established the Iowa Woman Suffrage Society and was the chairwoman of its convention in 1870.