Nora Stanton Barney ( Blatch; September 30, 1883 – January 18, 1971) was an English-born American
civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...
, and
suffragist
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...
. Barney was among the first women to graduate with an engineering degree in United States. Given an ultimatum to either stay a wife or practice engineering she chose engineering. She was the granddaughter of
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Elizabeth Cady Stanton (November 12, 1815 – October 26, 1902) was an American writer and activist who was a leader of the women's rights movement in the U.S. during the mid- to late-19th century. She was the main force behind the 1848 Seneca ...
.
Early life
She was born Nora Stanton Blatch in
Basingstoke
Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southa ...
,
Hampshire, England
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
, in 1883 to William Blatch and
Harriot Eaton Stanton, daughter of
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Elizabeth Cady Stanton (November 12, 1815 – October 26, 1902) was an American writer and activist who was a leader of the women's rights movement in the U.S. during the mid- to late-19th century. She was the main force behind the 1848 Seneca ...
. She studied Latin and mathematics at the
Horace Mann School
, motto_translation = Great is the truth and it prevails
, address = 231 West 246th Street
, city = The Bronx
, state = New York
, zipcode = 10471
, count ...
in New York, beginning in 1897, returning to England in the summers. The family moved to the United States in 1902. Nora attended
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
, graduating in 1905 with a degree in
civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...
. She was Cornell University's first female engineering graduate.
[Pioneering women in STEM](_blank)
''www.nsf.gov'', accessed 28 February 2020 In the same year, she was the first woman admitted (accepted as a junior member) of the
American Society of Civil Engineers
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
(ASCE). She also began work for the New York City Board of Water Supply and for the
American Bridge Company
The American Bridge Company is a heavy/civil construction firm that specializes in building and renovating bridges and other large, complex structures. Founded in 1900, the company is headquartered in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pitts ...
in 1905–06.
Following the examples set by her mother and grandmother, Nora also became active in the growing women's suffrage movement. She was the first female member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, where she was allowed to be a junior member only and denied advancement to associate member in 1916 solely because of her gender. At the time, women were only admitted as junior members. In 1916, she sued the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) for refusing to admit her as a full member, even though she met all requirements. Blatch lost, and no woman became a full ASCE member for a decade.
In 2015, she was posthumously advanced to ASCE Fellow status.
Marriage to Lee de Forest
In 1908, she married the inventor
Lee de Forest
Lee de Forest (August 26, 1873 – June 30, 1961) was an American inventor and a fundamentally important early pioneer in electronics. He invented the first electronic device for controlling current flow; the three-element "Audion" triode va ...
, and helped to manage some of the companies he had founded to promote his invention and the new technology of wireless (radio).
The couple spent their honeymoon in Europe marketing radio equipment developed by de Forest. However, the couple separated only a year later, due largely to de Forest's insistence that Nora quit her profession and become a conventional housewife. Shortly afterward, in June 1909, Nora gave birth to their daughter, Harriet. In 1909, she began working as an engineer for the Radley Steel Construction Company. She divorced de Forest in 1912.
After her divorce, she continued her engineering career,
working for the
New York State Public Service Commission
The New York Public Service Commission is the public utilities commission of the New York state government that regulates and oversees the electric, gas, water, and telecommunication industries in New York as part of the Department of Public Ser ...
.
Later life
In 1919, Nora married Morgan Barney, a marine architect.
Their daughter, Rhoda Barney Jenkins, born July 12, 1920, in New York, was an
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
and
social activist
Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...
. Rhoda died August 25, 2007, in Greenwich. Nora continued to work for equal rights for women and world peace, and in 1944 authored ''World Peace Through a People's Parliament''.
Nora worked as a
real-estate developer
Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to others. R ...
and political activist until her death in
Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich (, ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast (Conne ...
on January 18, 1971.
She is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery and Conservancy, Bronx NY with Memorial ID 92785151.
[Croucher, John S. "Nora Stanton Blatch Barney". ''Women in Science''. Gloucestershire UK: Amberley Publishing 2019, 34-35. ]
References
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
*
1921 passport photo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barney, Nora Stanton Blatch
British emigrants to the United States
1883 births
1971 deaths
English suffragists
Cornell University College of Engineering alumni
People from Basingstoke
Livingston family
American women architects
American civil engineers
American women engineers
Cornell University alumni