Mount Pleasant in Henry County, Iowa — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)

Votes For Women

Road to the 19th Amendment

— National Votes for Women Trail —

Votes For Women Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 26, 2021

1. Votes For Women Marker

Inscription. Belle Babb Mansfield, first U.S. woman attorney 1869. Elected Pres., Iowa Woman Suffrage Convention 1870. Taught at IW 1873-1881.

Erected 2019 by William G. Pomeroy Foundation. (Marker Number 14.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Civil Rights • Women. In addition, it is included in the National Votes for Women Trail, and the William G. Pomeroy Foundation series lists. A significant historical year for this entry is 1869.

Location. 40° 58.444′ N, 91° 33.25′ W. Marker is in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, in Henry County. It is on North Broadway Street south of East Broad Street, on the left when traveling south. Marker is located beside the Belle Babb Mansfield monument on the Iowa Wesleyan University campus. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 601 North Main Street, Mount Pleasant IA 52641, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Southern Iowa. It is also in the American Midwest

and in the Corn Belt.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture

and also the Louisiana Purchase.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Belle Babb Mansfield (here, next to this marker); Iowa Wesleyan College (within shouting distance of this marker); a different marker also named Iowa Wesleyan College (within shouting distance of this marker); P.E.O. Sisterhood Founded (within shouting distance of this marker); James Harlan (about 700 feet away, measured in a direct line); Das Deutsches Kollegium (about 700 feet away); Harlan Hotel (approx. 0.4 miles away); Old Military Road (approx. half a mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Mount Pleasant.

Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker. Belle Babb Mansfield - Votes for Women

Also see . . .
1. Belle Babb Mansfield. In 1869, Belle was the first woman to pass the Bar Exam in the United States with the recommendation for entry by lawyers Edwin Van Cise and George B. Corkhill. This set a precedent for the future admittance of other women into the profession.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 26, 2021

2. Votes For Women Marker

(Belle Babb Mansfield monument on left • Iowa Wesleyan University campus in background)

Just a year later, in June 1870, Belle served as the presiding president of the state’s first “enfranchisement” convention in Mount Pleasant. This two-day event yielded the establishment of the Iowa Woman’s Suffrage Association. (Submitted on July 23, 2021, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

2. How Iowa’s Women Fought for the Right to Vote. A women’s rights convention held in Mount Pleasant in 1870 inspired the formation of the Iowa Woman Suffrage Association (IWSA). That same year, Iowa’s legislature approved a resolution to amend Iowa’s constitution to allow women to vote. Smooth sailing for Iowa suffragists, right? Not quite. Repeatedly, Iowa suffragists tried but failed to amend their state constitution. (Submitted on July 23, 2021, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

3. National Votes for Women Trail. Arabella “Belle” Babb Mansfield is recognized along with 249 other physical sites across the country to commemorate the people, places, and events important to the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920. The historical marker at Iowa Wesleyan University was unveiled on Thursday, November

Paid Advertisement

12, 2020. (Submitted on July 23, 2021, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

Credits. This page was last revised on January 4, 2025. It was originally submitted on July 23, 2021, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 358 times since then and 19 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on July 23, 2021, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.