Born: 30 September 1883, United Kingdom
Died: 18 January 1971
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Nora Stanton Blatch
The following bio was written by Emma Rosen, author of On This Day She Made History: 366 Days With Women Who Shaped the World and This Day In Human Ingenuity & Discovery: 366 Days of Scientific Milestones with Women in the Spotlight, and has been republished with permission.
Nora Stanton Barney (Nora Blatch) was an English-born pioneering American civil engineer and suffragist. She became one of the first women to earn a U.S. engineering degree and chose engineering over the role of a wife. Notably, she was the granddaughter of suffragist icon Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
She graduated from Cornell University in 1905 as its first female engineering graduate and joined the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) as a junior member, pioneering gender inclusion. Despite her contributions, she faced gender discrimination within ASCE. In 1916, Nora sued ASCE for full membership but lost, stalling progress for women.
She married Lee de Forest in 1908 but divorced in 1912 due to his insistence on her leaving her career. Nora continued working as an engineer, notably for the New York State Public Service Commission. In 1919, she wed Morgan Barney. Nora’s daughter, Rhoda Barney Jenkins, became an architect and activist. Nora’s lifelong dedication to women’s rights and world peace culminated in her 1944 book, “World Peace Through a People’s Parliament.”