Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 2042
Isabel Chapin Barrows (April 17, 1845 – October 24, 1913) was the first woman employed by the United States State Department. She worked as a stenographer for William H. Seward in 1868 while her husband, Samuel June Barrows, was ill. She was the first woman to work for Congress as a stenographer. Barrows was also one of the first women to attend the University of Vienna to study ophthalmology, and the first woman to have a private practice in medicine in Washington, D.C..
Following a previously made agreement, after completing her education, Samuel enrolled at Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Isabel continued on at all her positions in Washington, stopping only just before the birth of their first child, Mabel Hay Barrows. Shortly after her move to Cambridge, the Barrows made yet another move to Leipzig, Germany, where both Isabel and Samuel took up various studies. Isabel focused on Italian, French, and German, while Samuel took courses in music and political economy. A year later, they returned to the United States and moved to Dorchester, Massachusetts, for Samuel to become a Unitarian pastor at Meeting House Hill. [They lived at 51 Sawyer Avenue] Soon after beginning his career as a pastor, Samuel became editor of the weekly Christian Register. Isabel continued to aid him in his work, helping him edit on a regular basis in addition to working on her own pieces. Although her life was filled with tasks helping her husband, Isabel managed to become an active member in prison reform and other various charities and religious organizations. For numerous years she acted as stenographer and as an editor for a multitude of conferences, including the National Conference of Charities and Correction and the National Prison Association.
1896 brought the election of Samuel to Congress, but he was subsequently defeated in the election for his second term. Instead of returning to prior career choices, he became the secretary of the Prison Association of New York and again moved the Barrows family, this time to Staten Island, New York. Isabel continued her work in prison reform and other activities across the nation, primarily delivering speeches for her cause. Even abroad she held some semblance of authority. In 1909 she went to Saint Petersburg, Russia, in order to petition for the release of Catherine Breshkovsky, who was being held as a Russian revolutionary.
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