Barrows, Isabel Hayes (1845–1913)
Barrows, Isabel Hayes (1845–1913)
American editor, ophthalmology surgeon, and penologist. Name variations: Katharine I. Barrows. Born Katharine Isabel Hayes in Iras, Vermont, on April 16, 1845; died in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, in 1913; attended Woman's Medical College of the New York Infirmary for Women and Children, 1868; studied ophthalmology in Vienna, Austria, 1869; married Samuel June Barrows (an author and eventually Unitarian minister), in 1865.
In 1865, Isabel Hayes became the wife of Samuel Barrows, an author and stenographic secretary to Secretary of State William H. Seward. When Samuel became ill in 1868, Isabel replaced him, becoming the first women to be employed by the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. That same year, she studied medicine in New York City, graduating with an M.D. degree. After further study in Vienna, she returned to America to open a private medical practice while teaching at Howard University in Washington, and, for 20 years, she edited the Proceedings of the National Conference of Charities and Correction. Barrows was honored for her notable service as secretary to the National Prison Association.