Dates of Birth and Death
1883-1971Birthplace
Basingstoke, EnglandEducation
- Cornell University, 1905
Professional organizations
- American Society of Civil Engineers
Keywords
Connecticut, New York, residentialBiography
Nora Barney was the first female member of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Early Life and Career in Architecture
Barney was born in 1883 in Basingstoke, England. She was the granddaughter of social activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Barney’s family moved to New York City in the 1890s. She enrolled at Cornell in 1901, becoming the first woman to earn a degree in civil engineering when she graduated four years later. Barney worked extensively as an engineer in New York before becoming an architect and developer on Long Island in 1914. She went on to design many residences in Long Island and Greenwich, Connecticut.
Other Work
Barney was also a strong advocate for woman suffrage. She was the editor of the Woman’s Political Journal, the journal of the Women’s Political Union.
Writings
“Discussion on ‘Works for the Purification of the Water Supply in Washington, D.C.’” Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers (December 1906): 400-408.
Life Sketches of Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1948). Pamphlet.
Women as Human Beings (1946). Pamphlet.