Barney, Nora (1883–1971)

American civil engineer and architect. Name variations: Nora Blatch or Nora Stanton Blatch; Nora de Forest; Nora Stanton Barney or Nora Stanton Blatch Barney. Born Nora Stanton Blatch, Sept 30, 1883, in Basingstoke, England; died Jan 18, 1971, in Greenwich, Connecticut; dau. of William Henry Blatch and Harriot Stanton Blatch (1856–1940, feminist); granddau. of Elizabeth Cady Stanton; Cornell University, graduated cum laude, 1905, the 1st woman at Cornell to receive a degree in civil engineering; m. Lee de Forest (inventor of the radio vacuum tube), Feb 1908 (div. May 1912); m. Morgan Barney (naval architect), 1919; children: (1st m.) Harriet de Forest (b. 1909); (2nd m.) Rhoda Barney (b. 1920), John Barney (b. 1922).

The 1st woman member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, began career as an assistant engineer and chief draftsman for Radley Steel Construction Co., then as assistant engineer for New York Public Service Commission; as an active member of Women's Political Union (WPU), campaigned to gain voting rights for women in NY (1909–17); edited WPU publication, Women's Political World, and served as union's executive secretary, becoming union president (1915); designed and built homes in CT (1923–71); was appointed engineering inspector for Public Works Administration in CT and RI (1934); wrote pamphlet, World Peace Through a Peoples Parliament (1944); investigated by House Committee on Un-American Activities for being a member of Congress of American Women (1950), but never testified; was a strong supporter of Equal Rights Amendment.