The Belle Center is named after Arabella “Belle” Babb Mansfield, the Mount Pleasant and Iowa Wesleyan University suffragette who in 1869 became the first woman lawyer admitted to the bar in the United States.
Iowa Wesleyan closed in May 2023, creating a major economic and cultural vacuum in the community and region. The Belle Center was founded in November 2023 to create a new economic engine that builds upon the University’s legacy and Belle’s understanding of the benefits of equitable access to educational and career opportunities.
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