Since Betsy's papers were, until recently, in the possession of her family, little was known about her. But, evidence shows that she was, in fact, an active and influential reformer of the nineteenth century. Betsy was involved in many different activities: she was an active abolitionist, a feminist, and an educator. She counted among her friends and acquaintances people such as Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, Henry C. Wright, and Abby Kelley Foster. At a time when women had few, if any, career choices besides marriage, Betsy opted to remain single. She supported herself as a teacher and administrator. In her life's work, she won the love and respect of her pupils, as evidenced by the admiring letters they wrote her.

The Betsy Mix Cowles Papers are virtually a goldmine for the researcher. Betsy was active in most of the major reforms of her day and her papers provide an excellent insight into the life of such a person. Due to the fact that women's history is such a new field, there are many gaps in the knowledge. There is much known about those women who were national leaders, but little has been written on women like Betsy who did their work on the local level. Without the Betsy Cowles in the ranks, movements like abolitionism and women's rights would never have gotten off the ground. Besides women's history and reform in nineteenth century America, this collection could also be useful in studies on education and state and local history. The only real problem with Betsy's papers is that there are relatively few letters from Betsy herself. What does exist, however, provides a good impression of the life of an excetional woman and the times she lived in.

The chronology of Betsy's life:

• 1810 February 9--birth of Betsy Mix Cowles in Bristol, Connecticut, the eighth child of Giles Hooker Cowles and Sally White Cowles.
• 1811 Cowles family settles in Austinburg, Ohio.
• 1827-32 (approximately) Betsy began teaching in area schools and in southeastern New York.
• 1830 Death of her mother, Sally White Cowles.
• 1832 Studied infant school in New York City.
• 1832-33 Conducted an infant school in Kinsman, Ohio
• 1834 Secretary of the Young Ladies' Society for Intellectual Improvement in Austinburg.
• 1835 Death of her father, Giles Hooker Cowles.
• 1835 Principal leader of antislavery in Ashtabula County; organizer and secretary of the Ashtabula County Female Anti-Slavery Society.
• 1838-40 One of the first students of the Ladies' course at Oberlin College; member of third female graduating class.
• 1840-43 Taught in Portsmouth, Ohio.
• 1843-48 Preceptress of female department of Grand River Institute in Austinburg.
• 1845 Became a Garrisonian Abolitionist through influence of Abby Kelley Foster.
• 1846-47 Conducted antislavery fairs in Ohio; attended antislavery fairs and meetings in Boston.
• 1848 Teacher and principal of female department of grammar.
• 1850 Betsy Mix Cowles, presided over the 1850 Ohio Women's Convention. The Ohio convention was held two years after the Seneca Falls, New York convention, at which women demanded the right to vote.

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