Isabel Worrell Ball

Photo of Isabel Worrell Ball from a Woman's Auxiliary Corps postcard ca. 1912. Sarah Isabel Worrell Ball McElroy (March 13, 1855 – July 5, 1931) was an American journalist and newspaper editor. She worked first in the western United States and later in Washington, D.C., where she became one of the first women admitted to the United States Senate Daily Press Gallery. She was active in the Woman's Relief Corps and became the editor of the National Tribune, a weekly publication of the Grand Army of the Republic.

Early life and family Sarah Isabel (or Isabelle) Worrell was born near Hennepin, Illinois, one of nine children of Elizabeth (McClung) Worrell and James Purcell Worrell, a lawyer and American Civil War veteran who had served with an Illinois regiment. In 1873, her family moved to western Kansas. She was educated partly in public schools and partly by her father.