[1] On April 19, 1882, she married Bavarian-immigrant and American diplomat Oscar Straus.

[1] From 1887 to 1889, she lived in Istanbul where her husband served as ambassador and she became acquainted with German-Jewish industrialist Baron Maurice de Hirsch and Baroness Clara de Hirsch.

Straus was appointed the first president of the Clara De Hirsch Home for Working Girls where she served until her death.

[1] In 1929, she financed and participated in a four-month expedition to central Africa for the American Museum of Natural History to obtain birds from Uganda, Kenya, and Nyasaland (now Malawi).

[1] In 1934, she financed and participated in an eight-month expedition to West Africa for the Field Museum of Natural History to collect bird specimens in Senegal, French Sudan, and Niger territory.