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Agnes Samuelson
"Perhaps no
Iowa woman has had more impact on education and the teaching profession
than has Agnes Samuelson."
— Iowa State Education Association, 1976
Agnes
Samuelson, an influential force in Iowa education for over 30
years, was born in Shenandoah in 1887. She served as state Superintendent
of Public Instruction—then an elective office—from
1927 to 1939 and was also president of the National Education
Association and executive secretary of the Iowa State Education
Association. As Page County Superintendent of Schools, Samuelson
gained national recognition as an authority on providing services
to rural schools and the need for school consolidation. She urged
adoption of the current school-aid formula that provides equal
education for all Iowa children regardless of the property wealth
in their home district. A Des Moines elementary school was named
for Samuelson after her death in 1963 at age 76. Samuelson was
inducted into the Iowa Women's Hall of Fame in 1976. |
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