Elsie Toles

Elsie Toles (born September 19, 1888 in Bisbee , Arizona Territory , † August 29, 1957 in Douglas , Arizona ) was an American teacher, professor and politician ( Republican Party ).

Career

Elsie Toles was born in 1888 in what was then the Bisbee miners' camp, now the county seat of Cochise County . Her childhood was overshadowed by her parents' and grandparents' stories of Apache raids, robbery-ups, and early life in the Cochise County miners' camp. Toles was one of four girls who graduated from Bisbee High School . She later attended Pomona Collge in California for a year before her mother passed away. This forced her to give up her studies. Toles returned home to take care of her 12 year old sister, Myriam, and her 8 year old brother, Silas.

She subsequently received teaching credentials from the State Normal School in San José, California. As a result, she was able to work as a teacher in Bisbee for two years. After that, she took her two siblings at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor ( Michigan ), where it one year subject-related studies in education pursued. She then returned to the Arizona Territory with her siblings. She then taught for a year in Bisbee and two years in Douglas.

At this point in her career, she was approached by the Republican Party of Cochise County to win her candidacy for the post of County Superintendent of Public Instruction. She came up. Although the county was heavily dominated by the Democratic Party , it won the election. Toles held the post for two terms, spending four years overseeing the country schools. She later said the following about this time:

“[It was] a formidable task that meant driving over dirt roads in a Model T Ford . I carried tools to repair and inflate a flat tire and also a five gallon emergency can of gas ... One school was perched on top of a mountain at the end of a winding road. The gas tank, located beneath the car's front seat, was lower than the carburetor when I tried to drive up the steep mountain. So the only way I could get to the school was to drive backwards for three miles. "

“[It was] a terrible job that meant driving over dirt roads in a Model T Ford. I carried tools to fix and inflate a flat tire and a five  gallon canister of gasoline ... A school was on a hill at the end of a winding country road. The petrol tank, which was under the front seat of the car, was lower than the carburetor when I tried to drive up the steep hill. So the only way to get to the school was to drive 3  miles backwards. "

All schools showed a lack of trained teachers, poor facilities and dilapidated buildings. They owned next to nothing. Added to this was the fact that some of the school board members tried to use the school as a place to deal with personal grudges. In one such instance, Toles refused to fire a teacher who had managed to upset a member of the school board. In this regard, her sister Myriam said the following:

“So he burned down the school house and generally announced that the teacher would now have to leave. Elsie decided that since the teacher had a contract and had violated no law, the board would have to pay her salary for the rest of the year. There were no more fires. "

“So he burned down a school building and happily announced that the teacher had to go now. Elsie decided, however, that the teacher had a legal contract and had not broken any law. As a result, the school board had to pay him his salary for the rest of the year. After that there were no more fires. "

After serving as County Superintendent of Public Instruction, Toles set out for higher office. In the 1920 elections, she ran for the post of Superintendent of Public Instruction of Arizona. About that time, Toles said the following:

"Campaigning through the lovely golden days of an Arizona fall, I enjoyed the prospect of the top job in school work, with the added excitement of trying my hand at things that only men had done."

“I campaigned in Arizona during the glorious bright fall days. I enjoyed the prospect of a top job on the education committee, with the added excitement of tackling things that previously only men have done. "

She won the election and began her two-year term in 1921. When she ran for re-election in 1922, however, she suffered a defeat against the Democrat Charles O. Case and left office in early 1923. Under the Arizona state constitution, the Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction automatically sat on five committees, including the Arizona Pardons Committee. This experience influenced the rest of her life. Her first message from a prisoner sentenced to death was from Florence State Prison (FSP):

“Please save my life. I am sentenced to be hanged September ninth. "

“Please save my life. I am sentenced to be hung on September 9th. "

Years later, Toles said the following about her impressions at the time:

“Receiving that was a terrific shock. For the first time I actually realized that in my new position I would have the power to send a human being to his death. There was no choice. Hey what guilty. He paid the penalty. But I'll never forget the day we faced him across the parole board table ... "

“It was a terrible shock. For the first time I realized that in my position I had the power to send someone to their death. But there was no other choice. He was guilty and paid the penalty. But I'll never forget the day we faced him on the parole board. ... "

Her work on the Arizona Pardons Committee had an impact on her defeat in her re-election. Toles said:

“As soon as we got accustomed to our work, the difference of sex had no bearing on our decisions. But it is doubtful if anyone else, besides ourselves, realized this. ... undoubtedly clear to the end, the people of Arizona credited my male colleagues with all paroles denied and held me responsible for every parole granted. "

“Once we got used to our work, gender didn't influence our decisions. But it is doubtful that anyone else realized this, except ourselves. ... It was undoubtedly clear in the end that the people of Arizona granted all pardons to my male colleagues and held me responsible for all pardons granted. "

Toles is credited with setting up a school health service in Cochise County. At the state level, it initiated an extensive program to increase the teacher certification standards. She also worked to increase funding for schools, especially rural schools, and supported a movement to appoint the Superintendent of Public Instructions of Arizona in the future.

In 1923, at the end of her tenure as Superintendent of Public Instruction, she graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a Masters Degree and taught visual learning for two years . She later became a professor of education at San Jose College - a post she held for 17 years.

During World War II , she helped create childcare centers for mothers who worked in California's war factories. After her retirement in 1945, she and her sister wrote two children's books, Adventures in Apacheland and The Secret of Lonesome Valley.

She died in Douglas in 1957 and was then buried in the Evergreen Cemetery in Bisbee.

literature

• Bury, John Charles: The Historical Role Of Arizona's Superintendent Of Public Instruction , Volume 2, Northern Arizona University, December 1974, pp. 337-372

Individual evidence

1. ↑ wiseGeek.com - Definition of teaching credential
2. ^ Elsie Toles on the ElectionsInfo website
3. ^ Nilsen, Alleen Pace: Dust in our desks: territory days to the present in Arizona schools , Arizona State University, College of Education, 1985, p. 37
4. ^ Elsie Toles in the Find a Grave database . Retrieved January 2, 2016.

Web links

• Arizona Women's Hall of Fame - Elsie Toles (1888–1957)