Elsie Toles

Elsie Toles (September 19, 1888 – August 29, 1957) was Arizona's first female superintendent of public instruction, a professor, and an author.

Elsie Toles was born on September 19, 1888, in Bisbee, Arizona. She was one of four girls in Bisbee High School's first graduating class. She attended Pomona College for a year before returning to Arizona upon her mother's death to care for her brother and sister. In 1908, she earned her teaching credentials from the State Normal School (now San Jose State University) in San Jose, California,^[1] and taught for two years in Bisbee before bringing her siblings with her for a year of specialized studies at the University of Michigan.^[2]

Toles returned to Arizona and taught in Bisbee and Douglas, Arizona. The Cochise County Republican Party approached her about running for the county superintendent of public instruction. Although the county was strongly Democratic, she won.^[2] She was the only Republican in the county to win that year, and held the post for two terms, starting in 1916.^[1][2][3] In the position, she managed ninety schools, many of which were rural.^[2][4] The many rural schools required extensive travel.^[3] She is credited with starting the county's school health services.^[2]

In 1920, Toles was elected as the state's superintendent of public instruction.^[4] She was the first woman elected to the position, and took office in 1921.^[2][3] The job also included managing the State Board of Pardons and Paroles.^[1]

Toles began a program raising teacher certification standards. She also increased financial aid for schools, particularly rural ones.^[2] Many of the recommendations she made were focused on the needs of rural schools. She believed that the most qualified county superintendents chose to work in cities for better pay and to avoid rural isolation, leaving the rural schools with less experienced ones. She believed the issue could be addressed by appointing superintendents and by reorganizing the educational structure.^[3]

In 1922, 1200 schoolchildren in three counties were given a uniform educational and mental test in Arizona's first statewide test.^[3]

In 1922, Toles lost re-election in a "Democratic landslide" to Charles O. Case.^[3]

Toles left office in 1923. She returned to the University of Michigan to complete her undergraduate degree and then completed a master's degree at the University of California, Berkeley. She taught as a demonstration teacher at the University of California demonstration school, and then became a professor of education at San Jose College, holding the position for seventeen years.^[2][3] Her focus remained on the supervision of rural schools.^[3]

During World War II, Toles helped establish childcare centers for California's war production plants.^[2]

Toles retired in 1945 and moved in with her sister, Myriam, on their ranch in Chiricahua Mountains.^[2][1] After retiring, she coauthored two children's books, Adventures in Apacheland and The Secret of Lonesome Valley, with her sister.^[2]

In 1956, Toles was elected as a presidential delegate for the Republican Party.^[1]

Toles died in Douglas, Arizona on August 29, 1957.^[2]

• 1984: Arizona Women's Hall of Fame
• 2016: Arizona Rural School's Association Hall of Fame^[5]
• 2021: Arizona Rural School's Association Hall of Fame established the Elsie Toles Woman in Rural Leadership Award^[6]