Samuelson, Agnes

Agnes Samuelson was Iowa Superintendent of Public Instruction, 1927-1939; executive secretary of the Iowa State Teachers' Association, 1939-1945; and rural education activist with the National Education Association, serving as NEA president in 1935. Samuelson was an expert on rural education and a supporter of school consolidation.

Agnes Samuelson was born in Shenandoah, Iowa. She graduated from Western Normal School in Shenandoah and from the State University of Iowa (MA, 1928). She served as a rural school teacher; a small town school principal; county superintendant of schools in Page County, Iowa; Iowa state superintendent of public instruction (1927-1939); president of the National Education Association (1935); executive secretary of the Iowa State Education Association (1939-1945); extension professor at Iowa State Teachers' College; assistant editor of the National Education Association journal; and staff member in the Washington, DC office of the N.E.A. She authored a number of monographs and delivered many addresses on educational topics. She was awarded 5 honorary degrees and was a member of many learned societies, church groups and women's organizations.