Estelle Reel Collection, 1895/1959

Estelle Reel (Mrs. Cort Meyer) was born in 1862 in the State of Illinois. In 1895 she was elected state superintendent of public instruction, the first woman in Wyoming ever elected to a state office. From her obituary (prepared by herself several years before her death): "The office of superintendent carried with it the duties of Registrar of the Land Board and secretary of Charities and Reforms, which included the penitentiaries and insane asylums of the state. Miss Reel was required to inspect, visit and report on these institutions to the State Board of Control at Cheyenne. In her work in the penitentiary, she became convinced of the necessity of indeterminate sentences for prisoners and later addressed the Prison Congress in New York City in which she advocated this measure and received in recognition a bronze medal. As Registrar of the Land Board, she made many innovations, some of which brought increased revenues for the schools." This was a woman of considerable administrative ability. In 1898 she was appointed by the president to the position of superintendent of Indian schools and special disbursing officer. In this position she served for twelve years. She was an indefatigable investigator of conditions in the Indian schools all over the United States. She traveled extensively by train, buckboard and on horseback when necessary. Reel prepared a textbook for Indian schools, which received the commendation of many educational publications. The background material for this work is in the collection. While on a visit to the Yakima reservation she met and later married Cort F. Meyer. The couple became partners in a sheep raising business with the Kays Brothers. Estelle Reel Meyer passed away on August 2, 1959. Obituary: The Toppenish Review, Toppenish, WA, 6 August 1959.