Myra Carroll Winkler (1880 – August 21, 1963) was an American

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

and was the first woman to hold elected office in El Paso County.

Biography

Winkler was born in

Corsicana, Texas Corsicana is a city in and the county seat of Navarro County, Texas, United States. It is located on Interstate 45, 50 miles southeast of Dallas, Texas, Dallas. Its population was 25,109 at the 2020 census. Corsicana is considered an important ...

and her father, Clinton M. Winkler, was one of the first judges on the Texas State

Court of Appeals An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear a case upon appeal from a trial court or other lower tribunal. Appellat ...

. Winkler's mother, A.V. Winkler, was active in collecting

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

artifacts. Winkler attended and graduated from the Sam Houston Teacher's College, and moved to

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

in 1902. In El Paso, Winkler taught at several El Paso

public schools Public school may refer to: *Public school (government-funded), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government *Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging private schools in England and Wales *Great Public Schools, ...

, including

El Paso High School El Paso High School is the oldest operating high school in El Paso, Texas, and is part of the El Paso Independent School District. It serves the west-central section of the city, roughly south and west of the Franklin Mountains and north of Int ...

. Winkler was elected

superintendent Superintendent may refer to: *Building superintendent, a manager, maintenance or repair person, custodian or janitor, especially in the United States; sometimes shortened to "super" *Prison warden or superintendent, a prison administrator *Soprin ...

of El Paso County schools in 1912, becoming the first woman elected to

public office Public administration, or public policy and administration refers to "the management of public programs", or the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day",Kettl, Donald and James Fessler. 2009. ''The Politics of the ...

in El Paso County. Winkler was also one of eight women who were elected to the office of superintendent in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

in 1912. Under her tenure as superintendent, she was responsible for improving many schools in El Paso County. She retired as superintendent in 1922. In 1923, Winkler became an adjunct professor of history and economics at the

University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public university, public research university in El Paso, Texas, United States. Founded in 1913 as the State School of Mines and Metallurgy, it is the third oldest academic component of the Univers ...

(UTEP), becoming the second woman to work as faculty at the school. Winkler married Andrew Jackson Zilker in August 1925. In 1945, she was a candidate for earning her masters of science from the

North Texas State College The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its main campus is in Denton, with a satellite campus in Frisco. It serves as the flagship of the University of North Texas Syst ...

. Winkler died on in her home in El Paso on August 21, 1963. A school, Myra Winkler County School, was named after her, though the name was changed to Travis Elementary School in the 1950s.

References

External links

Find a Grave
{{DEFAULTSORT:Winkler, Myra Carroll 1880 births 1963 deaths People from Corsicana, Texas Politicians from El Paso, Texas University of Texas at El Paso faculty University of North Texas alumni Sam Houston State University alumni 20th-century American women educators 20th-century American women politicians Women in Texas politics School superintendents in Texas 20th-century American academics Academics from Texas Schoolteachers from Texas 20th-century American women academics