Velma Linford was born in Afton and grew up on a dairy farm with her two sisters and five brothers. After graduating from Star Valley High School, she earned her AB and Masters degrees at the University of Wyoming. There she did advance work on two research fellowships, one to complete a state history text­book, Wyoming: Frontier State, and the other in American Studies. She did further graduate work at universities in Colorado and California. In her twenty-three years of teaching from rural schools to the university-level, she promoted extra-curricular activities to help students develop their talents.

She was State Superintendent of Public Instruction, 1954-1963. She was Director of the law education division of the American Cancer Society in 1946 and a recipient of the Bronze Medal for Cancer Control in 1955. She was a member of numerous educational, historical, and civic organizations. In 1962, she was educational consultant for the overseas dependent school program. In 1963, she went to Washington, D.C., where she became an administrator for Vista.^[1]

Additional Resources

• Velma Linford '30 & '35, University of Wyoming distinguished alumni biographies
• Velma Linford, Wyoming Authors Wiki
• Velma Isabelle Linford memorial, FindAGrave.com

1. ^ The Denver Post September 27,1947, March 18, 1956; Rocky Mountain News August 16, 1951; Wyoming Eagle June 27, 1968; Wyoming State Tribune February 19, June 11, June 16, June 18. 1959.