Alida Bowler

Alida Cynthia Bowler (November 29, 1887 – May 17, 1968) was an American social worker and educator who advocated for Indigenous Americans in Nevada. She worked for the Red Cross, the American Indian Defense Association, the United States Children's Bureau, and at educational institutions. She also became the first female superintendent at a Native American boarding school, when she was appointed to Stewart Indian School in 1934.

Early life and education Bowler was born on November 29, 1887, in Moro, Illinois, United States.

Bowler studied psychology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, graduating with her masters degree in 1911. As a student, Bowler was a May Day folk dancer and member of the Classical Club, Kappa Alpha Theta, Phi Delta Psi and Phi Beta Kappa. and to a study of the Ohio State School for the Blind.

During World War I, Bowler served in France with the Red Cross. After the Armistice was signed in 1918, ending the war, she was transferred to Romania where she worked supporting and resettling refugees fleeing from Odesa.

Bowler returned to the United States in September 1919. She continued to work for the Red Cross in Seattle, Washington. She then worked for five years as executive secretary of the San Francisco office of the American Indian Defense Association (AIDA), alongside John C. Collier.

In 1929, Bowler was appointed as temporary and emergency president of the Bureau of Public Relations by the Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) in Los Angeles, California, following the death of Ralph S. Boyesen who had previously held the role.

On September 1, 1934, Bowler became the first female superintendent at an "Indian" boarding school, working for the rural Carson Indian Agency in Nevada at the boarding Stewart Indian School. Bowler was appointed after the Indian Reorganization Act (1934) was passed, which ended previous policies eradicating tribal culture and working towards the cultural assimilation of Native Americans.

While in post, Bowler supported girls organising themselves into sewing clubs. In 1936, she opened the Wa-Pai-Shone Craft Cooperative and Trading Post, which sold buckskin and beaded artworks and other craft items made by female school students. The students received the proceeds from the sales. The name Wa-Pai-Shone was a portmanteau to recognize the names of the three tribal nations (Washoe, Paiute and Shoshone) that were represented in the school body. In response, the Office of Indian Affairs (OA) removed Bowler from her position as superintendent for the Carson Indian Agency. Three councils of tribal leaders sent letters to the OA protesting her removal, including the Walker River Paiute tribal nation of Nevada, but Bowler was still replaced.

Before leaving her position she said that: She reported that veterans who "already know the ways of the "white man’s world"" had the easiest time adjusting to urban life.

Death Bowler died on May 17, 1968, in Riverside, California, United States, aged 80. She was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.