Oklahoma native Edna Hoffman Bowman graduated from Kingfisher High School in 1924 and attended Oklahoma City University from 1924 to 1926 before graduating from the University of Oklahoma in 1928. She moved to Newkirk, Oklahoma, as a fourth grade teacher and, in 1929, taught English and Speech at Newkirk High School. She remained there as a drama coach and directed the debate team, glee clubs, and quartets. She married George Lynn Bowman in 1940. After her husband’s death in 1957, she became the director and treasurer of the Oklahoma Historical Society.