From collection Candidates
Irene Burns was elected as County Superintendent of Schools in 1914. She was the first woman in Placer County, California elected to a county-wide office and served for three terms. After teaching disabled students in San Francisco, Burns returned to her hometown of Auburn and turned her home into the Burns School for local disabled students. In 2013 the Irene Burns House was listed in the National Historic Register for Historic Places in Placer County.