Edward Strieby Steele (1850-1942) was a teacher, writer and botanical researcher. A son of Lane Revel James Steele, he received an Oberlin A.B. in 1872 and Seminary degree in 1877. After further education, at Andover, Harvard and Leipzig, and teaching he went to Washington D.C. in 1889 to assist in the preparation of the Century Dictionary. From this project he entered government employ and for the next 27 years was associated with the Smithsonian Institution and the Department of Agriculture. At the College herbarium (Oberlin Review, Jan. 6, 1882, p. 92), and later when he moved to Los Angeles in 1932 (although past age 80), he Steele and his niece collected specimens of Southern California plants. They sent Oberlin College more than 350 specimens. Steele was married to Grace Avery King (d. 1932).

Note: Entry taken from William E. Bigglestone's unpublished "[preliminary] Guide to the Oberlin College Archives," which was prepared as individual entry sheets in a three-ring binder during the early 1980s.