Eliza Routt
Born January 1839
Died March 22, 1907
Inducted 2008
Eliza Pickrell Routt was a pioneer in the struggle for women’s
rights. As wife of John Routt, Colorado’s first state governor,
Eliza became Colorado’s first First Lady. When women’s
suffrage passed in 1893, Eliza was the first woman registered to
vote in Colorado. She set the standard for all future first ladies
and the newly enfranchised women of the state by performing community
and public service without fanfare or pretense.
The Routts arrived in Colorado in 1875 and ushered Colorado into
statehood in 1876. While John Routt served in state and city government,
Eliza was an activist in helping settle and build a civilized community
in the early days of Denver and the fledgling state. As a member
of the Ladies Relief Society, Routt helped establish the Old Ladies
Home and was instrumental in getting a building for the Woman’s
Home Club (which became the YWCA), to provide a safe residence
for young women. She was a founder of and donator to the Denver
Orphan’s Home Association in 1881.
Routt joined the Non-Partisan Suffrage Association of Colorado
and served as president of the City League of Denver branch. In
honor of her tireless work in getting suffrage passed, Routt was
honored as the first woman registered to vote.
Routt served on the first Board of Trustees for Colorado Woman’s
College. She was the first woman on the Colorado State Board of
Agriculture, the governing body of Colorado State Agricultural
College, which became Colorado State University. During her decade
on the board, Routt started the School of Domestic Economy, giving
wide access to higher education for women, and obtained the first
professorship for a female instructor. She helped to obtain the
Guggenheim Hall building for the school, a feat commemorated in
a stain glass window to honor her. Another building on the campus
is named after her to acknowledge her dedication to the college.
Eliza Routt promoted public arts and culture in early Denver through
organizations like the Ladies Loan Exhibition and the Denver Fortnightly
Club. She helped procure The Closing Era statue, which was introduced
at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893 and then installed on
the east lawn of the Colorado State Capitol building, where it stands
today. |
