Eliza Routt

Eliza Pickrell Routt
Colorado’s (First) First Lady
1839 -1907
INDUCTED 2008

Routt was the first woman to register to vote in Colorado. Although women’s suffrage was not included in the new state constitution, Routt and others worked tirelessly to win passage of women’s right to vote in 1893.

As wife of John Routt, Colorado’s first state governor, Eliza Routt became Colorado’s original First Lady. She was an active volunteer and a pioneer in the struggle for women’s voting rights. After the Routts’ arrival in Colorado Territory, the couple helped usher the territory into statehood in 1876. Routt served on the first Board of Trustees for Colorado Women’s College. She was the first woman to serve on the Colorado State Board of Agriculture, the governing body of Colorado State Agricultural College, which became Colorado State University.

“We must re-organize and adopt methods which will best advance the cause of Colorado woman, now that she enjoys full suffrage rights. All reforms are of slow growth, and must be brought about by hard, honest work.“ — Eliza Routt, 1894