Theodosia Grace Ammons

Theodosia Grace Ammons (August 3, 1861 – July 17, 1907) was an American suffragist, co-founder (with Eliza Pickrell Routt) of the Department of Domestic Economy at Colorado Agricultural College, and the first female dean at the college.

Theodosia Ammons was born in North Carolina, the daughter of Jehu Richard Ammons and Margaret Caroline Brendle Ammons. She moved to Denver, Colorado with her family when she was a child. Her father was a Baptist minister. Her brother Elias M. Ammons and her nephew Teller Ammons both served terms as governor of Colorado. Theodosia Ammons graduated from high school in Denver, and taught school as a young woman.

Ammons and Eliza Routt met through suffrage work, and found they shared an interest in higher education and domestic science. Together they founded the Department of Domestic Economy at Colorado Agricultural College (now Colorado State University) in 1895. Ammons was the first woman faculty member in the college. In 1902 the program was renamed the Department of Domestic Science, and Ammons promoted scientific methods for cooking, hygiene, and architecture in homes. Ammons became the Dean of Woman's Work at the university, the first woman to hold that rank at Colorado State University. She was principal of the domestic economy program in the Colorado Chautauqua School, and designed a model home, "Gwenthean Cottage", to demonstrate best practices for health and efficiency.

Ammons was president of the Colorado Equal Suffrage Association. She was also a lecturer in the Colorado State Grange. Ammons went to a national suffrage convention in Washington, D. C. in 1902, and spoke in a Congressional hearing, representing Colorado women voters. In 1903 she represented Colorado at a national suffrage convention in New Orleans.

Theodosia Grace Ammons died in 1907, aged 45 years, in Denver. Her papers are archived at Colorado State University, in the Archives and Special Collections department. A portrait of Theodosia Ammons was donated to the University and unveiled in 1931. There is a stained glass window in the Home Economics building at Colorado State University in Ammons' memory. Ammons is one of the first 24 women featured in the Zonta International public art exhibit "Her Legacy: Women of Fort Collins".

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