Theodora W. Youmans
About Her
Childhood
Theodora W. Youmans was born on February 1st, 1863 in Ashippun, Wisconsin.
Her father Theodore Sumner Winton was a postmaster who introduced Theodora into politics at a young age. Her mother, Emily Winton, was a school teacher who taught her how to read and write. Her parents stressed importance on her education and encouraged her at an early age to pursue her passions and work for what she wanted; such as journalism and women's suffrage.
Theodora Youmans [Source: Wisconsin Historical Society]
Adulthood
Theodora W. Youmans graduated from Carroll College in 1880. She then went on to work for a newspaper, the Waukesha Daily Freeman. There she became one of Wisconsin's first female journalists.
In 1887, Theodora started a column in the Waukesha Daily Freeman called "Woman's World" that would talk about modern politics. This helped Youmans establish herself as a feminist. In 1890 she was made the Freeman's associate editor, and in the early 1900s she started a suffrage column in the Freeman that helped continue her fight for women's suffrage.