Ann Ward Amacher was born in Montgomery, Alabama on July 9, 1923, the daughter of John Milton and Cordelia Scott Ward. She attended local public schools in Montgomery and graduated from Albert G. Parish High School in 1940. She received a scholarship to Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia later that same year. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the college in 1944. Following the Second World War she attended Radcliffe College where she received her Master of Arts degree in English. After graduation she briefly worked at the New Jersey College for Women but later enrolled at New York University in 1950. Six years later she attained a Ph.D. in American Civilization. She married Richard E. Amacher, a professor of English at Auburn University, in 1956. Soon after relocating to Auburn, she established the Auburn League of Women Voters. After an oil spill that ran into Auburn’s drinking supply in 1971, Dr. Amacher became deeply involved in preservation issues particularly water quality. During 1970s and 1980s she volunteered as a consumer advocate to inform area residents of events relating to water quality and health. In the late 1970s, she began a crusade to stop Willow Run Farms, operated by State Senator Charles Whatley, from washing animal waste into the city’s water supply. From 1987 to 1989 she served as state liaison for the Safe Drinking Water Project in Alabama. In 1989 she filed a civil law suit against Diversified Products Corporation for failure to comply with water pollution control regulations. In recognition for her work in water quality she received the W. Kelly Mosely Environment Award in Forestry, Wildlife, and Related Natural Resources in 1991. She has also authored several scholarly articles and book reviews in literature.