Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History (Vintage)

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Well-behaved women make history when they do the unexpected, when they create and preserve records and when later generations care.” Women can no longer be ignored, dismissed or forgotten. This blog seeks to redress the historical silence surrounding women. Throughout history there have always been women who defied the expectations of their gender. Women who have forged their way into male dominated fields. It is easy to assume that women have only recently begun fighting for equality, but this is not true. This blog features women from all walks of life, from all time periods, from all continents with one thing in common - they refused to be limited by the contemporary expectations surrounding their gender. The awarding of the Pulitzer Prize in 1991 was indeed history-making. Only three prizes for history had been given to women in the Pulitzer’s then seventy-five-year history, and none for a book by a woman about a woman. I think many people thought it was about time, but when the National Endowment for the Humanities gave a million-dollar grant to PBS for making the film, there was a fuss in Congress. There was even a bit of a flap at BYU in 1993 when the board of trustees rejected me as the keynote speaker for a women’s conference, even though I had been royally welcomed when I gave a lecture on campus the year before. There was also celebration in some quarters and disdain in others when I accepted a professorship at Harvard University in 1995. One internet troll complained that the history department’s famous course on the American Revolution was about to be replaced by a course on quilts! Two days after Franklin D. Roosevelt's inauguration as the 32nd president of the US in March 1933, the new First Lady held her first White House press conference for women reporters only. This was the first of 378 such events, offering unprecedented access for women journalists over the 12 years, or three terms, FDR was in power. A House Full of Females: Plural Marriage and Women's Rights in Early Mormonism, 1835–1870. (2017). Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. ISBN 978-0-307-59490-7

Good Wives: Image and Reality in the Lives of Women in Northern New England, 1650–1750. (1982). Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. ISBN 978-0-394-51940-1. Reissued by Vintage (1991), ISBN 978-0-679-73257-0 Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher (1992). "Martha's Diary and Mine". Journal of Women's History. 4 (2): 157–160. doi: 10.1353/jowh.2010.0144. S2CID 146288891.The Age of Homespun: Objects and Stories in the Creation of an American Myth. (2001). Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. ISBN 978-0-679-44594-4 The first entry in A Midwife's Tale puts midwifery in a broader medical context within the Kennebec region, beginning to put Ballard's diary in context of other primary sources at the time. This chapter establishes the relationship between doctors and midwives during this time period. Ulrich also introduces the concept of “social medicine” in this chapter, referring to the sharing of information among midwives and doctors. This is evident in midwife manuals that Ulrich cites. Lythgoe, Dennis (October 21, 2007). "Ulrich touts women in history". Deseret Morning News. p.E10. Archived from the original on September 27, 2013.

Throughout her life, Roosevelt delivered speeches and published articles on numerous topics, including female empowerment. However, the quote attributed to her in the image does not appear in any of her writings. Well behaved women seldom make history” – the popular feminist slogan, coined by respected historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich no doubt inspired the title of Therese Anne Fowler’s second foray into biographical historical fiction. Israel says strikes on refugee camp killed senior Hamas leader, Palestinian officials say 50 people dead Gives new meaning to the importance of knowing about women who were ‘bad’ enough to make ‘good’ history.”

For Hillary Clinton, the former First Lady most often compared to Roosevelt, Eleanor was so inspirational she is rumoured to have held imaginary conversations with her at crossroads in her political career. Here are the stories of three women making history. One was a poet and scholar attached to a French court, another was an American activist, the third an English novelist. None was a historian in the conventional sense, but all three were determined to give women a history. The settings in which they worked were radically different. The problems they faced were surprisingly—disturbingly—the same. Since Professor Ulrich was not yet a well-known person in the late 1970s, it’s very likely that this quotation floated around at the time without attribution. But our modern culture hates what Ralph Keyes, the author of The Quote Verifier, calls “orphan quotes.” Like so many other quote orphans, “well-behaved women seldom make history,” not only got changed to “well-behaved women rarely make history,” but got attached to many famous women. That’s why Marilyn Monroe, Eleanor Roosevelt, Gloria Steinem, and Princess Leila get credit.

While telling the stories of these history-making women, Ulrich illuminates the intended meaning behind the slogan that is the title of her book. When the slogan appears out of context, it becomes open to wide interpretation, and has, subsequently, been used as a call to activism and sensational — even negative — behavior. In fact, Ulrich says, the phrase points to the reasons that women’s lives have limited representation in historical narrative, and she goes on to look at the type of people and events that do become public record.Because we are not outgoing or famous, because sometimes our work gets diminish, and because most of the time we will not get the credit that we deserve, we will feel powerless. Until we remember that what is really important is not to waste the talents that we have or the sphere of influence that we’ve been given. Until we give support to all those changing the world around us. In their many ways, within their different circles. Gross, Terry (January 17, 2017). "How Mormon Polygamy In The 19th Century Fueled Women's Activism". www.NPR.org . Retrieved January 19, 2017.

From admired historian—and coiner of one of feminism’s most popular slogans—Laurel Thatcher Ulrich comes an exploration of what it means for women to make history. Most well-behaved women are too busy living their lives to think about recording what they do and too modest about their own achievements to think anybody else will care.” Kahn-Leavitt, Laurie (1998). "The Making of 'A Midwife's Tale': Aaslh Awards Spotlight". History News. 53 (1): 18–22. JSTOR 42652424.Section 9 is centered around a mass murder that occurred in Hallowell. James Purrinton, one of Martha's neighbors, murdered his wife and all of his children but one, who escaped. Martha's entry adds another viewpoint on this historic event. Ulrich writes, “The economy of Martha’s telling contrasts with the more self-conscious narrative published (and probably composed) by Peter Edes, editor of Augusta’s Kennebec Gazette.”