Pulitzer Prize winning historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich from Harvard University discusses her famous phrase “Well Behaved Women Seldom Made History” and the challenges of writing about women in early United States History. In 1990, she won the Pulitzer Prize for her book A Midwife’s Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812, which brought to life the intimate details of the life of Martha Ballard, a highly skilled midwife in Hallowell, Maine. Ulrich masterly used Ballard’s diary, which chronicled her daily life from 1785 to 1812 to penetrate the lives of midwives at the turn of the nineteenth century while also serving as an access point for understanding medical practices, courting, sexuality, and reproduction during the Early Republic.
Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich And How Her Phrase Went Viral
