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.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rhae Lynn Barnes

Rhae Lynn Barnes

Rhae Lynn Barnes is an Assistant Professor of American Cultural History at Princeton University (2018-) and President of the Andrew W. Mellon Society of Fellows in Critical Bibliography. She is the co-founder and C.E.O. of U.S. History Scene and an Executive Advisor to the documentary series "Reconstruction: America After the Civil War" (now streaming PBS, 2019).