Lecture Notes: History of Women Historians

Introduction

• Focus on women who are historians, not just women in history.
• Importance of women in preserving US history.
• Brief overview with more detailed notes in accompanying slides.

Early Contributions

• Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton: Preserved writings of Alexander Hamilton, known from the musical.
• Mercy Otis Warren: Wrote one of the first histories of the American Revolution, using early oral history methods.

18th and 19th Century "Amateur" Historians

• Elizabeth Ellet: Wrote about women in the American Revolution using diaries, letters, and interviews.

Professionalization and Exclusion

• Development of the history profession in the late 1800s.
• Predominantly male-dominated organizations like the American Historical Association.
• Lack of women leadership until the 1940s.
• Gender exclusion in educational institutions, especially private universities.

Title IX and Institutional Change

• Title IX in the 1970s prohibited discrimination against women in public universities.
• Created social pressure for private institutions to open to women.

Women Creating Independent Spaces

• Women established reading rooms and separate libraries (e.g., Pocatello's Carnegie Library).
• Development of The Berkshire Conference of Women Historians as a women-only scholarly community.

Gendered Professionalization

• Historical profession romanticized as a male domain.
• Example: Indiana Jones as a masculine figure that excludes women.

Marginalization in Scholarly Work

• Women often assist male historians without co-author recognition.
• "Thanks for typing" issue; acknowledgment without formal credit.

Race and Historical Profession

• Exclusion of Black people from universities; development of HBCUs.
• Dorothy Porter at Howard University: Refused the Dewey Decimal System, categorized Black authors accurately.

Progress and Recognition

• Women of color increasingly recognized for contributions.
• Examples: Dr. Vicki Ruiz and Dr. Jean O’Brien.

Current Representation and Challenges

• Women make up a higher percentage of bachelor's graduates.
• Lower representation in PhDs (40%) and history faculty (35%).

Initiatives for Diversity and Inclusion

• Women historians challenging all-male conferences with movements like "Women Also Know History."

Conclusion

• Historical profession has marginalized women, but progress is ongoing.
• Increasing diversity and representation in the field.