Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

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Laurel Thatcher Ulrich (born July 11, 1938), is a pre-eminent historian of early America and the history of women and a University Professor at Harvard University. Ulrich's innovative and widely influential approach to history has been described as a tribute to "the silent work of ordinary people" -- an approach that, in her words, aims to "show the interconnection between public events and private experience."

Life and career

Born in Sugar City, Idaho, Ulrich received her B.A. in History at the University of Utah, an M.A. in English Literature at Simmons College, and her Ph.D. in History at the University of New Hampshire. She is married to Gael Ulrich, a professor emeritus from the University of New Hampshire. The couple have grown children and live in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

In 1991, Ulrich received the Pulitzer Prize in history for "A Midwife’s Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard based on her diary, 1785–1812"." The book examines the life of Northern New England midwife Martha Ballard, and provides a vivid examination of ordinary life in the early American republic, including the role of women in the household and local market economy, the nature of marriage and sexual relations, aspects of medical practice, and the prevalence of violence and crime. Ulrich's revelatory history was honored with the Pulitzer Prize. "A Midwife's Tale" also received the Bancroft Prize, the John S. Dunning Prize, the Joan Kelly Memorial Prize, the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians Book Prize, the Society for Historians of the Early Republic Book Prize, the William Henry Welch Medal of the American Association for the History of Medicine, and the New England Historical Association Award. "A Midwife's Tale" was later developed into a documentary film for the PBS series "The American Experience," with Ulrich serving as a consultant, script collaborator, and narrator.

At the time of "A Midwife's Tale"'s publication, Ulrich was a MacArthur Foundation Fellow from 1992 to 1997, and an associate professor of history at the University of New Hampshire. With her appointment to Harvard University, Ulrich became the James Duncan Phillips Professor of Early American History. Most recently, she was recognized as an individual "of distinction . . . working on the frontiers of knowledge, and in such a way as to cross the conventional boundaries of the specialties" when she was appointed the 300th Anniversary University Professor at Harvard University.

Writing an article about notable women in American history, Ulrich included the phrase "well-behaved women seldom make history." The phrase was picked up and soon was widely quoted and printed across the country. It continues to be seen on greeting cards, T-shirts, mugs, plaques, and bumper stickers. She recounted how her now-famous quote has taken on a life of its own in an October 2007 interview: "It was a weird escape into popular culture. I got constant e-mails about it, and I thought it was humorous. Then I started looking at where it was coming from. Once I turned up as a character in a novel - and a tennis star from India wore the T-shirt at Wimbledon. It seemed like a teaching moment - and so I wrote a book using the title." [Deseret Morning News, 21 October 2007, page E10, "Ulrich touts women in history", by Dennis Lythgoe] "Well-Behaved Women" examines the ways in which women shaped history, citing examples from the lives of Harriet Tubman, Virginia Woolf, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Rosa Parks, and many other notable women in American and world history.

Ulrich and Mormonism

Ulrich self-identifies as an active feminist and Mormon, and has written with great insight about her experiences. [Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher. (2002). "A Pail of Cream." "Journal of American History." v. 89 (1). [http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jah/89.1/ulrich.html] . ] Laurel Thatcher Ulrich also co-edited (with Emma Lou Thayne) a collection of essays about the lives of Mormon women entitled, "All God's Critters Got a Place in the Choir."

In late 1992, Brigham Young University's board of trustees vetoed without comment a BYU proposal to invite Ulrich to address the annual BYU Women's Conference. Ulrich did give an address at BYU in 2004. [Wilson, Robin. (March 24, 2006). "A Well-Behaved Scholar Makes History." "The Chronicle of Higher Education." v. 52 (29), page A12. [http://chronicle.com/weekly/v52/i29/29a01201.htm] ]

At Harvard, Ulrich is actively involved in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She is the advisor for the undergraduate Latter-day Saint Student Association, the Mormon campus club, and teaches an Institute of Religion class.

Publications

*"Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History." (2007). Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. ISBN 978-1400041596.
* Editor, "Yards and Gates: Gender in Harvard and Radcliffe History." (2004). Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 1-4039-6098-4.
* "The Age of Homespun: Objects and Stories in the Creation of an American Myth." (2001). Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. ISBN 0-679-44594-3.
* "All God's Critters Got a Place in the Choir," a collection of essays coauthored with the Utah poet Emma Lou Thayne. (1995). Aspen Books, ISBN 1-56236-226-7.
* "A Midwife’s Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard based on her diary, 1785–1812." (1990). Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. ISBN 0-394-56844-3. Reissued in Vintage paperback, ISBN 0-679-73376-0.
* "Good Wives: Image and Reality in the Lives of Women in Northern New England, 1650-1750." (1982). Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. ISBN 0-394-51940-X. Reissued by Vintage (1991), ISBN 0-679-73257-8.

References

*Gewertz, Ken. "Two University Professors Appointed," "Harvard Gazette" (January 24, 2006).

External links

* [http://www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/~history/facultyPage.cgi?id=36 Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, faculty page, History Department, Harvard University]
* [http://www.dohistory.org/ dohistory.org: An online version of Martha Ballard's diary and information about "A Midwife's Tale"]
* [http://www.slate.com/id/2173282/fr/flyout Laurel Thatcher Ulrich's Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History. by Megan Marshall Slate Magazine]