The Utah Women's History Initiative

Abstract

There's a popular phrase on bumper stickers, t-shirts, and coffee mugs: “well-behaved women seldom make history.” Harvard University professor Laurel Thatcher Ulrich coined it in the 1970s, and it has taken on a life of its own since then.1 While some see this phrase as a battle cry and a call to action, Ulrich's words remind us that history too often ignores or obscures women's experiences. Ordinary women don't make history because curriculum, books, and exhibits frequently treat women as silent bystanders in the past rather than as active participants in shaping their world.Women have always made history in this land called Utah, but the stories we tell sometimes don't reflect that. When we restore their voices and perspectives to the historical narrative, we recognize women as agents whose choices and words mattered. This helps all of us see women as leaders who contribute to our society in a variety of ways. And that in turn helps us support women and girls in business, politics, and every other arena.In a survey commissioned in 2019 by the nonprofit women's history organization Better Days 2020, over three-quarters of respondents said they were interested in learning more about Utah's history, and 94 percent agreed that “Utah women's history should be better known.”2 The Utah Women's History Initiative aims to make that happen by providing resources, sharing stories, and supporting research and programming that incorporate women into the historical narrative.Whether in the classroom or in historical scholarship, it's easiest to talk about women's history when the topic has something to do with “women's issues”: suffrage, the Equal Rights Amendment, motherhood, or reproductive health care. But women have participated in every major event and era in the past, whether that's war, government, business, or community leadership. Although a growing body of scholarship exists about Utah women in the suffrage movement, in nineteenth-century Latter-day Saint Relief Societies, and in similar endeavors, we need to know so much more! We need more research on Utah women in science and technology and in disciplines outside of education and the arts that have traditionally been seen as women's fields. We need to know about the inventors, the volunteers, and the visionaries who have made Utah their home and have made it a better place for all. We need to know more about the “well-behaved women” of all sorts who plodded ahead to keep their families afloat and to improve the world around them—whether that work seemed significant to their contemporaries or not.In order to galvanize scholarship about the many kinds of women who have lived in Utah, the Utah Women's History Initiative will serve as a connector and resource hub, both supporting and producing research that helps to move Utah women's history forward. We'll also work to bring new collections to the Utah State Historical Society that shed light on women's lived experience and perspectives. By helping to widen the lens, we aim to engage more people in the work of gathering, preserving, and sharing Utah's rich history. You'll see some of this work in the Utah Historical Quarterly, in the forthcoming Museum of Utah, in the Peoples of Utah Revisited initiative, and on our website, and we hope you'll also see it at museums, libraries, and historic sites across the state.The Utah Women's History Initiative landing page at history.utah.gov/uwh/ shares primary sources, podcasts and videos, upcoming events, and news about ongoing women's history projects in Utah. You'll find resources to help you dive into timely topics, explore virtual exhibits and primary sources, and learn a lot about Utah's past.We welcome your suggestions of sources and stories to feature and look forward to sharing discoveries with you!Deidre M. Henderson, who became Utah's ninth lieutenant governor in January 2021, has been a proponent for the study of women's history and the creation of the Women's History Initiative within the Utah Division of State History. Henderson served as a member of the Utah State Senate, representing the seventh district, from 2013 to 2021. After raising her family and becoming involved in public service, she resumed her university education and earned a degree in history from Brigham Young University in 2021. We sat down with Henderson to talk about the value of learning about the past, especially the history of women and girls.