Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
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| Well behaved women seldom make history. —Laurel Thatcher Ulrich |
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich (born July 11, 1938) is a pre-eminent historian of early America and the history of women. 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."
Born in Sugar City, Idaho, Laurel Thatcher 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.
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-- the highest award for U.S. print journalism and the arts, with twenty-five awards given annually. 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 appointed the 300th Anniversary University Professor at Harvard University. University Professorships were first created by the President and Fellows of Harvard University in 1935, and are specifically intended for "individuals of distinction . . . working on the frontiers of knowledge, and in such a way as to cross the conventional boundaries of the specialties." Currently, there are only 19 active University Professors at the University.
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[edit] Ulrich and Mormonism
Ulrich self-identifies as an active feminist and Mormon, and has written with great insight about her experiences.[1] 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.[2]
[edit] Publications
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
[edit] References
- ^ Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher. (2002). "A Pail of Cream." Journal of American History. v. 89 (1). [1].
- ^ Wilson, Robin. (March 24, 2006). "A Well-Behaved Scholar Makes History." The Chronicle of Higher Education. v. 52 (29), page A12. [2]
- Gewertz, Ken. "Two University Professors Appointed," Harvard Gazette (January 24, 2006).
