Why Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History

Authors

Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

Keywords

BYU Studies, suffrage, history

Abstract

Although it is a bit disconcerting to admit it, I am most widely known today not for my books, but for a single sentence. You’ve probably seen it: Well-behaved women seldom make history. I don’t get royalties when somebody prints my words on mugs, T-shirts, bumper stickers, greeting cards, or any of the other paraphernalia sold in gift shops or on the internet, but I sometimes get thank-you notes or snapshots of fans carrying hand-lettered signs in marches. One of my favorite examples of the latter shows a bright pink poster in a crowd near Wellington Arch in London. On the right, a traffic light registers yellow for caution. Above the fray, the winged goddess of victory appears in silhouette, holding aloft a wreath of laurel.

Recommended Citation

Thatcher Ulrich, Laurel (2020) "Why Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History," BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 59: Iss. 3, Article 14.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol59/iss3/14