Write Your Story

Women have left fewer accessible records,
and they don’t fit into the frameworks that
male historians have established for understanding history.

– Dr. Julie Roy Jeffrey, Goucher College

To respond to the dirth of women in the historical record, let’s write our own stories. Don’t leave future generations wondering what WE did, and said, and thought; how we reacted to a global pandemic, what we tried to do to enact social justice, and more.

A lot of people don’t like journal writing or scrapbooking. Women especially don’t like even being in photos. But if you don’t do it, your record will be just as lost for your descendants as the records of your ancestors you wish now existed so you could know them better.

This past weekend, I started a new series of posts on Instagram that will appear regularly called WRITE YOUR STORY. There will be a question to answer for your personal history, and I will share some thoughts from my own experience. You can share your answer in the comments or not, but I hope you will think about it and WRITE it down somewhere for your family to learn about your life.

Our FIRST question is:

If you are a parent, how are school breaks different from the rest of the year?
What do you do as a family?

My answer: We are former homeschoolers, so I’ve raised my kids going to children’s museums, science museums, historic sites, zoos and aquariums, nature centers, and any kind of park we can find. Scouting used bookstores is a favorite – they either have absolutely nothing, or it’s a gold mine that we leave with armloads of reading treasure. We are also huge – YUGE! – and frequent users of libraries, even while traveling. So when we’re not in public school, that’s our fallback.

Our kids, sadly, have fully outgrown children’s museums – the ones aimed at preschoolers through about 3rd or 4th grade. This fall, our youngest starts 3rd grade. But even the too-cool-for-words high schooler still loves the aquarium and the zoo!

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