The exact words
Where the line really comes from
In 1976 Laurel Thatcher Ulrich was a graduate student in history, studying the women of colonial New England. In an article for the journal American Quarterly she examined funeral sermons that Puritan ministers preached for pious women between 1668 and 1735. These women had led quiet, devout lives, and apart from these sermons they left almost no trace. In that context Ulrich wrote: “Well-behaved women seldom make history.”
Her point was a sad one. History, as traditionally written, records rulers, rebels and scandals. The ordinary women who raised families, ran households and held communities together rarely appear, because they did nothing that made the record. Ulrich went on to spend her career recovering those lives, and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1991 for A Midwife’s Tale, based on the diary of a Maine midwife.
How it became a slogan
In the 1990s the sentence was picked up and printed on bumper stickers, T-shirts and mugs, where it took on a new meaning: a cheerful encouragement for women to break rules. Along the way it was credited to more famous women, including Marilyn Monroe and Eleanor Roosevelt. Ulrich, discovering her line in gift shops, eventually wrote a 2007 book with the same title, exploring the many ways women have shaped history.
How to use it
Credit Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, and you have a richer story to tell. Used as a rallying cry, the slogan is fine, but knowing the original meaning, that history forgets the quiet ones, gives it more depth.
What people get wrong
A rebellious slogan from Marilyn Monroe urging women to break the rules.
A historian's observation that the quiet, everyday lives of most women were left out of the historical record. She wanted to recover their stories.
Timeline
- 1976Historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich publishes a scholarly article on funeral sermons for Puritan women and writes the line.
- 1990sThe sentence becomes a slogan on bumper stickers, mugs and T-shirts, often credited to Marilyn Monroe, Eleanor Roosevelt or others.
- 1991Ulrich wins the Pulitzer Prize for History for A Midwife's Tale.
- 2007Ulrich publishes a book titled Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History, explaining the line's story.
Use it in a speech
Questions people ask
Who said “well-behaved women seldom make history”?
Historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, in a 1976 article in the journal American Quarterly. It is often wrongly credited to Marilyn Monroe, Eleanor Roosevelt or Anne Boleyn.
What did Ulrich mean?
She was writing about Puritan women praised in funeral sermons, ordinary pious women who otherwise left no mark on history. Her point was that history overlooks women who live quiet, dutiful lives.
Did Ulrich mind the slogan?
She has said she was amused and a bit bemused, and she wrote a 2007 book with that title exploring how women have made history in many different ways.
Cite this quote
Don't cite this line as Marilyn Monroe's words. There is no reliable source showing they said it. The real source is Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, “Vertuous Women Found,” American Quarterly, so cite that instead. If you need to mention it, say it is “often attributed to Marilyn Monroe” and, if you want a reference, cite this page:
Sources
- Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, “Vertuous Women Found: New England Ministerial Literature, 1668–1735,” American Quarterly 28, no. 1 (Spring 1976).
- Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History (Knopf, 2007).