"Reverencing our pioneers is important. But work in our own time for our own time is equally vital, is it not?"

Public domain photo from Library of Congress via Wikimedia Commons

• HISTORIAN
• Born into a middle-class family, she earned her bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1897
• Began volunteering in support of women's causes in the early 1900s, joining the Congressional Committee (led by Alice Paul), and helping to win suffrage for women at the state level in New York
• Dedicated the last few decades of her life to writing and research, authoring several books both alone and with her husband, Charles Austin Beard, who would also become an influential historian
• The Rise of American Civilization, written by the Beards and published in 1927, offered a greater survey of women's historical participation than any other book up to that point
• The book was a commercial and critical success, selling hundreds of thousands of copies, but even though her husband credited her as contributing significantly to this and their other joint works, she received almost no acknowledgment from academia
• She was ONE OF THE FIRST historians to focus exclusively on the contributions of women to past and contemporary civilization, calling out male historians for ignoring their achievements
• Tried to create the World Center for Women's Archives, a repository of documents that would showcase women's roles and accomplishments; although the endeavor ultimately failed, it inspired other such collections, including at Smith College and Radcliffe College
• Unfortunately she did not support the Equal Rights Amendment, but at least her reason is amusing: "I am not against equality of course, I simply regard it as inadequate today. Men are so incompetent and ridiculous when not base that I can't stomach the idea of equality as the ultimate goal any longer."

Not So Awesome

~ On the plus side, Beard differentiated herself from many of her fellow white suffragists by seeking out ways to include women of color. When many leaders of the 1913 women’s march desired a segregated procession, she fought for integration, and when she started organizing her World Center for Women's Archives (WCWA), she actively sought out contributions from women of all classes and races, particularly soliciting participation from leaders in the Black community, such as Mary McLeod Bethune and former presidents of the National Association of Colored Women. However, when some white members of the WCWA refused to allow the Black women to join, Beard did not fight for their inclusion, choosing instead to avoid the issue altogether by having them work directly with her rather than the organization itself. This loophole was challenged by many of the white members, some arguing that the Black women had every right to become members, and others rejecting their participation altogether. This infighting over race was part of the reason the project failed.
​
~ While her work provided invaluable evidence of women's capabilities and achievements, Beard had little patience for women who claimed their lack of achievement was due to a system that oppressed them. Instead of recognizing the very real legal and social limitations placed on women, she drew on her own experiences as a middle-class white woman with a supportive husband to accuse those women of indolence and frailty.

Bibliography: Cott, Nancy F. "Beard, Mary Ritter." The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History, Vol. 1, Oxford University Press, 2008, p. 206-207.
​Norton, Mary Beth. “Teaching Women About Themselves.” New York Times. 1991, March 24.
Trigg, Mary. ”To Work Together for Ends Larger than Self": The Feminist Struggles of Mary Beard and Doris Stevens in the 1930s. Journal of Women's History, Volume 7, Number 2, Johns Hopkins University Press, Summer 1995, pp. 52-85.

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