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Throughout my time at ENTITY, I have opened myself up to writing about topics I didn’t think I understood. From robot technology to the history of capitalism, I have learned more about the way the world works. However, by far my favorite topic to write about was my Famous Women in History column.
As a history major, you would think that I know about the women from history, and I do. To a point. There are limits to what I can learn to school, based on the classes offered and what’s on the syllabus.
By creating my own column, I was able to choose what and who I wanted to research. While some of the women in my column are ones that are internationally recognized, it’s important to realize that they are multi-faceted, and that there’s more to them than what history (i.e. white males) have deemed important to remember.
I profiled fifty-four women from across time and the world, learned not only about how they were and what they did for the world, but also about the cultures they lived in. Without even realizing it, these women have shaped the world for us today. I am who I am today because of the women who came before me, and as a historian, I owe them a debt of gratitude that can be repaid through my column.
Not only have a learned about important, and sometimes forgotten historical women, I have also learned about the best way to write about these women. When I first pitched the column, I wanted to include every minuscule detail about them, and ended up writing entire profiles on them.
However, throughout the process I have learned that sometimes what I want people to know isn’t always what they want to know. While I thought the best way to communicate the information I had learned was through in depth research of who they were, what they did, and why they were important, I soon realized that this wasn’t an accessible way for people to read my column.
What followed was an abridged version of what I had been writing, maybe 200-300 words instead of 500. However, when we looked at what I had rewritten, it still didn’t seem to be accessible. What came next was the format for my column, the name of the woman, her lifetime, what she’s known for, why we love her and a fun fact.
Not only did this shorten the content, making it easier for people to read, it also created a standard for every other woman I would write about. It gave my column a brand that people would recognize and keep them coming back.
