UC Davis Historians Receive National Parks Funding to Collect Women’s Stories
Addressing Gap in Women’s History and Role in Parks
By Karen Nikos-Rose on September 2, 2020
"Two UC Davis historians have received funding from the National Park Service to address the educational gap in U.S. women’s history and role in the nation’s national parks. Professors Ellen Hartigan-O’Connor and Lisa Materson will craft 80 biographies of women involved in national parks in the western region of the United States, and, in a longer article, connect those women’s lives to the ongoing struggle for voting rights.
The park service gave grants totaling $460,000 through its Women in Parks initiative after a survey they distributed early this year indicated most American adults say they wish they were taught more about women in U.S. history.
'Many people visit the national parks to appreciate the beauty of the region. We will offer the public a richer, more complete picture of the social and political life that sustains them,' said Hartigan-O’Connor."