Ulrich is a member of the American Philosophical Society and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and was named a MacArthur fellow in 1992. Prior to joining the Harvard faculty in 1995, she taught at the University of New Hampshire for 15 years. She also wrote Good Wives: Image and Reality in the Lives of Women in Early New England, 1650-1750 (1982) and The Age of Homespun: Objects and Stories in the Making of an American Myth (2001). Ulrich's most recent book is Well-behaved Women Seldom Make History (2007). The book examines the life of Northern New England midwife Martha Ballard, and provides a vivid examination of ordinary life in the early American republic, including the role of women in the household and local market economy, the nature of marriage and sexual relations, aspects of medical practice, and the prevalence of violence and crime.

She is the author of A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812 (1990) which won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1991 and became the basis of a PBS documentary. Ulrich's major fields of interest are early American social history, women's history, and material culture.

The talk asks what it means to make history and what if anything that has to do with being well-behaved. Laurel Thatcher Ulrich sums the article up and states that to make history, all we have to do is live our lives and tell our stories.Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, the Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar at Hamilton and the 300th Anniversary University Professor at Harvard University, will present a lecture titled 'Well-behaved Women Seldom Make History,' on Wednesday, March 5, at 8 p.m. This action led to a 361 day long boycott. Rosa Parks performed the unexpected by refusing to give up her seat on the bus. The article sates “to make history, people need to do the unexpected”(Norton 660). It explains how Mae West, became known by being “bold” in her theater career. It also states that, “only those who…step into the stream of public consequence have a history” (Norton 658). The article explains how it is stereotypical of the women’s role to nurture, and act mainly as caregivers. Ulrich points out how the “Well-Behaved Women” quote changed many perspectives, including hers. The quote has not only been featured in famous women magazines, but it’s also on coffee mugs, tote bags, and websites.

In 1996, Jill Portugal “asked permission to print it on T-shirts”(Norton 657).Ulrich kindly happily accepted. She was not expecting the fame and activism that was to further come from this one phrase. Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich describes the success of her quote from an article she published in 1976.

Laurel thatcher ulrich well behaved