Scholar - Women Also Know History

Participant Info

Keywords: women, welfare, labor, podcast, public history, oral history, medicaid, affordable care act, welfare reform

About Me: I have a Master of Arts in History from Sonoma State University where I focused on women and labor in local welfare bureaucracy. My thesis focused on the experiences of benefit workers who implemented two of the most critical changes to the social safety net in the United States: welfare reform in the 1990s and the Affordable Care Act in the 2000s. I blended oral histories with archival and secondary research to investigate how frontline workers, overwhelmingly women who are often referred to as “street-level bureaucrats,” operationalized complex federal policies in the face of significant barriers. I argue that despite public perceptions, the women behind the benefit desk are critical lifelines for the public and analyzing their stories challenges the assumptions about the “broken” welfare system.

Additionally, I am the researcher, writer, producer, and host of a top-rated weekly U.S. history podcast, Civics & Coffee. Each episode I share short stories about the people and events from our past – just enough time to drink your morning cup of coffee (or tea)! I also interview scholars and historians about their sites and book projects.

Recent Publications: Monthly newsletters shared on the Civics & Coffee Substack.

‘Invisible’ No More: Writing Women Back Into History. Sonoma Historian. Spring 2026, Vol. 64, No. 2.

Hidden Casualties. Historical Essay for Nursing Clio. August 27, 2025.

Review of The Museum of African American History, Boston Campus on Mainly Museums.

The Fight Before the Fire: The New York Garment Strike of 1909. Inside History, Volume 7.

Expertise by Topic: Gender, Government, Labor, Politics, Public History, Women