This summer, I created an interview packet for my grandmother. I wanted to hear about her experiences in her own handwriting—something physical I could keep and one day pass on. I designed the packet with a 1960s theme and broke the questions into five categories: childhood, young adulthood, womanhood, aging, and major historical events. Sixty questions in total.
After reading her responses, I started thinking about how rare it is for stories like hers to be recorded—and how easy it is for them to disappear.
Every woman has a story. Sometimes it’s shared over tea at the kitchen table. Sometimes it’s scribbled in an old letter. But far too often, these stories are told once and then forgotten—never written down, never passed on.
The Women Before Us is a growing digital archive devoted to remembering those stories. This project is about honoring ordinary women: grandmothers, great-grandmothers, mentors, aunts, neighbors, and friends. Women who walked through history, even if they were never written into it.
Anyone is welcome to contribute to The Women Before Us archive. Submissions don’t need to be lengthy or formal—just sincere. You can share something as simple as a memory, a photograph, a quote, a story she told you, a handwritten letter, or even a single sentence she once said that’s stayed with you. These small glimpses into a woman’s life—her words, her spirit, her presence—are what make this project so meaningful.