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Women’s History Month: Courtney Tollison ’99 says women’s history is history
Courtney Tollison ’99, the Distinguished University Public Historian and Scholar. Photo by Owen Withycombe, Furman University.
Who better to ask about Women’s History Month than Courtney Tollison ’99 the Distinguished University Public Historian and Scholar. Tollison was a Fulbright Scholar to Ukraine and graduated from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College Military History Instructors Program at Fort Leavenworth. Her specialty is modern history, and history of Greenville and the Upstate. Her most recent book is “Our Country First, Then Greenville: A New South City During the Progressive Era and World War I.”
Q: Who has inspired you?
A: I am forever grateful to Drs. Diane Vecchio and Marian Strobel of Furman’s History Department for inspiring me and investing so much in me. From my days as a Furman student, to hiring me and mentoring me as a young faculty member, to today, they have been advocates and allies for 30 years. I love that these relationships are at the heart of the Furman experience for so many of us, and that I get to pay it forward with my students.
Q: What do you want people to know about Women’s History Month?
A: People often say that women’s history is history, which I believe, but it hasn’t always been perceived as such. As a subfield of history, the study of women in the past didn’t gain momentum until the 1960s. Before then, history was considered the study of politicians, diplomacy, military figures, war and economics. The social movements of the 1960s helped spawn the field of social history and its many iterations, including women’s history. The first doctoral program in women’s history in the U.S. was established in 1980 by Dr. Gerda Lerner, a scholar who also helped establish Women’s History Week, which evolved into Women’s History Month.
Q: What advice do you have for young women?
A: My advice to young women, and young people in general, is to stay focused, work hard, find a great mentor and establish a network of people who care about you and your success. Finding your passion is important. Looking at yourself in the mirror and taking pride in the impact you are having on people’s lives is very important. I absolutely love what I do and where I do it. I’ve been so blessed to have a job that rarely feels like work.