• About
• Mission
• Our Why
• Why "remedial" herstory?

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About the Remedial Herstory Project

The Remedial Herstory Project is a New Hampshire based nonprofit founded and led by women educators and advocates under the advisement of women's historians and college professors working to get women's history into the primary and secondary curriculum, as well as our cultural competence.

Remedial Herstory is a tax exempt 501c3.

Our Mission

The RHP is dedicated to developing and providing inquiry-based learning materials on women’s history free to educators. In support of its mission, the RHP produces media, provides resources, and professional development in history for educators.

Our Why

The history curriculum in schools is insufficient in their representation of women’s contribution to past events. This website aims to address that. While teachers want to include women’s history, they have not had access to the training, modeling, and resources to do it effectively. Women make up fifty percent of the global population, and yet are in a small fraction of events discussed in school. Women’s choices have been harrowing, infamous, and monumental, and yet their stories are so rarely associated with mainstream history. Ask your average high school graduate, or even college graduate, to name 20 significant men in history and the list flows easily. Ask that same person to name 20 women and the names drag, if they come at all. This case in point leaves us with conclusions like, “women did not do as much” or “women’s stories were not recorded.” These assertions justify our own indifference to the history of half the human race, and could not be further from the truth.

The flaws and impact of how we teach history are many. Women often get summarized in history in vague terms of their roles, rights, or responsibilities, and individual women are rarely mentioned. Never will you see a section in a history book where men are generalized in this way. If we were to generalize gendered behaviors, it is clear that human qualities such as powerful, innovative, and disruptive regularly make the books. Not surprisingly, feminine qualities of compassion, maintaining, and healing do not make the books as these are often grassroots ideals and are not as easily taught in history. These self-effacing qualities doom women to being underrepresented, yet can you imagine a world without them? And further, when women’s actions have all the hallmarks of history, somehow their accomplishments still don’t make the cut, or do so with the caveat of “for a woman” tacked on.

We study history to learn from our past. Girls have been denied the opportunity to fully learn about women’s struggles and triumphs in schools. Public history teachers are stuck in a cycle because we never learned women’s history either. We have failed to mend the errors of our own educations, and are continuing to regurgitate these errors to our students.

--Kelsie Brook Eckert, Founder

Why "Remedial" Herstory?

While in the process of turning her research into the founding of The Remedial Herstory Project, organization founder Kelsie Brook Eckert was lost on a name for the new organization. So many other podcasts and organizations were named "Herstory" in different variations, but few were actually about women's history. In her spare time, she was reading Gloria Steinem's collection of essays, Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions, when she stumbled upon a line about women's studies that resonated. Digging deeper, Eckert found an interview where Steinem elaborated:

"Women's history and women's studies are absolutely crucial for all students. Maybe we should call them 'remedial studies', which is what they really are- and will remain until we have human history and human studies."

Steinem goes on:

"For instance, in 1976, Devaki and I thought we had a  great idea to take Gandhi's letters and writings and make a little book or pamphlet for women's movements around the world, since his non-violent tactics were so well suited to women's movements. And we were going full steam, interviewing people and so on until we came to Kamaladevi (Chattopadhyaya). She listened to us with great patience and then she said, 'Well, my dear, we taught him every thing he knew.' The methods he used were often the methods the women's movement used in fighting sati and child marriage. The independence movement subsumed and absorbed them, so we end up looking to or wait ing for another Gandhi for what we ourselves invented. That is the great penalty of the absence of women's history: you not only have to reinvent the wheel, but you end up by being grateful to men instead of honouring what women have accomplished - and continue to accomplish. There's a quote: 'I honoured dead men for their strength, forgetting I was strong.' In that sense I am very grateful to women's studies - very, very grateful."

You can examine this full interview using the citation below. For Eckert, this quote was invaluable: a summation of the continuing problem in K-12 education even if it was resolved at universities, a bitter stab at her own education, and a rallying cry. How bizarre that Steinem's experience in the 1970's was so similar to that of a woman born a decade later trying to teach inclusive history, but failing.

Remedial Herstory co-founder, Brooke Sullivan, often laments that "Remedial Herstory" is too hard to pronounce, and she is probably not wrong. But the story behind the name has provided fuel to our mission.

Steinem, Gloria, Meenakshi Mukherjee, and Ira Pande. “A Conversation with Gloria Steinem.” India International Centre Quarterly 34, no. 2 (2007): 90–105. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23006309.

Executive Director

Kelsie Brook Eckert

Executive Director
​Co-Founder

Kelsie (she/her) is an award-winning history teacher and co-founder of the Remedial Herstory Project. She taught high school social studies for the better part of a decade and is now the Coordinator of Social Studies Education at Plymouth State University and the State Coordinator for National History Day in New Hampshire. ​She was the 2020 Gilder Lehrman NH Teacher of the year and 2019 Nominee, a 2016 Normandy Scholar, the 2015 NH National History Day Teacher of the Year, and serves on the Board of Directors for the NH Council for Social Studies (NHCSS). She earned a Masters in Social Studies Education and was the recipient of several academic awards including Graduate Assistant of the Year, and later Outstanding Graduate Alumni Award. She is an avid triathlete and former varsity athlete. 

Eckert is the author of Teaching Women's History: Breaking Barriers and Undoing Male Centrism in K-12 Curricula (London: Routledge, 2024). She and co-founder Brooke Sullivan presented their TEDx Talk: It Has to Be Half. ​​

"Women are half of humanity, they should be half the content in history classes." -Kelsie Brook Eckert

Executive Committee

Brooke Neva Sullivan

Board Chair
​Co-Founder

​Brooke (she/her) is a founder of the Remedial Herstory Project and a non-profit champion rallying cause and supporting several local and national charities through volunteering to board memberships. She has spent her career work with and for strong women to help them elevate in their careers and professional lives as a Recruiter for several global and local NH-based organizations. As a recruiter, her job is to investigate people and find what makes them tick as well as learn all about their history and place of origin, she is passionate about women in politics and helping pull out a seat for other women to sit at the board room table. Brooke currently lives in Northern NH with her dog Birdie, partner Sully, and two boys.

Brooke is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, SHRM, CPRW, Lean Human Capital Institute, Big Brother Big Sisters, and Young Ladies of the Pease Public Library.  ​

"When you hear a story from the past that doesn’t include women, you have to literally break your brain and ask yourself wait where are the women?" -Brooke Neva Sullivan

Dr. Pamela Scully

Secretary

Pamela Scully is Professor of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Professor of African Studies, and Advisor to the Provost at Emory University. She has her Ph.D. in history from the University of Michigan.
Her research interests focus on comparative women's and gender history. Her latest book is Writing Transnational History co-authored with Professor Fiona Paisley (Bloomsbury Academic UK  2019). Other books include Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (Ohio University Press, 2016); Sara Baartman and the Hottentot Venus: a Ghost Story and a Biography, co-authored with Clifton Crais (Princeton, 2009, 2010); Gender and Slave Emancipation in the Atlantic World (Duke University Press 2005), co-edited with Diana Paton, and Liberating the Family? Gender and British Slave Emancipation in the Rural Western Cape, South Africa, 1823-1853 (Heinemann, 1997). She is also the author of the AHA pamphlet, Race and Ethnicity in Women's and Gender History in Global Perspective (2006), and many articles and chapters.
​
Professor Scully is president-elect of the Association for Undergraduate Education at Research Universities, and Chair of the Committee on Gender Equity of the American Historical Association, a member of the editorial board of the Oxford Encyclopedia of African Women’s History and is on the board of The Journal of Southern African Studies. She is co-convener of the Coursera MOOC course Understanding Violence and the Journeys to Education Teach-Out, focusing on diverse experiences of education, including that of First-Generation students.  She served as the Deputy Editor of the Women’s History Review and as Treasurer and Secretary of the International Federation for Research in Women's History.

"That women's history matters is indisputable."  -Pamela Scully

Jenna Koloski, ML

Treasurer

Jenna Koloski (she/her) is a founder of the Remedial Herstory Project and has been the Community and Policy Manager of the Vermont Council on Rural Development (VCRD) since January 2015, supporting and coordinating  statewide policy facilitation as well as leading community level prioritization and action processes. Jenna also serves as President of the Vermont Community Development Association. Prior to her work at VCRD, Jenna was the Child Nutrition Manager at Hunger Free Vermont, coordinating community-driven solutions to hunger in Vermont towns and facilitating the Addison County Hunger Council, a cross-sectoral group of County leaders committed to addressing hunger in the region. Jenna studied at McGill University before moving to Vermont to pursue her Master's Degree at Vermont Law School where she studied environmental and agricultural law and policy. Jenna has extensive training and experience in meeting facilitation, results based accountability, strategies and skills to enhance adult learning, dispute resolution, and effective communication. In 2019, she was named one of Vermont Business Magazine's 40 under 40 Rising Stars. Jenna lives in Huntington Vermont with her husband, daughter, and black lab where she serves on the Conservation Commission and enjoys trail running,  cooking delicious local VT food, mountain biking, and exploring the Green Mountains with her family.

Meet our team

Board of Directors

The Remedial Herstory Project's Board of Directors is composed of educational leaders, historians, and women's advocates from around the world.

Officers: (pictured above)
Board Chair: Brooke Sullivan
Treasurer: Jenna Koloski, ML
Secretary: Dr. Pamela Scully

Board Members: 
Dr. Barbara Tischler, Research Oversight
Dr. Alicia Gutierrez-Romine, Research Oversight
Chloe Gardner, Director of Outreach
Dr. Victoria Plutshack, Director of Development
​Rachel Perez, Director of Ambassadors
Kitty Keifer
Dr. Bridget Erlandson
Dr. Idrissa Snider
Erika Dus

Research Department

Jacqui Nelson, MA

Director of Research

Jacqui Nelson (she/her) is a military historian at Plymouth State University and the Director of Research for the Remedial Herstory Project. She teaches survey courses, including War in US History, Creating a Nation, and US Society in the Vietnam Era, as well as upper-level courses like Revolutionary America, the Civil War and Reconstruction, World War II, the Cold War, Ancient War, and the History of Piracy. She is in the process of writing a book about the Battles of Trenton and Princeton from the American Revolutionary War. She was a major contributing author to the US and World Herstory textbooks.

Jacqui drives our Research team which takes the incredible women's, gender, and sexuality scholarship out there and makes it accessible to teachers and young learners through articles, lesson plans, videos, a podcast, and more. Their work, along with that of our collaborators, is available throughout this website. 

​Dr. Alicia Gutierrez-Romine, Dr. Pamela Scully, Dr. Idrissa Snider, and Dr. Barbara Tischler from our Board of Directors provide academic oversight to the Research Department initiatives.
​
Jacqui facilitates dozens of contributing scholars as authors and reviewers on RHP projects and initiatives. 

Outreach Department

Chloe Gardner

Director of Outreach

Chloe (she/her) ​is a PhD student in Religious Studies at the University of Edinburgh. She also holds an MA and a MsC in Religious Studies. Her research focuses on gender, nationalism and interreligious relation in South Asia, especially India.

Chloe leads a team of communication pros to share our new resources with educators and inspire people to look for the women. Our Outreach team takes the amazing products from the Research team and gets it into the hands of educators and students around the world. Our team has a global reach and is a force to be reckoned with. 

Hanna McNulty, NEWSLETTER EDITOR
Hanna (she/her) is a PhD candidate at Durham University where she previously completed her Master's in History and Archeology. 

Celina Mullady, SOCIALS
Celina (she/her) is a Masters candidate in history where she is focusing on women's history. 

Professional Department

Lauren Connolly

Director of Professional Development

Lauren Connolly (she/her) is a high school teacher at Kearsarge Regional High School and serves as the Director of Professional Development for RHP. Lauren has a BS in History and Social Studies Education and won numerous awards for her work including the John L. Daly Scholarship, 
William Taylor Memorial Fund, Top 20 Senior, and ​
Student POWA (Powerful Outstanding Women’s Advocate) Award. 

Lauren drives our Professional Development team and helps retrain educators to see women and gender in all the history they teach. Connolly plans the annual Summer Educators' Institute. She works closely with the Director of Research and the Executive Director.

Kelsie Brook Eckert, MEd, PROFESSOR
In addition to serving as Executive Director, Kelsie supports professional development efforts by offering graduate courses for teachers around the world to learn more about how to teach women's history.  
​
Dr. Victoria Plutshack, BOOK CLUB COORDINATOR
Victoria (she/her) holds a Ph.D. in Land Economy and a M.Phil. in Technology Policy from the University of Cambridge. She holds a B.A. in History from the University of Chicago.was previously a senior policy associate at Duke’s Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability working with the Duke University James E. Rogers Energy Access Project. Victoria is a qualitative social scientist, whose prior research includes analysis of off-grid solar business models in India and interviews to explore the political economy of energy transitions. 

Ambassador Department

Rachel Lee
​Perez

Director of Ambassador Program

Rachel (she/her) is an independent historian, author, and podcaster. She is the founder and host of the Hashtag History Podcast and holds a BA in History from Columbia. She is also the author of several books which can be found on Amazon.

​State Ambassadors
Rachel oversees our state level ambassador program and is a guiding force for our on the ground outreach effort with schools and teachers. Our ambassadors attend national and state level conferences where they support and train educators on the history they missed out on in their own educations. 
Learn more here.

Development Department

Dr. Victoria Plutshack

Director of Development

Victoria (she/her) holds a Ph.D. in Land Economy and a M.Phil. in Technology Policy from the University of Cambridge. She holds a B.A. in History from the University of Chicago.was previously a senior policy associate at Duke’s Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability working with the Duke University James E. Rogers Energy Access Project. Victoria is a qualitative social scientist, whose prior research includes analysis of off-grid solar business models in India and interviews to explore the political economy of energy transitions. ​

Victoria leads a dynamic team that gets the financials to back the passion behind the project. Our Development team makes all the work of the Remedial Herstory Project possible by working with donors and connecting with the foundations and organizations who want a more equitable future for girls and women. 
​​
Haley Brook, BUSINESS MANAGER
Haley (she/her) has a Bachelors degree in Business from Plymouth State University with experience in sales and marketing. She is passionate about gender equity.

Contributing Scholars

RHP's Contributing Scholars have served the RHP as writers, reviewers, podcast guests, and speakers at our institutes for educators. 
​
Alan Parkes
Alicia Guitierrez-Romine
Allison Efford
Allison Tyra
Andrew Och
Anna Rupprecht
Annabelle Blevins Pifer
Annabelle Blevins-Pifer
Arunima Datta
Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger
Barbara Tischler
Barry Strauss
Beverly Duran
Bremond MacDougall
Bridget Erlandson
Camilla Townsend
Celeste Reynolds
Christy Regenhardt
Cony Marquez
Cony Marquez
Danielle McGuire
Davida Siwisa James
DeAnna Beachley
Deb Hunter
Dorothy Cobble
Elizabeth Katz
Elizabeth Dubrulle 
Emily Neville
Erika Robuck
Farina King
hasia Diner
Jack Gronau
Jacqui Nelson
Jessica Frazier
Katherine Koh
Kathryn Gehred
Katya Miller
Kristina Giannosa
Kristina Giannosa
Lauren Cole
Leah Chang
Leslie Pelon
Leslie Pelon
Lisa Cooper
Lori Mancuso
Marcia Schmidt Blaine
Margaret Huettl
Marie Cartier
Martha Libster
Mary Bezbatchenko
Maura McCreight
Melissa Inouye
Melissa Inouye
Melissa Blair
Meredith Eliassen
Micah Wolfe
Michelle Young
Michelle Stonis
Nancy Lochlin Sofer
Pamela Scully
Pamela Toler
Pamela Toler
Rachelle Bergstein
Rebecca Graham
Rebecca Graham
Rebekah Clark
Roland Betancourt
Roshanna Sylvester
Roshanna Sylvester
Sara Fitzgerald
Sarah Durn 
Sarah Campbell
Sarah Kopplin
Sarah Percy
Shahla Haeri
Shelby Robert
Sheryl Gordon
Tanya Roth
Tim Wendel
Tina Cassidy
Veronica Wilson
Veronica Wilson
Whitney Howarth