Welcome to the Revised Living in History Blog!

My reading friends, I hope this post finds you all well. Far too much time has elapsed since I last wrote, thanks to the reliable uncertainty of army life and motherhood. However, I have used this time to brainstorm ideas for recreating this blog as a space to explore one of my historical passions. Conversations with historians and friends have confirmed that this new direction will, hopefully, be an exciting one for you all to explore with me.

So, you might be wondering: what is this new topic? Living in History will now focus on bringing to life the history of U.S. Army spouses! As an army wife myself, I am passionate about telling the stories of the incredibly brave women of years past who endured so many hardships, often without even the slightest bit of recognition. Of course, these women did not choose a military life for the sake of personal renown, nor were they completely unaware of the life’s hardships (though, they were often unprepared!). But the love they felt for their husbands, the Army, and their country helped them surmount innumerable difficulties, countless sorrows, months to years of loneliness, and so much more to create a tradition of selfless service to the United States Army and to their own families.

To bring these stories to life, I will take you on journeys through the personal reflections of historical army wives. Many women left accounts, both published and unpublished, of their adventurous lives following the U.S. Army. I will utilize these accounts by personally reading through them and blogging about these women’s lives as revealed through their memoirs and letters. I will also continue on with the historical cooking posts! I will scour the primary sources for references to food and recreate dishes the army wives mentioned in their texts.

I hope you will enjoy this journey! Stay tuned for the first series on Martha Summerhayes, starting next week!

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Disclaimers: 1) Please note that I am deeply aware of the vast range of military / army life experiences. Sadly, not all marriages are happy ones; not all military journeys are difficult, while some are much more difficult and tragic than others; not all families have positive or negative experiences with the Army, and so on. As you read through the posts on this blog, please know that the women I will write about are not necessarily representative of the typical army wife’s experience. I seek to tell these women’s stories, but any seeming insensitivity to other experiences is completely unintentional.

2) I already have frequently referred to army spouses as only wives, but in today’s military, spouses are no longer only wives. While I am very aware of this fact, historically most army spouses were women and thus the primary sources I will utilize were written by women. That is why I choose to refer to historic spouses as specifically wives, rather than a more generic term. Please know I do not intend any disregard or insensitivity to anyone.