The Women Who Built America with Norah O’Donnell

**Becky Quick** (0:03)
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**Dambisa Moyo** (0:39)
Our audience wants to hear from you. We all want to know what this book is about, what made you write this book at this time. So tell us, it's titled We the Women.
Obviously, we're familiar with We the People. So over to you, tell us about this book.

**Norah O'Donnell** (0:55)
Yeah, I mean, I love history. I mean, that's what I'm doing as a journalist. I have a front-row seat to history every day. And I knew that this year, America would be celebrating the 250th anniversary of America. And I wanted to make sure that women's stories were part of that. And so I had no idea, though, what this three-year journey would unlock. I mean, excavating the stories of these women throughout American history has changed me personally.
I've found it so affirming that the book has been on the New York Times bestseller list for five weeks straight. You know, the publisher keeps sending me a note that they're printing more copies, which is great. But the story really is that as we celebrate July 4th, you know, really what we're celebrating is the Declaration of Independence and that all-important phrase, we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. That sentence is among the most important in human history.
It not only created this country, but it also kick-started every great moral and political revolution in American history. Abolitionist movement, right? The suffrage movement, the civil rights movement, the labor movement, all of those things. And what I found in writing this book is women were not a footnote in those struggles. They were at the center of those struggles. And, I mean, I start the book with the story. There's actually a woman's name on the Declaration of Independence. We were not taught this in school.
And so it's an incredible story. We know about the founding fathers, but there are not any founding mothers. And it turns out that, as we know, of course, Philadelphia was the capital at the time in 1776 The British troops were encroaching on Philadelphia, so the Continental Congress moved to Baltimore. And they said, you know, we need an official printing of the Declaration of Independence with all 56 male signatories. You know, to get it printed together and out to the 13 colonies. So who do they turn to? A woman, Mary Catherine Goddard, who was the printer in Baltimore and was also the first female postmaster in America, appointed by Benjamin Franklin.
So she printed it. And the amazing thing is at the bottom, she printed her full name, printed by Mary Catherine Goddard. Why is that irrelevant? Because remember, it was treasonous to put your name to the Declaration of Independence, right? Declaring Independence from the British. And two, she had been publisher of a newspaper, but she always put it MK. Goddard because she didn't want people to know she was a woman. Now, this was, again, 1777 So the fact that she put, even though her story today has largely been buried, I think she really wanted us to know that the first official printing of the Declaration of Independence was done by a woman. It's an incredible story that we start the book with, and there are many more stories about, really, these hidden heroes who were great patriots, great, great patriots.

**Dambisa Moyo** (3:57)
So I read the book, loved the book. I love these vignettes and the stories, but really brought them to life. I was going to ask you who's your favorite. My sense is that you might say that I love all my children. But tell us a few more stories that you think stand out. Are there any others you'd like to highlight for us?

**Norah O'Donnell** (4:16)
There are. You're right. It is hard. I do love all the women and we the women.
It's hard to do my favorite. One, I think New York centric, Emily Warren Roebling, who was actually the chief architect of the Brooklyn Bridge.
Her husband became infirm, was internet, and then she finished the project in 14 years. Got no credit for it. Just an incredible story. The New York Times has written about her recently, so her story is a little bit better known.