Interview: KeriLynn Engel from Amazing Women in History

Posted on by Ms. Marcie
Amazing Women in History
I connected with KeriLynn, the creator of Amazing Women in History, on Twitter. I enjoyed the inspirational information she posted as well as the historical data she shared. I reached out to ask if she wanted to interview with me, and she said, “Yes.” I was so excited! Read our interview below.
1. What prompted you to start Amazing Women in History?
I am a website junkie and I get ideas for websites and blogs all the time. At first AWH was just another website idea that popped into my head out of the blue. I’ve always loved history and I’m a feminist, so it seemed like a fun thing to do. I never really expected it to take off like it did! But people really love it, and I’ve met a lot of great people through the site.

2. What are some of the most interesting stories you discovered?

Doing the research for each post is my favorite part, and I absolutely love learning, so it’s hard to pick favorites! I love when I find out that inventions we take for granted (like windshield wipers and Kevlar!) were invented by women. Some of my favorite stories also are the older stories of warriors and queens who gave everything to fight for their people. A lot of them were not only strong and determined, but very politically savvy and knew how to achieve their goals even with all the prejudice against their gender.

3. How do you find these facts?

I’d say I do 95% of my research online. If my subject has a Wikipedia page, I usually start with the references listed at the bottom. I use Google Books and Google Scholar a lot, and I have a friend with access to research papers that helps me out when I need it.

4. Do you have other bloggers working with you or do you work alone?
Recently I’ve had a couple of guest posts on AWH and I’d love to have more guests authors write for the site. The majority of the posts are written by me and I do all the maintenance and behind-the-scenes work myself.

5. What is your profession when you are not blogging?

I have an office day job and I also do some freelance web design, social media marketing, and other random internet endeavors. My other main projects at the moment are FeministFantasy.com, which is a user-submitted list of feminist-friendly fantasy fiction, and my own personal website at KeriLynnEngel.com where I’ll be blogging about social media marketing for writers.

6. Do you  only highlight historical women or do you highlight living legends? 

I mostly write about historical women because there are so many that have been lost to us, written out of history books and discounted, and need to be appreciated more. But I do highlight some modern women on the site – I’ve written about Lakshmi Shankar and Randy’L He-dow Teton for instance. I would love to do more interviews on AWH since they really make the stories come alive. One of my goals for AWH is to also highlight work (especially in social justice and gender equality) that women are accomplishing today, and to have more interviews on the site.

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That concludes my interview with Keri. Do you have any women history knowledge? Be sure to stop by Amazing Women in History to share it. Otherwise, feel free to contact Keri with any questions you have.

2 thoughts on “Interview: KeriLynn Engel from Amazing Women in History”

    1. Thank you for the interview. I know so many women doing great things but it’s hard to get them all in. And I think the historical aspect of our contributions is amazing. Keep up the great work.

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