Anne Perkins
@annegperkins.bsky.social
Historian and higher education scholar. Author of Yale Needs Women: How the First Group of Girls Rewrote the Rules of an Ivy League Giant.
The last few chapters of my book are turning out to be the hardest to write. I toy with the idea of putting them on hold and starting the 2nd round of interviews. Yes, that would be a mistake, but like many mistakes, it is awfully tempting.
November 19, 2025 at 2:00 PM
The last few chapters of my book are turning out to be the hardest to write. I toy with the idea of putting them on hold and starting the 2nd round of interviews. Yes, that would be a mistake, but like many mistakes, it is awfully tempting.
The community has stepped up to support our local food pantry. One new donor dropped off $50, saying, “My husband and I are one bad thing away from needing to come here too, but for now, we can help.” I am moved by such acts of basic decency.
November 13, 2025 at 3:07 PM
The community has stepped up to support our local food pantry. One new donor dropped off $50, saying, “My husband and I are one bad thing away from needing to come here too, but for now, we can help.” I am moved by such acts of basic decency.
Last week, more people came to our local food pantry in a single day than ever before in the pantry’s 41-year history. There were federal workers, school bus drivers, home health aides, hotel employees—all without enough to eat. Meanwhile, Trump dawdled on funding the SNAP program.
November 7, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Last week, more people came to our local food pantry in a single day than ever before in the pantry’s 41-year history. There were federal workers, school bus drivers, home health aides, hotel employees—all without enough to eat. Meanwhile, Trump dawdled on funding the SNAP program.
This is the line of cars at the food pantry where I volunteer. We haven't even opened for the day yet. And meanwhile, the president builds his gilded ballroom.
October 31, 2025 at 1:47 PM
This is the line of cars at the food pantry where I volunteer. We haven't even opened for the day yet. And meanwhile, the president builds his gilded ballroom.
I had to cut some great material from a chapter today--it was just too long. Painful, but I console myself by saying: If I'm cutting material this good, then I know that what remains must be even better.
October 22, 2025 at 5:08 PM
I had to cut some great material from a chapter today--it was just too long. Painful, but I console myself by saying: If I'm cutting material this good, then I know that what remains must be even better.
Breaking my own rule—no more interviews until I’ve finished the rough draft of my book—I just did my first interview in over a year. It was too important to wait, I told myself. And it was remarkable. I feel so honored to be trusted with the stories of the women in my book.
October 14, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Breaking my own rule—no more interviews until I’ve finished the rough draft of my book—I just did my first interview in over a year. It was too important to wait, I told myself. And it was remarkable. I feel so honored to be trusted with the stories of the women in my book.
It’s Banned Book Week! And here are four banned books I’m reading. Who knew the day would come here when reading was an act of rebellion?
October 6, 2025 at 10:43 PM
It’s Banned Book Week! And here are four banned books I’m reading. Who knew the day would come here when reading was an act of rebellion?
Afternoon tea and great conversation at the Boston Public Library with Elizabeth “Betty” Spahn, one of the stars of Yale Needs Women. So wonderful to see her again.
October 2, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Afternoon tea and great conversation at the Boston Public Library with Elizabeth “Betty” Spahn, one of the stars of Yale Needs Women. So wonderful to see her again.
Hazel, my closest friend since we met as twenty-two-year-olds, is five years cancer free today. What a gift.
September 23, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Hazel, my closest friend since we met as twenty-two-year-olds, is five years cancer free today. What a gift.
I joined a book group, my first. I’m not really a group person. But I find I’m liking it. It’s good to be jolted out of my certainty about whether one book is terrible, another fantastic, by those with the opposite reaction. And the tea and cookies aren’t bad either.
September 17, 2025 at 4:03 PM
I joined a book group, my first. I’m not really a group person. But I find I’m liking it. It’s good to be jolted out of my certainty about whether one book is terrible, another fantastic, by those with the opposite reaction. And the tea and cookies aren’t bad either.
I’m still my harshest editor. (And yes, I sometimes write on my bed.)
September 9, 2025 at 3:40 PM
I’m still my harshest editor. (And yes, I sometimes write on my bed.)
Nine months left until my manuscript is due to my publisher. I just finished Chapter Twelve. Progress!
September 3, 2025 at 2:40 AM
Nine months left until my manuscript is due to my publisher. I just finished Chapter Twelve. Progress!
We have had a string of perfect summer days here in Massachusetts, and I have spent them at my desk, writing. Next summer when my manuscript is done, I tell myself, I will go blueberry picking every day.
August 27, 2025 at 12:40 PM
We have had a string of perfect summer days here in Massachusetts, and I have spent them at my desk, writing. Next summer when my manuscript is done, I tell myself, I will go blueberry picking every day.
I'll admit, I'm tempted. I mean, how cool would it be to be on a dragon boat team?
August 20, 2025 at 2:42 PM
I'll admit, I'm tempted. I mean, how cool would it be to be on a dragon boat team?
Sometimes, a bit of magic happens when I sleep, and I wake up in the morning with a perfect sentence in my head, the one that I'd been struggling over the day before and just couldn't get right. Yet there it is, arriving on its own twelve hours later, a gift to start the day.
August 12, 2025 at 12:21 PM
Sometimes, a bit of magic happens when I sleep, and I wake up in the morning with a perfect sentence in my head, the one that I'd been struggling over the day before and just couldn't get right. Yet there it is, arriving on its own twelve hours later, a gift to start the day.
Seagulls—the bullies of Boston Harbor. Turn your back for a minute and they’ll swoop down and steal your sandwich.
August 6, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Seagulls—the bullies of Boston Harbor. Turn your back for a minute and they’ll swoop down and steal your sandwich.
August 1: Ten months until my book manuscript is due, and I’ve drafted more than half the chapters. “That’s Great!” said my agent when I told her. But why do I still feel like I’m behind?
August 1, 2025 at 12:55 PM
August 1: Ten months until my book manuscript is due, and I’ve drafted more than half the chapters. “That’s Great!” said my agent when I told her. But why do I still feel like I’m behind?
The tension each morning when I sit down at my desk:
1-I have to listen to the voice that says, “You have to finish Chapter 10 this week,” so that I stay on track and don’t wander off to pick blueberries.
2-I have to ignore that voice so that I can actually write.
1-I have to listen to the voice that says, “You have to finish Chapter 10 this week,” so that I stay on track and don’t wander off to pick blueberries.
2-I have to ignore that voice so that I can actually write.
July 24, 2025 at 4:13 PM
The tension each morning when I sit down at my desk:
1-I have to listen to the voice that says, “You have to finish Chapter 10 this week,” so that I stay on track and don’t wander off to pick blueberries.
2-I have to ignore that voice so that I can actually write.
1-I have to listen to the voice that says, “You have to finish Chapter 10 this week,” so that I stay on track and don’t wander off to pick blueberries.
2-I have to ignore that voice so that I can actually write.
I used to grow mostly vegetables—corn, garlic, carrots, you name it. But here’s the truth: I get more pleasure from a jar full of cut flowers than a plate of green beans. This year, the zinnias have edged out the eggplant.
July 17, 2025 at 11:08 PM
I used to grow mostly vegetables—corn, garlic, carrots, you name it. But here’s the truth: I get more pleasure from a jar full of cut flowers than a plate of green beans. This year, the zinnias have edged out the eggplant.
My sticker chart—one heart for every chapter I finish. It’s ridiculous how happy I feel every time I get to add a new sticker.
July 9, 2025 at 10:24 PM
My sticker chart—one heart for every chapter I finish. It’s ridiculous how happy I feel every time I get to add a new sticker.
11 months until my book manuscript is due. Nine chapters drafted, nine to go, plus a big list of interviews that I'd still like to do. It feels like it's going to be a sprint to the finish.
July 1, 2025 at 1:36 PM
11 months until my book manuscript is due. Nine chapters drafted, nine to go, plus a big list of interviews that I'd still like to do. It feels like it's going to be a sprint to the finish.
One of my favorite parts of Massachusetts summers: blueberries. They're not ripe yet, but soon ...
June 25, 2025 at 5:16 PM
One of my favorite parts of Massachusetts summers: blueberries. They're not ripe yet, but soon ...
One hears stories of people who sit down and write a book in a rush of inspiration. They finish in just a few months. I am sooo slow in comparison. “Be patient,” says a sticky note I put on my desk. I’m trying …
June 17, 2025 at 2:00 PM
One hears stories of people who sit down and write a book in a rush of inspiration. They finish in just a few months. I am sooo slow in comparison. “Be patient,” says a sticky note I put on my desk. I’m trying …
I'm in Oxford, England for a short visit. I haven't been here since I lived in Oxford in the early 1980s. It's good to be back.
June 9, 2025 at 12:20 PM
I'm in Oxford, England for a short visit. I haven't been here since I lived in Oxford in the early 1980s. It's good to be back.
Today I have exactly one year until my book manuscript is due to my publisher. And yes, that make me nervous.
June 1, 2025 at 11:04 AM
Today I have exactly one year until my book manuscript is due to my publisher. And yes, that make me nervous.