Back in November, I wondered whether I should run this interview series again this year. As I may have mentioned a time or ten, I’m trudging toward the first big deadline on this book. And while it may not be obvious, putting this series together takes time and energy. I changed my mind several times before I came to the conclusion that doing this project each year is important to me. (Not to mention fun.) I hope it is important to some of you, too. (Not to mention fun.)

Over the last few months I’ve had a chance to interact with some of my history-writing heroes, and find some new ones. I’ve added books to my TBR list and followed new people on Twitter.* I’ve promoted people who are doing wonderful work in our shared project of putting women back into history. And I’ve enjoyed being part of the online celebration of Women’s History Month. (And I’ve tried to answer some really hard questions—this year people posed some doozies!)  I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have.

As always, I feel a little deflated as the month comes to an end—it’s a little like the first week of January after the holiday season is over. And yet, much as I love the sense of celebration, I wish we didn’t need Women’s History Month, or Black History Month, or any of the other history months and heritage months that now mark our calendars. I wish history as we learn it would include people who were not as a center as a matter of course. That we didn’t have to put up big flashing signs that say “WE WERE THERE” once a year to remember. I don’t think that’s coming any time soon. In fact, I fear that Women’s History Month and its sister celebrations are more important than they ever were.

Dang it.

*And yes, I realize Twitter could crash and burn at any moment. But I haven’t found any social media format that suits me quite so well.

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Over the next few weeks, you can expect a couple of guest posts, a review of a book that I’m really excited about sharing, and more posts from the archives. May 1 is coming really soon.