Founding Women

August 11, 2026
12:00pm - 1:00pm

For America 250, Dr. Anne Marie Lofaso, Professor of Law at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, where she teaches labor law and constitutional law, will introduce some of the many women whose work and courage helped shape the American Revolution but rarely appear in our textbooks. From printers and spies to business owners, soldiers, and political thinkers, these “Founding Mothers” kept households and communities running, carried ideas across networks, and pushed against the limits placed on them. The lecture will discuss how women such as Abigail Adams, Mary Katherine Goddard, and Deborah Sampson influenced our nation’s beginnings, and why their stories matter for a fuller understanding of our founding today.

Anne Lofaso is a Professor of Law at the University of Cincinnati Donald P. Klekamp College of Law, where she teaches courses in constitutional, labor, and employment law. She is also the Arthur B. Hodges Professor Emerita at West Virginia University College of Law, where she taught for 18 years. Before becoming a professor, she worked as a Senior Attorney at the National Labor Relations Board in Washington, D.C., where she argued cases in federal court. A widely published scholar with more than 70 articles and several books, she brings a deep interest in how law affects real people and how overlooked voices—especially women and workers—shape our shared history. Anne holds degrees from Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania Carey School of Law, and Oxford University.