For more than two centuries, Rachel Walker Revere existed mostly in the margins of someone else’s story, defined by her relationship to her famous “midnight rider” husband rather than by her own life and impact on U.S. history.
And until recently, Rachel appeared as only an unlinked name in Wikipedia’s article for Paul Revere — one of countless women throughout history whose presence on Wikipedia, if it exists at all, is filtered through the men in their lives. But thanks to the expertise and efforts of Mehitabel Glenhaber at the Paul Revere House in Boston, Rachel has a biography of her own on the world’s go-to encyclopedia.
Glenhaber’s work is part of Wiki Education’s “250 by 2026” initiative, a partnership with the American Association of State and Local History. Together, we brought 259 cultural heritage professionals from around the country into the world of Wikipedia, empowering them to contribute their expertise and collections. (Read more about the 250 by 2026 initiative.)
Across thirteen editing courses offered by Wiki Education, participants added more than 250,000 words to the encyclopedia, improving coverage of history topics, including notable women of U.S. history who either had no Wikipedia article at all or only a short stub.
Rachel Walker Revere was one of these missing women.
For new Wikipedia editor Glenhaber, the appeal of the initiative and its goal directly aligned with the everyday mission of museum work: getting history out of the place-bound building and into the hands of people who may never get the chance to walk through the door.
“I am always excited about ways that museums can share information with audiences who may not be able to visit the museum in person,” said Glenhaber. “At the Paul Revere House, we have such a wealth of knowledge about the life of Paul Revere, his relatives, and his neighbors, and we want to make sure that this information is for everyone, not just people who can make a trip to Boston.”
Before joining the course, Glenhaber knew just how impactful enhancements to Wikipedia can be, not only for the general public but also for historians and museum professionals like them.
“Wikipedia is an incredible resource which reaches so many people,” explained Glenhaber of their motivation to join the course. “I’ve always been grateful to people who contribute to it and help me with my own historical research, so I wanted to help give back to that community, too.”
Inspired by conversations with their course instructor and fellow editors about underrepresentation of women on Wikipedia, Glenhaber decided to add Rachel Walker Revere to the site.
But as with any new Wikipedia article, that meant building a case for their inclusion. Glenhaber had to prove through their sources that Rachel met Wikipedia’s notability threshold and deserved her own standalone biography.
“Writing about Rachel Revere and making the case that she is a ‘notable figure’ was an interesting challenge to me,” said Glenhaber. “Something that’s always interested me about Paul Revere is the fact that he’s actually a very ordinary and unglamorous participant in the American Revolution: he’s a person who delivered messages, illustrated political cartoons, and organized military supply chains.”
Rachel’s story followed the same trajectory, Glenhaber noted.
“Similarly, Rachel Walker Revere was an ordinary and unglamorous participant in the American Revolution: she fed, clothed, and provided childcare for two Revolutionary War soldiers (Paul Revere and his son, Paul Jr.) and helped evacuate her family from a city under siege,” said Glenhaber. “We are lucky to know so much about the lives of these two 18th-century people.”
And it’s this reframing that gets at something bigger than just one person’s biography: The American Revolution is often remembered in speeches and signatures, but was sustained by the quieter, essential labor of figures like Rachel.
“Making sure that her story gets told as well is very important to me,” said Glenhaber. “I didn’t want her to just come up as an unlinked name on Paul Revere’s page, but as an agent of her own.”
Interested in learning how to add your expertise to Wikipedia? Explore Wiki Education’s upcoming editing courses.
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