When Norah O’Donnell sat down to write about the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, one specific grievance in the Declaration of Sentiments stopped her cold.

Drafted by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, the historic manifesto mirrored the Declaration of Independence—adding two revolutionary words: “all men and women are created equal.” But it was the 16th and final charge leveled against man that brought the veteran journalist to tears: He has endeavored, in every way that he could, to destroy her confidence in her own powers, to lessen her self-respect, and to make her willing to lead a dependent and abject life.

“The reason it made me cry,” O’Donnell told the audience in Mary Graydon Student Center on September 16, “is because I can’t tell you how many times in my own career someone has tried to destroy my self-confidence.”

Speaking alongside bestselling author and journalist Kate Andersen Brower, the 60 Minutes correspondent and CBS Mornings coanchor shared candid career reflections and historical insights to launch the 2026–27 season of Women on Wednesdays. The series is presented by the School of Public Affairs’ Women and Politics Institute and was cohosted last week with the School of Communication and the Kennedy Political Union.

Moderated by Jane Hall—associate professor emerita in SOC and longtime media scholar—the wide-ranging conversation examined the systemic erasure of women from American history, the persistent double standards facing female leaders today, and the grit required to navigate male-dominated industries.

Ahead of the nation’s semiquincentennial in 2026, O’Donnell and Brower teamed up with senior CBS News producer Julie Morse to chronicle 35 trailblazing women who shaped the country across 250 years.

According to the National Women’s History Museum, less than 15 percent of figures taught in American history curricula are women. For O’Donnell and Brower, unearthing those overlooked narratives proved both illuminating and deeply personal.

“We stand on the shoulders of each of the 35 women in this book,” O’Donnell said, pointing to figures like Elizabeth Blackwell, who persevered through dozens of rejections to graduate top of her medical school class, and civil rights attorney Constance Baker Motley, who helped write the legal strategy for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and secured the release of Martin Luther King Jr. from the Birmingham jail.

“If you see it, you can believe it, and you can become it,” O’Donnell said, recounting how a young Ketanji Brown Jackson read a profile of Motley in Ebony magazine and realized that she, too, could sit on the federal bench.

Brower emphasized that telling women’s history honestly means resisting the urge to sanitize or simplify their lives. Writing about figures like the abolitionist Grimké sisters or Revolutionary-era essayist Mercy Otis Warren, Brower noted that historical women were complicated, contradictory, and deeply human.

“We hold women to a different standard, [and] that’s not fair,” Brower said. “We have to see women in their totality, the way we see men. They were flawed people and they made mistakes, but their courage and their bravery was so overpowering that you can’t overlook what they did”.

Between anchoring morning television, reporting for 60 Minutes, and producing her women’s health podcast Helpful, O’Donnell spoke candidly about the relentless demands of a career in national broadcast journalism—and the pervasive skepticism women often confront along the way.

Recalling the moment CBS offered her the role of chief White House correspondent to cover the Obama administration, O’Donnell recounted how a senior executive questioned her commitment, asking how she planned to manage the beat with three young children at home.

“I felt blood rush up my neck and [into] my face, and I blurted out, ‘Do you ask men that question?’” she said. “Had I let him destroy my self-confidence, I would have never sat in the same chair as Walter Cronkite. Do not allow someone to change how you feel about yourself, your ability, or your power.”

When asked by students how to combat imposter syndrome when entering competitive fields, O’Donnell offered a practical mantra: over-preparation.

“Preparation builds confidence, and confidence equals success,” she said, noting that even three decades into her career, she still combats nerves by diving deep into research. When walking into pitch meetings as a 25-year-old correspondent at NBC, she made sure she “knew every detail.” Over-preparing, she added, gave her the confidence to speak up in the room.

Following O’Donnell’s early departure for a breaking reporting assignment, Brower and Hall fielded questions submitted by dozens of AU students on topics ranging from structural barriers in the workplace to political polarization and the vitriol directed at women in public life online.

Brower, whose bestselling book The Residence gave readers an unprecedented look inside the modern White House staff and inspired a forthcoming Shondaland television adaptation, urged students to look to history for perspective while continuing to demand systemic change—especially in access to affordable childcare and institutional representation.

“Things move so fast in media, culture, and our personal lives that we risk forgetting what just happened,” Brower said, noting how easily major milestones are overlooked or lost. “It’s important to remember where we’ve made strides, but also to build diverse coalitions that keep those stories alive.”

Hall echoed the sentiment, recalling Shirley Chisholm’s famous adage: “If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.”

There is real momentum, but progress requires allies, mentorship, and persistence, Hall said. “We cannot afford to keep rediscovering women’s contributions every generation only to let them wash away.”

For upcoming events and speaker schedules in the Women on Wednesdays series, visit the Women and Politics Institute.