“Making Democracy Real,” which appears in three formats—print, online with documents, and in full-text HTML —represents the contributions of many talented individuals and innovative spirits. My thanks go to colleagues at the Sophia Smith Collection—Ellice Amanna, Nicole Colero, Maida Goodwin, Amy Hague, Lori Harris, Margie Jessup, Kathleen Banks Nutter, and Sherrill Redmon—for their research assistance and steady support. I am grateful to movement scholars and activists Joyce Berkman, Jasmine Burnett, Cynthia Greenlee and Loretta Ross for critiquing early drafts, and to Peter Engelman, editor of the Margaret Sanger Papers, for sharing his vast knowledge of archival sources. Without Miriam Neptune’s determination and Joe Bacal’s skills, the digital version that embeds full length primary documents would not be a reality, and Ginetta E. B. Candelario, Leslie Marie Aguilar and the editorial team of Meridians have gone the extra mile to ensure that these resources are accessible to current organizers who continue to build on the activism of foremothers recalled here. Finally, I am indebted to Gloria Steinem for the hope and hard work she has invested in our efforts to bridge the worlds of academia and activism, and to the generous funders of the Steinem Initiative who made it possible to undertake this and other experiments in developing women’s history as an organizing tool for movement building today. The errors and shortcomings of the essay are my own.