Jean M. Ward was born in Eugene, Oregon in 1955. She received her PhD from the University of Oregon and came to Lewis & Clark College in 1964 to coach speech and debate. She founded the college's Gender Studies program, which she directed for 16 years; directed the Gender Studies Symposium for seven years; served as an assistant and associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences; and chaired Lewis & Clark's communication department.

Ward's research interests include Pacific Northwestern women's history, the history of Pacific Northwest colleges, and early Black history in Oregon. Ward co-authored and with Elaine Maveety. She also authored , which appears in ; ; and both of which appeared in Oregon Historical Quarterly.

Abigail Scott Duniway, prominently featured in Ward's research and writings, was born in Illinois in 1836. In 1852, she crossed the country to Oregon in a wagon train, which resulted in the loss of her mother and a baby brother. In 1853, she married Benjamin Duniway, and they had six children. In 1859, Abigail Scott Duniway wrote the first novel to be commercially published in Oregon, which was entitled . After they lost their farm in Yamhill County and Benjamin Duniway was permanently injured in an accident, Abigail Scott Duniway supported the family as a teacher and milliner. In 1871, the Duniway family moved to Portland, Oregon where Abigail Scott Duniway began publishing her suffrage newspaper, The New Northwest, which ran until 1887. During this time she campaigned for women's suffrage throughout the northwest. In 1912, Oregon allowed women to vote, and Abigail Scott Duniway was the first woman in the state registered to vote. She died three years later, in 1915.