DocsTeach
Analyzing a Photograph of Sally Ride
Sometimes, a picture really does say it all. The activity uses a picture of astronaut Sally Ride to help elementary academics make observations and form conclusions. Young historians study the picture, complete short written prompts, and...
National Woman's History Museum
Eleanor Roosevelt: An Agent of Social Change
First ladies often take a back seat to their husbands' policies, but Eleanor Roosevelt broke that mold. Interested historians examine primary sources written by Roosevelt, including a speech and articles. Completing a round-robin of...
National Woman's History Museum
Helen Keller--Citizen and Socialist
Do history books tell the full story of Helen Keller? The sanitized version of Helen Keller found in most textbooks leaves out her most provocative ideas. She was a socialist, fought for workers' rights, and advocated for the use of...
National Woman's History Museum
Unsung Voices: Black Women and Their Role in Women's Suffrage
Reclaim perspectives often left out of the narrative about the suffrage movement with an activity that lifts up the voices of African American women. Using primary sources and biographical details of Fannie Barrier Williams' life, young...
National Woman's History Museum
Red Power Prevails : The Activism, Spirit, and Resistance of Native American Women
Native American women powered the American Indian Movement and other social changes, but they are often forgotten by history books. Examining a series of resources, including a documentary film, photographs, secondary sources, and social...
Digital Public Library of America
Ida B. Wells and Anti-Lynching Activism
A packet of 13 primary sources provides young historians with insight into the anti-lynching activism of civil rights Ida B. Wells. Included are images of Wells, her letters, a political cartoon, newspaper lynching announcements, and a...
Digital Public Library of America
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin has generated controversy since its publication in 1852. Here is a set of 12 primary sources that capture the controversies of the times while adding dimension and depth to any study of the novel.
C-SPAN
Women's Contributions in the Civil War
Women's history is often hidden, but pupils discover the role women played in the Civil War using a series of video clips. After reviewing the interview with a scholar of women's history, class members fill out a chart and then research...
Digital Public Library of America
The Poetry of Emily Dickinson
Are you contemplating a poetry study featuring Emily Dickinson? Finding good primary sources to accompany the study can be a challenge—never fear, help is here! Check out this primary source set that includes manuscripts of several of...
Digital Public Library of America
Women in the Civil War
Vivandieres and cantinieres, nurses and soldiers, loyalists and unionists. A primary source set provides young historians an opportunity to investigate the many roles women played in the United States Civil War.
Jane Addams Project
Woman Suffrage
Suffragettes, suffragists, and anti-suffragists. A two-day, richly detailed lesson plan has young historians investigate the twentieth-century suffrage movement. Groups examine primary and secondary source materials about Jane Addams and...
Digital Public Library of America
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Zora Neale Hurston's novel Their eyes Were Watching God has been highly praised and severely criticized for its depiction of African American folk culture. A set of primary source materials, including photographs, articles, essays, and...
Digital Public Library of America
Women and the Blues
A 12-piece primary source packet sets the tone for a study of the role women played in the origins, development, and impact of blues music. Legends like Bessie Smith, Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Mamie Smith, and Ida Cox are featured, as are...
DocsTeach
Analyzing a Photograph of Amelia Earhart
Amelia Earhart forever changed the idea of who could be pilots. The activity helps young academics examine a photo of Amelia Earhart to understand what it tells individuals about the past. Scholars participate in group discussions and...
DocsTeach
Why Did Women Want the Right to Vote?
No taxation without representation may have been the battle cry of the American Revolution, but women used the same argument when demanding their right to vote in the late 1800 and early 1900s. Young historians examine petitions from...
DocsTeach
Suffragist Susan B. Anthony: Petitioning for the Right to Vote
What is the best way to get a point across: a petition or a protest? Using primary sources, including a petition from Susan B. Anthony and a photo of a White House protest from the early 1900s, young historians examine what women did to...
DocsTeach
Analyzing a Photograph of Clara Barton
Just who was Clara Barton? Using an archive photo from the National Archives, class members consider the legacy of the founder of the American Red Cross. The activity includes the photograph, along with prompts to help young scholars...
PBS
Library of Congress: Media Gallery | Women's Suffrage
Designed to support a study of women's suffrage in the United States, a primary source document set from the Library of Congress includes images, song sheets, articles, statistical documents, political cartoon, and audio recordings...
PBS
Gloria Steinem’s Ancestry and Women’s Rights Movements: Lesson Plan | Finding Your Roots
Introduce class members to Presidential Medal of Freedom winner, activist, writer, and lecturer Gloria Steinem with a PBS resource that not only investigates Steinem's ancestry but also encourages learners to trace their own.
PBS
Why Should Women Vote? The Suffrage Question
An online interactive activity asks learners to analyze a group of documents related to the women's suffrage movement and then place the documents on a timeline. The results assess users understanding of the progression of the women's...
PBS
19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution - Women's Right to Vote (1920) and Resource Materials
A facsimile of the 19th Amendment, a transcript of the amendment, a photograph of a suffragist march, and a background information sheet that details the struggle to get the amendment passed comprise a packet of resource materials...
American Battlefield Trust
Civil War Play
Everyone has a role to play. Young scholars step into history by taking on the roles of soldiers—both male and female—during the Civil War using a fictionalized play of what life was like on the battlefield. Pupils also examine the roles...
National Woman's History Museum
19th Amendment
As part of a study of the women's suffrage movement and the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, young historians examine documents that detail when voting rights were granted to women in various countries and when US states...
National Woman's History Museum
State vs. Federal Campaigns
Campaigns to gain voting rights for women during the 19th and 20th centuries took place on both the state and federal level. After examining primary sources that document both types of campaigns, class members debate the merits of the...