Anti-Defamation League
Women's Suffrage, Racism, and Intersectionality
The Nineteenth Amendment granted women the right to vote—as long as they were white. High schoolers read articles and essays about racism in the suffrage movement and consider how intersectionality played a role in the movement. Scholars...
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...
Curated OER
Living Under the Illinois Black Codes
Learners use the text of the Illinois Black Codes to examine the laws in place. Using this information, they draw their own conclusions about why the laws existed in a free state. They also identify the purpose of these laws and how they...
Center for History Education
Speaking Up and Speaking Out: Exploring the Lives of Black Women During the 19th Century
Young historians investigate the often-hidden history of free and enslaved African American women before the Civil War. Using a collection of primary and secondary sources, including speeches, diaries, and poems, they evaluate the often...
Curated OER
Say It Loud!: A Celebration Of Black Music in America - Louis Armstrong
Young scholars listen to selections of New Orleans street band music. They explore the culture of New Orleans in the 1920's, and perform a closer examination of Armstrong's music.
Curated OER
The National Women's Party and the Enfranchisement of Black Women
Students analyze the attitudes and hostility given to African-American women within the National Women's Party. They finish the lesson by examining another moment in the party's history and writing about it.
Curated OER
Voting and the U.S. Constitution (Past, Present, and Future), Part 2
Pupils analyze and discuss the 19th Amendment, and read the document, Why Women Want to Vote. Students illustrate statements from the handbill, then conduct a play about women's suffrage.
Curated OER
Say It Loud!: A Celebration Of Black Music In America Music In America
Students study early New Orleans Jazz music and recognize Louis Armstrong as an early jazz artist. They recognize the elements and roots of Jazz.
Curated OER
The Life of Frederick Douglass
Young scholars discuss the importance of effective leadership in a democratic society. They study the significance of the contributions of Frederick Douglass to America. They compare the effects of political, economic, and social factors...
National Woman's History Museum
Ida B. Wells: Suffragist and Anti-Lynching Activist
Suffragette, investigative journalist, and civil rights activist Ida B. Wells is the focus of a instructional activity that has young historians study the work of this amazing woman. Scholars watch a video biography of Wells, read the...
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: "When Fannie Lou Hamer Said" by Mahogany L. Browne
After watching an excerpt from a video of Fannie Lou Hamer's testimony before Congress, pupils do a close reading of Mahogany L. Browne's poem "When Fannie Lou Hamer Said," annotate words and phrases that draw their attention and list...
Teaching for Change
Stepping into Selma
The 1964 Selma to Montgomery, Alabama voting rights marches are the focus of a lesson designed to introduce learners to people who took part in the Civil Rights Movement. Class members set into the role of one of the participants,...
Curated OER
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Suffragist
Middle schoolers examine one woman's impact on a nation. In this suffragette activity, students are introduced to Elizabeth Cady Stanton and examine her involvement in both the anti-slavery and woman's movement. Middle schoolers...
Curated OER
Africa Appreciating Freedom: An End to Apartheid in South Africa
Second graders discuss who Nelson Mandela is and what he did to help South Africans gain the right to vote and participate in a voting activity and discuss it's importance.
Curated OER
Sojourner Truth
Students describe contributions made by Sojourner Truth and identify freedoms they enjoy because of the efforts of people like her. They define suffrage and abolition by experiencing it and by hearing an explanation of the definition.
PBS
The March on Washington and Its Impact
High schoolers read Martin Luther King, Jr's speech that he gave in Washington. They identify the social conditions that led to the civil rights movement. They discuss the significance of the March on Washington.
Curated OER
Discovering the Past/Considering the Future: Lessons from the Eastern Shore
Students study how the Freedmen's Bureau improved the living conditions among blacks on Maryland's Eastern Shore. They examine Social, Political, and Economic improvements and answer questions.
Curated OER
Prejudice and Discrimination
Learners are read-aloud an excerpt from The Friendship by Mildred Taylor. They pick strips of paper, white or brown, and sit according to color drawn. Students are given preferential treatment if their paper is white while the learners...
Curated OER
Susan B. Anthony: Rebel for the Cause
Students explore the suffragist, Susan B. Anthony, documents her life and era with photographs, illustrations, and interviews. It demonstates how this feminist leader simultaneously influenced events and was shaped by external forces.
Curated OER
A Look at Virginians During Reconstruction
Fourth graders examine slavery and Reconstruction in Virginia. In this Virginians during Reconstruction lesson, 4th graders research primary sources for the story of William Jasper and other slaves. Students hypothesize how rights became...
PBS
From Selma to Montgomery: An Introduction to the 1965 Marches
The 1965 Civil Rights marches from Selma to Montgomery and the resulting Voting Rights Act of 1965 are the focus of a social studies lesson. The resource uses film clips to inform viewers not only about the discrimination that gave rise...
Syracuse University
Harlem Renaissance
The music and literature of the Harlem Renaissance defined American culture, including its poetry. Using a poem from the period, individuals explore its musical qualities and how it is reflective of the period. Then, they use what they...
Library of Virginia
Life as an Enslaved People
As part of a study of slavery in the United States, class members analyze documents related to the sale of slaves. They consider not only the text of the bills of sale but also what the appearance of the broadsides suggest.
Curated OER
Race and Voting in the Segregated South
Students examine the history of African American voting rights. In this voting rights lesson, students listen to a lecture on African American voting rights between the years 1890 and 1965. Students respond to discussion questions...