Lesson Plan
Analyzing the Meaning of Freedom
Students analyze the poetry of both Audre Lorde and Maya Angelou, using selected examples of their work, and determine the meaning of “freedom” as written by both women.
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Biography
Alicia Garza
Alicia Garza is a lifelong activist, community organizer, and co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement.
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Biography
Ayo Tometi
Previously known as Opal Tometi, Ayo Tometi is a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement. She has helped reshape conversations on social justice and equality worldwide, making significant strides toward gender and racial parity.
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Biography
Patrisse Cullors
Patrisse Cullors is an artist, activist, and co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement, which she helped launch in 2013 to combat systemic racism and state violence against Black communities.
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Lesson Plan
We Are Still Here: Indigenous Women Resistance and Resilience in the American Present
Students will learn how Indigenous Women forged Indigenous Rights in America today and how Indigenous identity may be defined by their Civil Rights.
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Biography
Althea Gibson
Althea Gibson was a star tennis player and the first Black woman to win the U.S. Nationals, French Championship, and Wimbledon.
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Biography
Anna Julia Cooper
Anna Julia Cooper was a groundbreaking educator, activist, and author who changed the trajectories of many young Black women .
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Lesson Plan
Beyond the Bus Boycott: Rosa Parks' Activism Before and After 1954
How can activists and activism evolve over time?
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Lesson Plan
“When We Sing, We Announce Our Existence”: Bernice Johnson Reagon and the American Spiritual'
Students will read and listen to the music of Bernice Johnson Reagon, using the words of Ella Baker (Ella’s Song) and a PBS essay in order to make connections to historical and contemporary pursuits for justice.
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Lesson Plan
Mary Church Terrell
This 3-part lesson will give the students a basic understanding of Mary Church Terrell and prepare them for future studies on the early 20th century Women’s Suffrage Movement in the United States.
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Lesson Plan
Investigating Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune: Uncovering Her Legacy Through Inquisitive Inquiry
Students will analyze primary sources to develop inquiries and draw conclusions regarding the impact of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune on civil rights in the twentieth-century United States.
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Lesson Plan
Defiance and Dignity, Mary Church Terrell
Students will examine a timeline of the life of Mary Church Terrell and complete a close reading of her speech, “The Progress of Colored Women” (1898)
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Lesson Plan
The Legacy of Historical Sites featured in Black Feminist DC
In Spring 2023, the National Women's History Museum partnered with a class at Miss Hall's School, an independent high school for girls in Massachusetts, to create a discussion guide for select sites featured in "We Who Believe in Freedom."
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Biography
Eleanor Holmes Norton
Eleanor Holmes Norton was the first woman appointed to chair the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and continues to fight for DC statehood in her third decade as a congresswoman.
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Biography
Sister Margaret Traxler
Sister Margaret Traxler was a Catholic feminist nun and a civil rights activist who marched alongside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the famous march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965.
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Biography
Bernice Johnson Reagon
Bernice Johnson Reagon is a renowned composer, historian, musician, and activist.
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Biography
Loretta Ross
Loretta Ross is an academic and activist who has dedicated many years to advocating for women’s rights and reproductive justice.
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Biography
Mary Treadwell
Mary Treadwell was a notable DC-based activist and community organizer, best known for co-creating Youth Pride, Inc., a job-training program helping inner-city youth, and her abortion decriminalization advocacy.
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Biography
Barbara R. Johns
As a teenager, Barbara Johns helped organize a strike that eventually led to the desegregation of schools in the United States.
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