Civil Rights

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.

Biography

Anna Julia Cooper

Anna Julia Cooper was a groundbreaking educator, activist, and author who changed the trajectories of many young Black women .

Lesson Plan

Beyond the Bus Boycott: Rosa Parks' Activism Before and After 1954

How can activists and activism evolve over time?

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.

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.

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.

Biography

Etta Horn

Etta Horn was a prominent welfare rights advocate. As an activist, she worked alongside other anti-poverty organizers to improve the living conditions of low-income DC residents.

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)

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."

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.

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.

Biography

Bernice Johnson Reagon

Bernice Johnson Reagon is a renowned composer, historian, musician, and activist.

Biography

Loretta Ross

Loretta Ross is an academic and activist who has dedicated many years to advocating for women’s rights and reproductive justice.

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.

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.

Lesson Plan

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper

This is a short thirty-minute lesson on Frances Ellen Watkins Harper.

Biography

Sister Marjorie Tuite, O.P.

Sister Marjorie Tuite, O.P. was a Catholic feminist nun who fought for gender equality, especially within the Catholic Church.

Biography

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (commonly referred to by her initials, AOC) is the youngest woman and youngest Latina to ever serve in the United States Congress.

Biography

Lorraine Hansberry

In 1959, Lorraine Hansberry made history as the first African American woman to have a show produced on Broadway—A Raisin in the Sun.

Biography

Matilda Joslyn Gage

Famously referred to as “the woman who was ahead of the women who were ahead of their time,” author, activist, and lecturer Matilda Joslyn Gage fought for abolition, women’s rights, and Native American rights.