Equal Rights

Lesson Plan

Breaking Through Gender Roles

Students will explore the women of NASA and identify and analyze their key contributions to the field of aeronautics.

Biography

Barbara Jordan

As a lawyer, a congresswoman, and a scholar, Barbara Jordan used her public speaking skills to fight for civil and human rights.

Lesson Plan

Martha Hughes Cannon

Lesson plan on Martha Hughes Cannon, the first female state senator in U.S. history.

Biography

Martha Hughes Cannon

Martha Hughes Cannon was the first female state senator in U.S. history.

Biography

Kimberly Teehee

Kimberly Teehee became the first Cherokee Nation delegate in the House of Representatives

Biography

Jovita Idár

Mexican-American journalist, activist, and suffragist, Jovita Idár often faced dangerous situations, however she bravely fought the injustices in her time.

Lesson Plan

The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), proposed in 1923, has never been ratified. Activists seeking gender equality have sought its ratification since its first proposal but have encountered resistance along the way.

Biography

Janet Mock

Janet Mock became the first transgender woman of color to write and direct an episode of television.

Biography

Elizabeth Freeman

Elizabeth Freeman became the first African American woman to successfully file a lawsuit for freedom in the state of Massachusetts.

Video

Women's History Minute: Elizabeth Blackwell

Short video on Elizabeth Blackwell

Video

Women's History Minute: Katherine Johnson

Short video on Katherine Johnson

Biography

Bessie Coleman

Bessie Coleman soared across the sky as the first African American, and the first Native American woman pilot.

Biography

Sarah Moore Grimké

Sarah Grimké and her sister fought for abolition and women's rights.

General

Brief Overview of Protest Songs

In the United States, the tradition of protest songs dates to pre-Revolutionary War and flourished during the war.

Lesson Plan

Introduction to Activism

This lesson takes a closer look at one of key activists in the women’s’, workers’ and immigrants’ rights movement in the 20th century.

Lesson Plan

The National Woman’s Party

Students will examine documents to determine if the justice system fair and Constitutional in its treatment of the National Women’s Party picketers

Lesson Plan

Country to City

Through exploring primary source materials and classroom discussion, students will gain a richer understanding of the Industrial Revolution’s impact on the evolving roles of women in 19th century America, with particular focus on New England.

Biography

Ethel L. Payne

Ethel Payne is known as the First Lady of the Black Press, because of her fearlessness as a journalist and a Civil Rights activist.

Biography

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is the senior US Representative from Florida, the first Latina elected to the US Congress, and the first Republican in congress to publicly support the passage of the marriage equality act.

Video

The 1977 National Women's Conference

A National History Day performance by Catherine Boyette, Grace Amantea, and Laura Shelton, Henderson Middle School. The performance won the Women's History prize in 2018.