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Mary Church Terrell 

by Lauren Kelly
Description

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. Students will be asked to react to historical arguments for and against women’s suffrage and learn to formulate a persuasive argument to support their opinions.  

 

Guiding Question  

How can we understand Mary Church Terrell’s achievements? 

Time

30-45 minutes per session

Session 1: Teacher-led lecture on Mary Church Terrell with student discussion.  

 

Session 2: Suffrage Movement Stations. Students will move around the classroom to interact with various primary and secondary sources related to Terrell and the Women’s Suffrage Movement. 

 

Session 3: Socratic Seminar- Students respond to open-ended questions with their thoughts and counterarguments. Allow 2-3 minutes for the students to respond silently in their notebooks, and then open the class to debate the question as a group. Allow 5-7 minutes per question for discussion. 

Objective

Students will demonstrate an introductory knowledge of Mary Church Terrell’s (MCT) biography and her efforts in the Women’s Suffrage Movement. By the end of the three sessions, students should be able to discuss Terrell and her achievements, provide counterarguments MCT faced, and effectively discuss their opinion on the legacy of the women’s suffrage movement.   

Prerequisites

Students should know classroom rules and expectations with group discussions and activities that require them to move around the classroom. The teacher should be well-versed in the life and achievements of Mary Church Terrell to lecture effectively. Below is a link to a brief biography of Terrell provided by the National Women’s History Museum: https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/mary-church-terrell

Materials

Session 1: 

 

Session 2: 

Session 3: 

Procedures

SESSION 1: MTC LECTURE 

Warm Up:  

Teacher should display the following quote, “Lifting as we climb, around and upward we go, struggling and striving, and hoping that the buds and blossoms of our desires will burst forth into glorious fruition ere long” by Terrell onto the board along with the prompt, “What does this quote mean to you and how can it be applied to today?” Allow 5-7 minutes for students to silently respond in their journals before opening the class to group discussion.  

Activity:  

The teacher will lead a lecture on Mary Church Terrell utilizing the MCT PowerPoint presentation. Students should be taking notes throughout.  

 

SESSION 2: SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT STATIONS 

Warm Up: 

Teacher should project on the board, “Before the last lesson, had you ever heard of Terrell? If so, where did you learn about her? If not, why do you think you have not learned about her before?” Allow students 5-7 minutes to silently respond in their class notebooks before opening the class to group discussion. 

Activity:  

After class discussion of the entry task, divide the class into groups of 2-3 students. Around the room will be the four stations with the materials they will need to complete their chart. There should be enough copies of the respective articles for each student to read a copy. While the students read and discuss the articles and video with their group, they should complete the accompanying Terrell chart. A timer should be displayed on the board so all students can see how much time they have left at each station. After the stations, the class should regroup and use the exit ticket to discuss and expand their learning. 

 

SESSION 3: SOCRATIC SEMINAR 

Warm Up:  

Give the students 5-7 minutes to review their materials from the “stations” lesson silently. They must be familiar with Terrell and the counterarguments she faced before participating in the Socratic Seminar. 

Activity:  

For the Socratic Seminar project the associated PowerPoint to the class. The first slides detail the rules and expectations of the seminar. The following slides show an open-ended statement; students will be provided 3-5 minutes to write down whether they agree or disagree with the information, provide evidence to support their argument and provide acknowledgment of the counterargument. After the allotted time, open the class for student debate. This should last approximately ten minutes per statement, allowing students on both sides of the argument to respond verbally.  

Assessment / Homework

The seminar should act as an informal assessment of the student’s understanding of the topic and how to form an argument effectively. 

 Four Homework Options: 

  1. Write a news article about Mary Church Terrell from the perspective of an anti-suffragist contemporary. 
  2. Create a “TikTok” as Terrell. How would she respond to the political climate of today? Would she think we have made progress?  
  3. Paint or create a representative collage of Terrell and her activism.  
Future Research / Resources

Session 1:  

  • The lesson can be differentiated by allowing more or less time for students to respond to prompts before group discussion based on their class level. AP students may be allowed more debate time, while lower levels may need more time to reflect on their answers before the discussion. 

  • SPED students can be provided with a printed-out version of the PowerPoint to allow them more time to absorb the material and not have to try and write everything down. 

Session 2:  

  • For students who need longer to read and respond to articles, this lesson can be modified to allow more time in class or at home. 

  • Based on a student’s IEP, they may be asked to respond to only two of the four sources. 

Session 3: 

  • The lesson can be differentiated by allowing more or less time for students to respond to prompts before group discussion based on their class level. AP students may be allowed more debate time, while lower levels may need more time to reflect on their answers before the discussion. 

  • SPED students can be provided with a printed-out version of PowerPoints to allow them more time to absorb the material and not have to try and write everything down.  

Standard

D2.His.5.9-12. Analyze how historical contexts shaped and continue to shape people’s perspectives. 

 

D2.His.6.9-12. Analyze the ways in which the perspectives of those writing history shaped the history that they produced. 

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