Civil Rights

Biography

Elizabeth Freeman

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

Biography

Autherine Lucy

Autherine Lucy was the first African American student to attend the University of Alabama

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

Songs of Protest

In this lesson, students will explore how or if music reflects society and furthers the goals of activism and protest.

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

African American Activists

Students will learn about Ida B Wells, Rosa Parks, and Fannie Lou Hammer; all female African American activists who fought for justice and equality.

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.

General

A Short History of Activism

Subjugation, inequality, revolution and protest have marked world history for thousands of years. And for thousands of years, human beings have fought oppression and subjugation

Lesson Plan

The Power of Words and Activism

Students will read the assigned biography and quotes to explore connections between activism and the power of words and ideas.

Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will use the Suffrage Timeline to explore the women, ideas, and action that led to the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920 and discuss the Woman Suffrage Movement as a model for peaceful activism.

Lesson Plan

Rosie the Riveter

This lesson features a series of student-centered grouping strategies and discussion forums that utilize secondary sources. Students will be exposed to various sources that provide both the historical narrative relating to women during World War II.

Exhibit

Timeline: Woman Suffrage

Timeline of the suffrage movement

Video

Standing Up for Change: African American Women and the Civil Rights Movement

In the 20th century, African American women were integral leaders in the Civil Rights Movement.

Video

Women Pioneers of Computer Programming

In the 1940's, the US Army hired six women mathematicians to operate the first electronic, digital computer.

Biography

Frances P. Bolton

US Rep Frances Bolton pursued a life of philanthropy, politics, and social reform, and was a lifelong advocate of education, healthcare, and civil rights.

Biography