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Learning Resources on Women's Political Participation

Virtual Exhibitions

An exploration of the imagery used in the Suffrage Movement

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Official program for the woman suffrage procession, Washington, D.C. March 3, 1913

Creating a Female Political Culture

Explore NWHM’s new online exhibition that provides an overview of the history of women's access to higher education.

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Photo of the Women's Liberation March

Educational Equality & Title IX

A history of women in presidential elections

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Portrait of Victoria Woodhull

First but Not the Last: Women Who Ran for President

Presented in partnership with the National Women's History Museum and NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises’ "Unstoppable Women" initiative.

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Lucretia del Valle puts on makeup in a mirror.

Representation with a Hyphen: Latinas in the Fight for Women's Suffrage

Explore the history of Black feminist activism and theorizing in Washington, DC, during the long twentieth century.  

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A tour of We Who Believe in Freedom: Black Feminist DC

We Who Believe in Freedom: Black Feminist DC

Explore how Latina Congresswomen represent their constituents and create change for their communities and the country at large. 

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The Congressional Hispanic Caucus stands on the steps of the U.S. Capitol

Women Run, Women Win: Latinas in Congress
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Articles

American women were soldiers before they were voters. The history of women’s suffrage often focuses on activists in Washington. We also need to look at the battlefields of France. 

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Grace Banker, Esther "Tootsie" Fresnel, and Berthe Hunt operate switchboards at the Battle of St. Michel with their trench helmets and gas masks ready.

Fighting on Two Fronts

The Democratic party dominated US politics in the first half of the 19th century, winning all but two of the presidential elections between 1828 and 1856. At mid-century, the issue of slavery and its expansion into new territories fractured the party. It opened the door to the newly established Republican party and Abraham Lincoln’s 1860 election win. It would be seventy years before the Democrats regained dominance. They did so with the help of women.

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A black and white photo of Molly Dewson sitting at a desk

The History of Women in the Democratic Party

Though 19th-century women could not vote, they could and did align with political parties and ideologies. Average citizens demonstrated their partisan loyalties at rallies and public celebrations. And, this included women. The parties actively encouraged women’s personal allegiance. Being barred from political activity did not deter women’s political inclinations.

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A clip from a newspaper article titled "The Women of the Republican Party"

The History of Women in the Republican Party

In American history, the Nineteenth Amendment represents the end of a long-fought eighty-year campaign for women’s voting rights.  The popular narrative of this watershed is that women were not politically active prior to 1920.  This version of history often ignores the reality that American women have aligned and acted according to political ideology since the days of the American Revolution. 

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A poster that reads: "A woman living here has registered to vote"

Women’s Political Participation After 1920: Myth and Reality

Brave Girls Virtual Storytime

A Vote for Susanna: The First Woman Mayor by Karen M. Greenwald, featuring a live reading and Q&A with the author

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A Vote for Susanna book cover

A Vote for Susanna: The First Woman Mayor by Karen M. Greenwald

Breonna Marches Through Time by Daveena Kenny, featuring a live reading and Q&A by the author

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Breonna Marches Through Time book cover

Breonna Marches Through Time by Daveena Kenny

Equality's Call by Deborah Diesen, read by Logan Browning

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Equality's Call book cover

Equality's Call by Deborah Diesen

Sofia Valdez, Future Prez by Andrea Beaty, read by AJ Michalka

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Sofia Valdez, Future Prez book cover

Sofia Valdez, Future Prez by Andrea Beaty

The Case for Loving by Selina Alko, featuring a live reading and Q&A by the author

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The Case for Loving book cover

The Case for Loving by Selina Alko

The Youngest Marcher by Cynthia Levinson, read by the author herself

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The Youngest Marcher book cover

The Youngest Marcher by Cynthia Levinson
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Lesson Plans

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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Seated portrait of Mary Church Terrell

Mary Church Terrell 

This lesson will examine the Woman’s Rights Movement in the context of the life and career of Belva Lockwood.Students will be able to comprehend how one individual’s actions can influence others to bring about change. 

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Portrait of Belva Lockwood

Belva Lockwood and the Precedents She Set for Women’s Rights

In this inquiry-based lesson, students will evaluate how Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune supported civil rights for women and African Americans, engaged in social activism, and how her legacy still impacts the United States today. 

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Seated portrait of Mary McLeod Bethune

Investigating Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune: Uncovering Her Legacy Through Inquisitive Inquiry

Dr. Haunani-Kay Trask, Native Hawaiian was a scholar, poet, activist, revolutionary, and  an iconic figure in the Hawaiian Sovereignty Movement. This topic will help students understand and grapple with US imperialism and modern movements against neo-colonialism in US territories.

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A graphic of Haunani-Kay Trask. It reads: "Our story remains unwritten. It rests within the culture, which is inseparable from the land. To know this is to know our history. To write this is to write of the land and the people who are born from her."

Towards Hawaiian Sovereignty: Legacy of Dr. Haunani-Kay Trask

In this lesson, students will explore the life of Dr. Wangari Maathai and engage in activities to research her contributions and her grassroot movement to develop sustained social, environmental, and political change. 

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Dr. Wangari Maathai receiving an award from the Kenya national human rights commission

Dr. Wangari Maathai: The story of a leader and first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize

This lesson plan supports student mastery of the understanding and awareness of gender equality by reviewing the accomplishments of Janet Yellen.

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Portrait of Janet Yellen

Janet Yellen: The Progress of Women and Minorities in the Field of Economics

Students will analyze different perspectives of Stacey Abrams’s candidacy for Georgia’s Governor.

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Photo of Stacey Abrams

Stacey Abrams: Changing the Trajectory of Protecting People’s Voices and Votes

Students will use primary and secondary resources to introduce themselves to the life and works of Frances Perkins, the first female cabinet member who served as the Secretary of Labor.

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Black and white portrait of Frances Perkins

Frances Perkins and the New Deal

This mini lesson will introduce students to Ida B. Wells through a primary source and invite students to explore the geography of American lynchings through an interactive map.

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Black and white portrait of Ida B. Wells

Ida B. Wells: Suffragist and Anti-Lynching Activist

This lesson challenges students to explore feminism, female candidate campaigns, and gender inequality in America. 

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Shirley Chisholm campaign poster from 1972

Shirley Chisholm, Unbossed and Unbought

This lesson will explain the actions, words, and rhetoric of Fannie Lou Hamer, including her enduring legacy at the 1964 Democratic Convention. 

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Black and white portrait of Fannie Lou Hamer

Fannie Lou Hamer and Social Activism

This lesson seeks to explore the role of Black women in the Women’s Suffrage Movement and their exclusion from the generally accepted Women’s Suffrage narrative.

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Nine Black women pose at the Banner State Woman's National Baptist Convention

Unsung Voices: Black Women and Their Role in Women's Suffrage

Students will analyze the life of Hon. Yvonne B. Miller, her accomplishments, and leadership attributes, so they can apply persuasive techniques to amplify her accomplishments, leadership attributes, as well as those in leadership roles in their community.

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Portrait of Yvonne B. Miller

Lessons in Leadership: The Honorable Yvonne B. Miller

Students will learn about the battle over the ERA by reading primary sources from one of the great advocates of the amendment, Gloria Steinem, and one of the great opponents of the amendment, Phyllis Schlafly. 

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Black and white photo of Gloria Steinem giving a speech

The Equal Rights Amendment: An Ongoing Cause

Students will use the information they learned from reading the short biography of Wilma Mankiller, watching the video, Bell Water Project, and excerpts from her auto-biography, Mankiller: A Chief and Her People to discuss what makes someone an effective leader. 

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Photo of Wilma Mankiller holding a basket

Wilma Mankiller: Cherokee Leader

Through using the history and ideas shared in the comic panels as well as the techniques demonstrating how to teach through comics, the students will work collaboratively to research, gain a richer understanding of women’s suffrage.

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A comic strip depicting the Seneca Falls convention

Seneca Falls and Suffrage: Teaching Women’s History with Comics

Students will be able to answer whether the justice system fair and Constitutional in its treatment of the National Woman’s Party picketers, and the role that the Occoquan Workhouse played in the women’s suffrage movement.

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Alice Paul holds a flag and leads a protest

The National Woman’s Party: Jailed for Freedom

This lesson explores the life and political activism of Congresswoman Jeannette Rankin, one of the most overlooked activists in American history. 

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Black and white seated portrait of Jeannette Rankin

Congresswoman Jeannette Rankin: Her Voice and Legacy

In this lesson, students will use a graphic organizer to analyze and evaluate a political cartoon for its meaning, value and persuasive message. 

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Political cartoon satirizing the women involved in the Edenton Tea Party. Published March 25, 1775 in London.

Tea with Penelope: A 2-Point Perspective of the Edenton Tea Party
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