Civil Rights

Lesson Plan

Red Power Prevails : The Activism, Spirit, and Resistance of Native American Women

Explore the contributions of Native American women in the formation and activism of the American Indian Movement (AIM) and Women of All Red Nations (WARN)

Biography

Charlotta Spears Bass

Charlotta Spears Bass was a journalist, activist, and politician who fought for the civil rights of African Americans in the early and mid-20th century. She was also the first Black woman to run for vice president of the United States (1952).

Lesson Plan

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

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.

Video

Women's History Minute: Civil Rights

Short video on Civil Rights

Video

Brave Girls Virtual Storytime: Equality's Call

Equality's Call by Deborah Diesen

Video

Women's History Minute: Marian Anderson

Short video on Marian Anderson

Lesson Plan

Defying Expectations: Unsung Hero: Marsha P. Johnson and the Stonewall Riots

This lesson explores the Stonewall Riots, the media interpretation of them, and inclusion and exclusion in the LGBTQ movement through the life of Marsha P. Johnson.

Lesson Plan

Eleanor Roosevelt: An Agent of Social Change

Eleanor Roosevelt redefined the role of the First Lady as an agent of social change. Eleanor helped to create The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which remains one of her greatest legacies.

Biography

Recy Taylor

Although it was very dangerous for African Americans to speak out against white people during the Jim Crow era, Recy Taylor refused to remain silent about sexual violence.

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

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

The Road to Suffrage

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.