March is National Women's History Month. To help you commemorate the Women's Rights Movement and the achievements of women throughout our country's history, PSEA has compiled lesson plans, educational resources, and other information to bring Women's History Month into the classroom.
"There never will be complete equality until women themselves help to make laws and elect lawmakers."
Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906), a leader of the Women's Suffrage Movement
Lesson Plans: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony
- Write editorials about women's rights around the world today; interview senior citizens about how women's roles have changed in the 20th century; investigate women's legal rights over 200 years of American history through primary documents; and explore the connections and conflicts between the suffrage and abolition movements in 19th century America.
Additional lesson plans:
- Scripting the Past: Students employ the screenwriter's craft to gain a fresh perspective on historical research.
- Voting Rights for Women: Students learn about what arguments were made for and against suffrage and what had to be overcome before women could take their rightful place in American society.
- Who Were the Foremothers of Women's Equality?: Students investigate the sources useful for uncovering the names of the women who contributed to the early Women's Rights Movement in the U.S.
- Women's Equality: students examine what attitudes and beliefs obstructed the progress of the Women's Rights Movement in its formative years.
About Women's History Month
Women’s History Month grew out of a week-long celebration of women’s contributions to culture, history and society organized by the school district of Sonoma, California, in 1978. Presentations were given at dozens of schools; hundreds of students participated in a “Real Woman” essay contest; and a parade was held in downtown Santa Rosa.
A few years later, the idea had caught on within communities, school districts and organizations across the country. The National Women’s History Project successfully petitioned Congress to expand the event to the entire month of March, and the United States has observed it annually throughout the month of March since 1987.
