Series: Women's History to Teach Year-Round

Women’s history is not just for the month of March! The lessons in this series span the geography of the US and cover diverse women’s experiences through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Each lesson includes a primary or secondary source reading, photographs, and activities. These short lessons are designed to fit into an hour or less. This series was created by Talia Brenner and edited by Katie McCarthy, NCPE interns with the Cultural Resources Office of Interpretation and Education.

• Article 1: (H)our History Lesson: Madam C. J. Walker, African American Millionaire, Philanthropist, Activist

  

  Explore the life of Madam C. J. Walker, a Black entrepreneur, and her success in business and social good, as exemplified by the Madam C. J. Walker Building in Indianapolis, Indiana. Read more

• Article 2: (H)our History Lesson: Diary of a Domestic Servant, Ella McDannel

  

  Explore the lives of Ella McDannel and other female servants at the grand estate of Brucemore in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Read more

• Article 3: (H)our History Lesson: Liliuokalani, Hawaii's Last Queen

  

  Explore the life of Hawaiian Queen Liliuokalani and her tireless advocacy for Hawaiian sovereignty from Iolani Palace in Honolulu, Hawaii. Read more

• Article 4: (H)our History Lesson: The World War II Navy Women of Floyd Bennett Field

  

  Explore the World War II effort through the experiences of three women who served in the United States Naval Reserve, better known as the WAVES, at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, New York.  Read more

• Article 5: (H)our History Lesson: Prudence Crandall, Sarah Harris, and a Struggle for Black Women’s Education

  

  Explore the struggle to maintain a school for African-American women in Canterbury, Connecticut three decades before the Civil War. Read more

• John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site

  Article 6: (H)our History Lesson: Through a Mother's Eyes, Rose Kennedy in Brookline

  

  Explore Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy's memories of raising her oldest children, among them future President John F. Kennedy, in Brookline, Massachusetts. Read more

• Article 7: (H)our History Lesson: Growing Up in the Pope House, Black Middle-Class Raleigh during Jim Crow

  

  Explore a Black middle-class community in Raleigh, North Carolina in the early twentieth century through the lives of two women who grew up in the Pope house. Read more

• Article 8: (H)our History Lesson: Kate Walker, Lighthouse Keeper and Hero of New York Harbor

  

  Explore the experience of Kate Walker, who served for 35 years as the lighthouse keeper of the offshore Robbins Reef Lighthouse near Staten Island and the coast of New Jersey. Read more

• Article 9: (H)our History Lesson: Civil War at Our Doorstep, Remembering Prairie Grove

  

  Explore the experiences of two girls and one woman who lived through the Battle of Prairie Grove in Prairie Grove, Arkansas. Read more

• Article 10: (H)our History Lesson: The First Steps of Desegregation, Rev. Dr. Cynthia Lewis Gaines Remembers

  

  Explore school integration through the experience of Cynthia Lewis Gaines, one of the first Black students to integrate an all-white high school in New Kent County, Virginia. Read more

• Article 11: (H)our History Lesson: Helen Stewart, the "First Lady" of Las Vegas

  

  Explore the life of Helen Stewart and the history of how a prosperous ranch became the city of Las Vegas, Nevada. Read more