American Centuries

Pocumtuck Valley
Memorial Association

American Centuries > Lessons > History Lessons By Teachers > The Lives and Times of Women

The Lives and Times of Women

Details

Author
Renee Cantwell
Topic/Subject Area
Gender, Gender Roles, Women; Home Life, Household Items, Furniture; Organizations, Associations, Societies, Clubs
Historical Era
The New Nation, 1784–1815, National Expansion and Reform, 1816–1860, Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861–1877, Rise of Industrial America, 1878–1899, Progressive Era, World War I, 1900–1928, Great Depression and World War II, 1929–1945, Counterculture, Civil Rights, and Cold War, 1946–1989, New Millennium, 1990–Present
Grade Level
Elementary (K–5)
Creation Date
2003
Last Revision Date
2024

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About This Lesson

Summary and Objective

Through the use of primary and secondary sources, class discussion, readings, and a writing assignment, the students will be able to understand the roles, rights and struggles of women in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Materials & Resources

Collection Items
Books
Websites

Teaching Plan

  1. Pre-activity: The teacher will read to the students excerpts from Remember the Ladies: The First Women’s Rights Convention by Norma Johnston. This will help them gain background knowledge of the roles that women played and the struggles they faced in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to gain the same rights and freedoms as men.
  2. The students will work in small groups for a short discussion and give their interpretation of the following quotes from Remember the Ladies:
    1. “All men are created equal.”
    2. “Women who worked in mills had no ownership of their wages.”
    3. “We now demand the right to vote according to the declaration of the government in which we live.”
    4. “Without the vote, there is no true freedom.”
  3. Students will explore the roles, rights and struggles of a New England woman during this time by reading about Dr. Mary Dole in the online collection.
  4. Through exploration of the online collection, the students will be able to gain a first-hand experience of women’s roles by taking a closer look at Esther Williams’ inventory from 1800, a portrait of the life cycle of women, and general rules and manners that women were expected to live by.
  5. Post-activity or homework assignment: The students will answer the following questions:
    1. What are some rules that you have to follow that were similar to the expectations of the women in “Young Ladies Literary Society 1813”?
    2. What are two things you can learn about Esther Williams by looking at her inventory?
    3. Do you think that an organization such as The Young Ladies Literary Society of 1813 would be a good idea in today’s society? Why or why not?
    4. Name one way in which the women from Remember the Ladies and the New England women were alike.