Her Stories:
10 Hoosier Women Students
Should Know
Lesson Plan
Grades 3 – 5
INFORMATION FOR EDUCATORS
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Background Text for Educators……p. 3
Biographies……………………….. pps. 4 – 13
Activities………………………….. pps. 14 – 18
Resource List………………………pps. 19
Evaluation………………………….p. 20
INTRODUCTION:
Many fascinating women have made numerous
contributions to our country’s heritage.
Heighten your students’ awareness of the
important role women have played in Indiana’s
history. This lesson plan highlights
the accomplishments of ten Hoosier women
students should know. Activities are designed to help convey the accomplishments of
women such as author Gene Stratton-Porter (above) and the issues surrounding them.
This lesson is intended for grades three through five and meets Indiana Academic
Standards.
SETTING THE STAGE:
To begin the lesson plan, you might want the environment of your entire classroom to
reflect women in American or Indiana history. This can be achieved by incorporating
themes in bulletin boards, learning centers, art projects, and whatever else you are doing
in the classroom. When you set the tone of your classroom in this manner, learning
becomes an all-encompassing experience for your students. We encourage you to use
this lesson plan as a springboard to further knowledge about Hoosier women who have
made a difference in this country.
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BACKGROUND TEXT FOR EDUCATORS
The importance of women’s role in American history is often obscured by the
accomplishments of their male counterparts. Women have battled the perception that
their job was to be leaders in the home, while men were to determine the direction of
society. This barrier, however, did not keep women from stepping up to challenge this
stereotype. The accomplishments of women in the past have made it possible for today’s
women to be an integral part of the workforce, a strong political voice, and pioneers in
various fields.
Since the beginning of civilization, women have been recognized as the source of human
life. This view historically did not give women an equal footing when it came to
individuality and decision-making power. Instead, they were deemed intellectually poor
and susceptible to, or the source of, temptation. Women also were seen as the weaker
sex, unable to challenge men physically when it came to heavy labor. That left women to
deal only with those duties related to the care of home and children.
It was frequently ignored that being a mother and a housewife was a physical, mental,
and emotional challenge. Work in the home was never done, and the mother often was
the earliest to rise and the last to go to bed. From a very young age, girls were taught that
their place was in the home. Rarely were they encouraged to obtain a formal education.
In the course of American history, women have risen to challenges in traditionally male
and female spheres alike. Women were leaders in the temperance and labor movements.
In the late twentieth century, they fought for the right to vote and became a voice in
national and local governments. They worked in factories while their husbands were at
war and are now an integral part of the military. And, when all-male colleges and
universities denied them access, women created their own educational opportunities.
No complete study has been done of women’s history in the state of Indiana. But studies
have begun, and the impact of Hoosier women is becoming clear.
Attached are biographies of ten Hoosier women who have left an indelible mark on their
communities. Educators should feel free to use these biographies to introduce their
students to these women throughout their history lessons. For instance, Polly Strong can
be featured when discussing slavery, Madam C.J. Walker when teaching about the
Golden Age of Indiana, and Albion Fellows Bacon when teaching about the Progressive
Era. Activities featured in this lesson plan will help further student learning.
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IRENE DUNNE
(1898 – 1990)
Actress
From her humble beginnings to her stardom during Hollywood’s Golden Age, Irene
Dunne always remained close to her roots. She was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on
December 20, 1898, but her family soon moved to Madison, Indiana. Dunne dreamed of
being a music teacher and left Madison to study in Indianapolis. Before beginning a
teaching position at East Chicago Public Schools, she decided to attend Chicago Music
College on a scholarship to study as an opera singer. Afterward, Dunne went to New
York City to pursue opera singing, but her dream failed and she became a singer on
Broadway instead. Dunne soon became popular for her roles in Irene, Luckee Girl, and
Show Boat. In 1930, she left New York City for Hollywood, California. Soon, she had
become known as one of Hollywood’s most resourceful actresses and earned the title of
“Hollywood’s First Lady.” Her work includes the films Cimarron, Magnificent
Obsession, Show Boat, My Favorite Wife and Life with Father, among others. Dunne
was nominated for five Academy Awards, but never won. She retired from acting in the
1950s.
Though Dunne’s accomplishments on the silver screen are legendary, she also was very
active in private life. She married Francis Griffin in 1928 and raised one adopted
daughter; they remained married until Griffin’s death in 1965. In 1957, President Dwight
D. Eisenhower appointed Dunne a special delegate to the United Nations. A devoted
Catholic, she also received the Laetare Medal from Notre Dame University in South
Bend, Indiana, for being “an example of talented Christian womanhood.”
Dunne stayed connected to Madison, Indiana, even though she was busy in Hollywood.
She kept up on happenings there by reading local newspapers. In 1976, she donated ten
thousand dollars to help restore the town fountain in the historic city. Her acting was
recognized in 1985 when she received a Kennedy Center Honor for achievement in
performing arts. Dunne died in Los Angeles in 1990. Today, a historical marker in
Madison commemorates her and her Indiana heritage.
To see pictures of Irene Dunne, please use the following website:
Internet Movie Database - www.imdb.com/name/nm0002050
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MAY WRIGHT SEWALL
(1844 – 1920)
Suffragist
May Wright was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1844. She showed intelligence at a
young age and spent her youth studying under her father, who encouraged her education.
It was unusual for a woman of her time, but she pursued a college education and
graduated from Northwestern University in 1866. She taught in Mississippi and
Michigan, then took a position at the high school in Franklin, Indiana. She eventually
married the principal of the school, Edwin Thompson. In the 1870s, the couple moved to
Indianapolis, where they both taught at the old Indianapolis High School. Soon
afterward, Edwin died of tuberculosis. May married Theodore Sewall in 1880.
Sewall started her career as a suffragist in the 1880s. Following her passion for education
and women’s rights, she founded more than fifty organizations that promoted women’s
rights and education. These included the International Council of Women, Indianapolis
Equal Suffrage Society, the Girls’ Classical School, and the Indianapolis Women’s Club.
Sewall also became a national leader in the fight for women’s suffrage. A friend of
Susan B. Anthony’s and Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s, she led Indiana suffrage groups and
was chairman of the executive committee charged with preparation and arrangements for
the first national council of women in Washington in 1888. She also was a delegate to the
Universal Congress of Women in Paris and became president of the National Federation
of Women’s Clubs in 1889, and helped form the National Council of Women at The
Hague in 1898. Sewall wrote three works: Higher Education of Women in the Western
States of the U.S., Neither Dead nor Sleeping, and History of the Woman Suffrage
Movement in Indiana. Although her work took her away from Indiana beginning in about
1907, she returned the year before her death in 1920 at age seventy-six.
Suffragist May Wright Sewall has earned a place in history as a courageous and
groundbreaking woman.
To see a picture of May Wright Sewall, please use the following website:
Indianapolis Marion County Public Library – www.impcl.org/resources/digitallibrary
maywrightsewall.html
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CAROLINE SCOTT HARRISON
(1832 – 1892)
First lady
Best known as the wife of Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd president of the United States,
Caroline Scott Harrison made a difference in many lives. Born in Ohio on October 1,
1832, she grew up under the tutelage of her mother and father, a Presbyterian minister
who ran Oxford Female Institute in Oxford, Ohio. She met and fell in love with the
future president while he was studying at Miami University in Oxford, and they wed in
October 1853. They moved to Indianapolis when her husband started his career in law.
Harrison settled into married life, participated at the Indianapolis Orphan’s Asylum and
the First Presbyterian Church, and gave birth to two children, Russell and Mary.
While her husband’s political career blossomed, Harrison became part of the social elite
of Indianapolis. Their home, built on Delaware Street in the 1870s, was the center of
their social life, and they entertained such national figures as President Rutherford B.
Hayes and General William Sherman. Harrison was unable to spend time in Washington
due to bad health during her husband’s time as senator. But she moved to the White
House when he was elected president in 1889.
In Harrison’s short time as first lady, she worked on numerous projects. She founded the
largest patriotic association of women, Daughters of the American Revolution, and
became its first president-general in 1890. She also convinced Johns Hopkins University
Medical School to admit women by helping to raise funds for the program. The famous
china collection in the White House as well as extensive renovations, including electrical
wiring, became two of Caroline’s major projects as first lady. And, she still made time to
host fabulous parties.
Aside from her responsibilities and duties as first lady, Harrison was an accomplished
artist who loved to paint, especially china. Unfortunately, in the summer of 1892, her
health failed rapidly and she died of tuberculosis at the White House that October. Upon
her death, Hoosier poet James Whitcomb Riley wrote a tribute entitled Mrs. Harrison.
Remembered for her “sweetness in womanhood” she left a great legacy. Today,
Americans from all over the country visit the President Benjamin Harrison Home in
Indianapolis, and the Indiana State Museum commemorates the lives of both Harrisons.
To see pictures of Caroline Scott Harrison, please use the following websites:
The White House – www.whitehouse.gov/history/firstladies/ch23/html
The Benjamin Harrison Home – www.presidentbenjaminharrison.org/Harrison/beninfo.html
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GENE (GENEVA) STRATTON-PORTER
(1863 – 1924)
Author
Born August 17, 1863 in Wabash County, Indiana, Gene (short for Geneva) Stratton was
the youngest of twelve children. She grew up on a farm and loved to explore the
countryside around her family’s home. As a girl, she liked collecting feathers, butterflies,
and moths, and her love of the environment became a lifelong passion. These fond
memories of family and life on the farm became the basis of her writings.
She moved to Wabash, Indiana, when she was about eleven, and continued in school until
1883 when she left to care for a sick sibling. She married Charles Porter, a druggist, on
April 21, 1886. The couple moved around, eventually settling in Geneva, Indiana, where
they designed and built Limberlost Cabin, named after the nearby Limberlost Swamp.
The natural environment of the swamp fascinated Stratton-Porter, and she wrote about it,
studied it and photographed it extensively. That led to her contributing to the magazines
Recreation and Outing, and she eventually joined their staffs. She also spent four years
as a specialist in natural history and photography at Photographic Times Annual
Almanac. Her biggest success as an author came from her novels. Her most famous
work, A Girl of the Limberlost (1909), was made into a motion picture in 1924; she also
wrote the screenplay. In all, she wrote twenty-six books including fiction, non-fiction,
and poetry for adults and children.
After World War I, Stratton-Porter moved to California and continued to write. By this
time, she was a world-famous author and had sold more than a million books. She
founded the Gene Stratton-Porter Productions film company and wrote for McCall’s
magazine. Unfortunately, Gene Stratton-Porter was fatally injured in California when her
limousine was hit by a trolley car in 1924. Her husband and one daughter, Jeannette,
survived her.
To see pictures of Gene Stratton-Porter, please use the following website:
Gene Stratton-Porter House and Limberlost Swamp – www.genestrattonporter.net/
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IDA HUSTED HARPER
(1851 – 1931)
Journalist and suffragist
Ida Husted was born to John and Cassandra Husted in Fairfield, Indiana, on February 18,
1851. At the age of ten, Ida moved with her family to Muncie, where she remained until
leaving to attend Indiana University for one year. She married lawyer Thomas W. Harper
of Terre Haute on December 28, 1871, and they had one daughter, Winnifred.
Harper began her writing career while working for newspapers in Terre Haute and
Indianapolis. She spent twelve years at the Terre Haute Saturday Evening Mail writing
her column, “A Woman’s Opinion,” served a short time as managing editor of the Terre
Haute Daily News, wrote political articles for the Indianapolis News, and contributed to
Fireman’s Locomotive Magazine. These assignments established Harper as a seasoned
newspaperwoman. After divorcing her husband and moving to New York in 1890, she
joined the staff of Harper’s Bazaar and The Sunday Sun as a department editor and
contributed to newspapers in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, and Chicago.
Well-known by this time as a journalist and writer, Harper became involved in the
women’s suffrage movement by writing books and articles, doing publicity, attending
meetings to support the cause, and joining the Daughters of the American Revolution.
She was commissioned by Susan B. Anthony to write her official biography, Life and
Work of Susan B. Anthony, and to compile a multivolume work called History of Woman
Suffrage (1887 – 1922). Harper went to London in 1899 as a delegate and speaker at the
International Council of Women and was in charge of publicity for the National
American Woman Suffrage Association. She also spoke at the International Women’s
Suffrage Alliance.
Harper lived to see victory when the Nineteenth Amendment, giving women the right to
vote, was adopted in 1920. She spent her last few winters in Washington at the American
Association of University Women and died in 1931 of a cerebral hemorrhage. Her ashes
were interred in Muncie.
To see pictures of Ida Husted Harper, please use the following website:
http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/ggbain/07000/07003v.jpg
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MADAM C.J. WALKER
(1867 – 1919)
Entrepreneur, philanthropist, and activist
Madam C.J. Walker was born Sarah Breedlove in the Louisiana Delta on December 23,
1867, the daughter of two former slaves. Raised on a farm, Sarah was orphaned at age
seven. When she was ten, she and her sister moved to Vicksburg, Mississippi, to work in
the cotton fields. Sarah married Moses McWilliams four years later to get away from her
abusive brother-in-law, and the couple had one daughter, Lelia (later known as A’Lelia, a
prominent figure in the Harlem Renaissance).
Widowed at age twenty, Sarah moved to St. Louis and became a laundress. She also
began experimenting with hair products as a way to control a scalp ailment. After
encountering fellow entrepreneur Annie Malone, Sarah began selling Malone’s products
when she moved to Denver in 1905. After a short second marriage to a John Davis,
Sarah married Charles Joseph Walker in 1906.
Encouraged to start her own business, she changed her name to Madam C.J. Walker and
started selling “Madam C.J. Walker’s Wonderful Hair Grower,” made from her own
secret formula. Walker slowly expanded her business by traveling throughout the
country and adding mail-order services. In Pittsburgh, she started a correspondence
course in which anyone could earn a diploma from Lelia College for twenty-five dollars.
By February 1910, Walker had settled in Indianapolis, a central location that allowed her
business to flourish.
As a successful businesswoman, Walker concentrated on giving back to the communities
in which she lived. She donated funds to establish a YMCA in Indianapolis. In 1916,
made a final move to New York, where she became heavily involved in Harlem society
and the NAACP anti-lynching campaign. She contributed financially to that campaign
and traveled to the White House to discuss the passage of anti-lynching legislation. She
also donated to the Tuskegee Institute and other African-American schools and began
schools to teach her system of selling her company’s products, allowing many AfricanAmerican women to be independent businesswomen.
By 1917, Walker was one of the best-known and wealthiest African Americans in the
United States. On May 25, 1919, she passed away at her estate. Today, Madam C.J.
Walker is remembered in Indianapolis at the Madame Walker Theatre, built in 1927 by
her daughter A’Lelia to commemorate her contribution to the community.
To see pictures of Madam C.J. Walker, please use the following websites:
Madam C.J. Walker official website – www.madamecjwalker.com/
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The Indiana State Museum Madam C.J. Walker Lesson Plan –
http://www.indianamuseum.org/uploads/docs/LP_16_MWalker.pdf
Madame Walker Theatre – www.walkertheater.com/
10
ALBION FELLOWS BACON
(1865 – 1933)
Social welfare activist
Albion Fellows Bacon was a housewife-turned-activist who championed a broad range of
social welfare causes, benefiting the working class on a local, state, and national level.
The third daughter of Reverend Albion and Mary Fellows, of Evansville, Albion became
interested in reading, writing, art, and music at an early age, and graduated as salutatorian
of her high school class. Her family could not pay for further education, so she worked
as an assistant to her great uncle after high school. She also toured Europe with her older
sister Annie before marrying Hilary Bacon, a merchant, in 1888. Albion and her husband
had four children – Margaret Gibson, Albion Mary, and twins Joy and Hilary Jr.
Initially, Bacon did not participate in social welfare causes because she thought that was
better left to the experienced. The homemaker eventually established relationships with
Evansville slum residents by calling on them with sweets and small gifts. With a group
of women, Bacon began the Visiting Nurse’s Circle, which paid for a nurse to care for the
sick and poor in their homes. She also helped found the Flower Mission, which delivered
fresh-cut bouquets to the working class, and the Working Girls’ Association, which
provided a lunchroom and boardinghouses for young working women.
Through her early social-welfare activities, Bacon adopted the philosophy that a city’s
social, civic, and business problems could be cured by making its homes better. She
drafted a proposal for a housing regulation bill that was passed in 1909. But Bacon’s
efforts did not end there. The bill was amended so that the law did not apply to all
dwellings, was not enforced by the State Board of Health, and affected only two Indiana
cities. Bacon continued to lobby the state Legislature and helped get the 1913 State
Tenement Law and the 1917 State Housing Law enacted. Biographer Robert G. Barrows
writes: “These laws regulated the construction of multi-family dwellings and empowered
state health officers to order corrective action when existing houses were deemed unfit.”
Besides organizing social-welfare groups and petitioning for laws, Bacon served in many
high-profile state and national positions. She was a member of the State Commission on
Child Welfare and Social Insurance, which regulated school attendance and the
employment of minors, and was appointed by President Herbert Hoover’s administration
to the Conference on Home Building. Bacon lectured across the country as a housing
reform authority. She authored Beauty for Ashes, an autobiographical book that described
her campaigns for housing reform, The Path to God, and Consolation. She continued her
social welfare activities until her death.
To see a picture of Albion Fellows Bacon, please use the following website:
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Albion Fellows Bacon Center – www.albionfellowsbacon.org/index.html
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EMILY KIMBROUGH
(1899 – 1989)
Author and journalist
Author Emily Kimbrough was the first child of Hal Curry Kimbrough and Charlotte
Wiles Kimbrough, of Muncie, Indiana. Her childhood was privileged, and her family
was prominent in the town and state. Charles Mayberry “C.M.” Kimbrough, Emily’s
grandfather, was president of the Indiana Bridge Company and a state senator. Her father
and uncles each served as president of their father’s business. The Kimbrough family
was involved in Muncie’s cultural, social, and political life and developed associations
for art, music, and theater. Kimbrough absorbed this appreciation for the arts early.
Kimbrough carved out a career as a renowned author, but not before she held a series of
jobs as a young adult. After graduating from Bryn Mawr College in 1921, she and her
friend Cornelia Otis Skinner toured Europe. Upon return, Kimbrough, described by
author and former Indianapolis Star reporter Nelson Price as “ambitious, but
directionless,” landed work in Chicago, first as an advertising copywriter and later as an
editor for Fashions of the Hour, a Marshall Field and Company publication. In 1926, she
accepted a position in New York City as fashion editor of Ladies’ Home Journal. She
later rose to managing editor. Kimbrough married John Wrench in 1928 and had twin
daughters, Alis and Margaret. After divorcing her husband, Kimbrough contributed
articles to national publications that included House and Garden and Country Life.
Kimbrough became a household name in the 1940s when she started writing and
publishing stories about her experiences as a child and young adult. Most of her works
employed a humorous, lighthearted tone. Kimbrough and Skinner recounted their
European travels in the book Our Hearts Were Young and Gay (1943), which was
developed into a movie that was well-received by wartime audiences. In her memoir,
How Dear to My Heart (1944), she reminisced about her early childhood in Muncie.
Kimbrough described visits to her paternal grandparents’ stately house, day trips in her
grandfather’s beloved automobile (which her grandmother loathed), and Fourth of July
fireworks mishaps. Kimbrough’s work The Innocents from Indiana (1950) chronicled her
family’s awkward adjustment to life in a big city when they relocated to Chicago in 1909.
Kimbrough shared her lecture-tour experiences in the book It Gives Me Great Pleasure
(1948). Her last book, Better than Oceans, came out in 1976, and Kimbrough remained
active until her death. Her hometown of Muncie has honored her by naming a section of
her old neighborhood after her; today it is part of the East Central Neighborhood District.
Currently there is no picture available online.
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POLLY STRONG
(ca. 1796 – ?)
Freewoman
Polly Strong, a young mulatto woman, used the judicial system to challenge her status as
a slave in the early days of Indiana statehood. She was born about 1796 to Jenny, a black
slave seized by Native Americans and held prisoner at the age of fifteen, then sold at least
twice – first to Isaac Williams of Detroit in 1795 and later to Antoine Lasselle. Lasselle’s
nephew, prominent Vincennes, Indiana, resident Hyacinth Lasselle, purchased Polly
Strong about 1806. Within a decade, Strong and Hyacinth Lasselle would become
engaged in the multiyear legal battle known as State v. Lasselle to determine her freedom.
Three edicts affected the lives of Strong, her mother, her brother James, and, ultimately,
the outcome of State v. Lasselle. In 1787, the Northwest Ordinance prohibited slavery in
the Northwest Territory, from which Indiana would be formed nearly thirty years later.
In addition, the 1795 Treaty of Greenville, between the United States and Native
Americans in the Northwest Territory, called for the release of prisoners on both sides.
Strong’s mother, Jenny, was released and eventually sold into the Lasselle family. But,
adhering to the Northwest Ordinance, Indiana’s 1816 Constitution prohibited slavery or
involuntary servitude.
Despite these precedents, court documents show Strong’s bid for freedom was not
resolved quickly. Sometime before 1816, Judge John Johnson of the General Court of
the Indiana Territory gave the opinion that Strong and her brother, James, were slaves. A
freedom suit was filed, and Lasselle was ordered to present Strong and her brother to the
Knox Circuit Court in July 1818. The slave owner requested that the case be dismissed,
while Strong and James argued for their freedom. In February and April 1820, witnesses
were summoned for both Strong and Lasselle. Sometime before July 22 of that year,
Knox County Circuit Court Judge Jonathan Doty ruled in Lasselle’s favor, and Strong
was obligated to remain Lasselle’s property.
On July 22, 1820, the Indiana Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the Knox Circuit
Court. The Court found that the 1816 Constitution banned slavery and that Lasselle had
violated the law by enslaving Strong. Polly Strong was declared a free woman.
But Strong’s court battles did not end there. On March 2, 1822, a man named Joseph
Huffman brought a case against Strong to recover money he had lent her during her trial,
and the Knox County sheriff took her into custody. A jury later ruled in favor of Huffman
and awarded him thirty-five dollars in damages.
Outside of these court records, little is known about Strong.
14
To see a picture of Polly Strong, please use the following website:
Indiana State Supreme Court – Courts in the Classroom: www.in.gov/judiciary/citc/special/
bound-for-freedom/index.html
15
MARY JESSAMYN WEST
(1902 – 1984)
Author
Author Mary Jessamyn West was born near North Vernon, Indiana, to Eldo Roy and
Grace Anna Milhous West. Her father came from a poor family while her mother was
from a well-established Quaker family. West’s well-read maternal grandmother helped
interest her in reading and writing at an early age. When she was six, West and her
immediate family moved to Los Angeles County, California, and settled on an orange
ranch that her father managed. Grandmother Milhous mailed books and magazines to
West, whose favorite authors included fellow Hoosier Gene Stratton-Porter. StrattonPorter’s literary technique and career would influence her own.
Growing up, West prepared for a career as an author. Biographer Alfred S. Shivers writes
that reading became a passion for West when she was twelve. Besides reading, West
wrote and studied daily vocabulary lists, jotted story ideas in a notebook, and kept a
journal throughout her life. But classes, married life, and a job distracted her. West
graduated from Whittier College in 1921 with a bachelor of arts degree. After marrying
Harry Maxwell McPherson, a Quaker, in 1923, she worked as a secretary, then as a
teacher in a one-room schoolhouse. From 1929 to 1931, she completed the coursework
for a doctorate in English at the University of California, yet fell short of obtaining her
degree. In his biography, Shivers includes a letter West wrote in which she asks, “When
am I ever going to write my stories?”
In 1931, West was diagnosed with tuberculosis and entered a sanatorium to recover. The
illness weakened West, but she used it as a source of inspiration. She later wrote about
her experiences in the sanatorium in Los Angeles.
West’s first stories were published when she was in her forties. Her most popular work,
The Friendly Persuasion (1945), described the life of the Birdwells, a Quaker family
living in Indiana during the Civil War. The Friendly Persuasion was adapted into a 1956
movie, which received an Academy Award Best Picture nomination. West described her
experiences as the movie’s scriptwriter in her autobiographical book To See the Dream
(1957).
Although West’s career started late, it was prolific. Her books include A Mirror for the
Sky (1948), The Witch Diggers (1951), Except for Me and Thee (the sequel to The
Friendly Persuasion) (1969), The Massacre at Fall Creek (1975), and The Collected
Stories of Jessamyn West (1986). She continued to write into the 1970s and died from a
stroke at age eighty-two.
16
To see a picture of Mary Jessamyn West, please use the following website:
Jessamyn West Webpage – www.jessamyn.com/jessamyn/jess.html
17
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
Activity 1: Ten Hoosier Women Students Should Know
Objectives:
Students will be introduced to ten women from Indiana they should know.
Students will create a mural highlighting one Hoosier woman.
Indiana Academic Standards:
Social Studies: 3.1.4, 3.1.5, 3.2.7; 4.1.6, 4.1.11, 4.1.13, 4.5.6, 5.2.10
Art: 3.3.2, 3.7.3, 3.8.1, 3.8.2, 3.9.2; 4.3.2, 4.7.1, 4.7.3, 4.8.1, 4.8.2, 4.9.2, 4.10.1; 5.3.2,
5.7.1, 5.7.2, 5.7.3, 5.8.1, 5.8.2, 5.9.2, 5.10.1
Supplies:
Biographies
Poster board
Markers
Scissors
Glue
Construction paper
Students will need computer lab time in order to complete this project.
Instructions:
1. Have students pick one Hoosier woman featured in this lesson plan. Explain that
students are to create a mural picture featuring that woman.
2. Each mural should portray that woman’s life and accomplishments. Students
should use the biographical information attached to this lesson plan as inspiration
when creating their murals.
3. Students are encouraged to do additional research using library resources and the
Internet.
4. After the posters are created, have students take time to study each mural. Using
the attached worksheet, students should see whether they can figure out the
message of each mural, and what each woman’s accomplishments were.
Tip: In order to help students visualize what they need to do, show examples of murals
done by artists such as Diego Rivera and other Social Realist artists of the early 1900s.
18
Activity 2: Women’s Suffrage in Indiana
Objectives:
Students will create a bulletin board highlighting the women’s suffrage movement
in Indiana.
Indiana Academic Standards:
Social Studies: 3.1.4, 3.1.5, 3.2.7; 4.1.6, 4.1.11, 4.1.13, 4.2.7, 4.2.8, 4.5.6; 5.2.10
Supplies:
Bulletin board space
Large construction paper
Scissors
Staples
Markers
Students will need computer lab time in order to complete this project.
Instructions:
1. Explain to students that they are going to create a bulletin board presentation
highlighting the women’s suffrage movement in Indiana.
Tip: This bulletin board is a great way for students to highlight Women’s History
Month in March. A classroom or school hallway bulletin board would work for
this project.
2. Students should divide into teams to complete different parts of the bulletin board.
Each team should oversee the creation of the following:
a. A timeline tracking the beginning of the suffrage movement in the state to
the point when women gained the right to vote.
b. Short biographies of four suffragists from Indiana. This should include a
picture of the suffragist (if obtainable).
c. Placards, signs, buttons, etc. that focus on spreading the message of
women’s right to vote. Students can base their signs on actual signs used
by suffragists.
3. Students should use library resources and the Internet to research the information
they need. The resources listed at the end of the lesson plan can be given to
students who are struggling in their research.
4. After completing their research, students should create their section of the bulletin
board. Students should use computer applications as well as any additional craft
materials needed to complete the project.
19
Activity 3: Celebrating National Women’s History Month
Objectives:
Students will learn how this celebration uses themes each year to commemorate
the accomplishments of women in the United States.
Students will create a newspaper highlighting the year’s Women’s History Month
theme.
Indiana Academic Standards:
Social Studies: 3.1.4; 4.1.6, 4.1.11, 4.5.6; 5.2.11
Language Arts: 3.4.1, 3.4.3, 3.4.4, 3.4.5, 3.4.6, 3.4.7, 3.4.8, 3.5.2, 3.5.4, 3.5.5, 3.6.2,
3.6.3, 3.6.4, 3.6.5, 3.6.6, 3.6.7, 3.6.8; 4.4.1, 4.4.2, 4.4.3, 4.4.5, 4.4.7, 4.4.8, 4.4.9, 4.4.10,
4.4.11, 4.4.12, 4.5.3, 4.5.5, 4.5.6, 4.6.2, 4.6.3, 4.6.4, 4.6.5, 4.6.6, 4.6.7, 4.6.8; 5.4.3, 5.4.4,
5.4.6, 5.4.8, 5.4.9, 5.4.10, 5.5.5, 5.5.6, 5.6.1, 5.6.2, 5.6.3, 5.6.4, 5.6.5, 5.6.6, 5.6.7
Supplies:
Students will need computer lab time in order to complete this project.
Instructions:
1. Before students begin the project, have them visit the website of the National
Women’s History Project at http://www.nwhp.org to learn what the theme for
Women’s History Month will be. Give them time to explore the website to learn
what they can about the women who will be honored that year.
2. Next, explain that students will be creating a newspaper highlighting the year’s
theme. A page of the newspaper should be dedicated to each of the following
topics:
Page One: The year’s Women’s History Month theme with short articles
emphasizing the important events the NWHP is remembering.
Page Two: Short articles emphasizing three of the NWHP’s honorees.
Page Three: Short articles emphasizing three Hoosier women whom students
think deserve special recognition for their accomplishments. This can be a
mix of women from Indiana’s past and present.
Page Four: Short articles on milestones achieved by Hoosier women.
3. Have students break up into four teams. Each team is responsible for creating one
page. Students should feel free to use pictures, clip art, etc., to accent their
newspaper.
4. Once all four pages are ready to go, the teacher should print the newspaper to
share with other classes in that grade or the whole school, to spread the word
about Women’s History Month. Those classes, or the school, can then vote on
which Hoosier woman they think deserves special recognition.
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Activity 4: Honoring Women In Your Community
Objectives:
Students will nominate a woman from their community who they think deserves
to be recognized by the Indiana Women’s History Trail.
Indiana Academic Standards:
Social Studies: 3.1.4; 4.1.6, 4.1.11, 4.5.6; 5.2.11
Supplies:
None
Instructions:
1. Introduce students to the Indiana Women’s History Trail.
2. Next, explain to students that they will work as a class to nominate a woman,
organization, or site from the community who they think deserves to be part of the
History Trail.
3. The class should work together to fill out the nomination form, which can be
found at http://www.statelib.lib.in.us/www/ihb/activities/iwht.html
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10 Hoosier Women You Should Know
Name: ________________________________________
Instructions: Look at each mural and tell in writing what its creator wants you to know. Be
sure to tell the important things each woman did.
Irene Dunne
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May Wright Sewell
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Caroline Scott Harrison
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Gene StrattonStratton-Porter
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Ida Husted Harper
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Madam C.J. Walker
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Albion Fellows Bacon
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Mary Jessamyn West
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Emily Kimbrough
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Polly Strong
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RESOURCES
Books:
Feel free to introduce your students to any of the great authors and their books featured in this
lesson plan.
The Indiana Historical Society has a variety of books featuring Hoosier women. Check out their
website www.indianahistory.org/.
Bundles, A’lelia, On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker
Barrows, Robert G., Albion Fellows Bacon: Indiana’s Municipal Housekeeper
Videos/DVD:
For the Sport of It: Female Athletics and Title IX can be purchased through the NCAA Hall of
Champions.
Out of the Shadows: Portraits of Historic Hoosier Women Artists can be purchased through the
Indiana Historical Society.
Websites:
The World Wide Web is full of information on American and Hoosier women who have made
history. Here are some sites that will help you and your students do further research.
www.nwhp.org/ – National Women’s History Project.
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/social_studies/high-womensstudies.html
–
The
Public
Broadcasting Service offers a variety of resources for teachers dealing with women’s issues in
American History.
www.iwh.iupui.edu – Indiana Women’s History Association. This website also has a link to the
Indiana Women’s History Trail.
http://www.statelib.lib.in.us/www/ihb/publications/tihtop.html – The Indiana Historical Bureau’s
The Indiana Junior Historian newsletter is available online. There is a specific section on
Women’s History in Indiana.
http://www.in.gov/icw/ – The Indiana Commission on Women’s website has a link to their
archives, including a Power Point presentation celebrating Hoosier women’s role in the suffrage
movement.
http://www.in.gov/judiciary/citc/lessons/ – The Indiana Supreme Court’s Program Courts in the
Classroom, features several lesson plans that focus on women’s issues and the courts, including
the Polly Strong case. Under the link “The Trial of Susan B. Anthony,” there is a timeline of
women’s suffrage in Indiana.
http://www.in.gov/ism/ – The Indiana State Museum offers a lesson plan on Madam C.J. Walker.
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http://www.impcl.org/resources/digitallibrary/maywrightsewall.html – May Wright Sewall
Papers.
http://www.in.gov/dnr/historic/ – Indiana’s Division for Historic Preservation will be adding
information on women’s history sometime in 2007.
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LESSON PLAN EVALUATION
Your feedback is important to us. We welcome your comments to help us plan lessons in
the future. Please check your responses and return to the Indiana State Museum. You
may return the evaluation by mail, fax, or e-mail to:
Attention: Joanna Hahn, Cultural History Education Specialist, jhahn@dnr.in.gov
1. Please indicate the lesson plan you received:
James Whitcomb Riley
Lick Creek African-American Settlement
Whitewater Canal State Historic Site
Indiana’s Ice Age Animals
Indiana Fossils
A World-Class Artist: The Life and Times of William Edouard Scott (1884-1964)
Her Stories: 10 Hoosier Women Students Should Know
2. Did you find the lesson plan easy to understand and use?
Yes ___
No ___
Not sure ___
If “no,” what was the problem? ________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
3. Were the connections to the state standards appropriate?
Yes ___
No ___
Not sure ___
Comments: ________________________________________________________
4. Was the length of this lesson plan
Too short? ___
Too long? ___
Just right? ___
Comments: ________________________________________________________
5. Was the lesson plan appropriate for the grade/ability level of your students?
Yes ___
No ___
Not sure ___
Comments: ________________________________________________________
6. What activity did your students like the best? ______________________________
7. What activity did your student like the least? _______________________________
Why? _______________________________________________________________
How could we improve it? _______________________________________________
Additional comments: _____________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
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