Historical Question:
Did the 19th amendment radically change women's role in American life?
Author: Donna Pitts
School: Carrigan Intermediate
District: West Haven
Overview:
Women’s suffrage groups fought hard to gain the right to vote. The 19 th Amendment was ratified on
August 18, 1920. But, was it the turning point in a women’s revolution or did it simply mean women
had a say in politics?
Document Summary:
Document 1 shows how young women began to change their views on appearance, dress, and
modesty. The emergence of the flapper created quite a stir in a society where women were expected
to be more reserved. This document would point to the fact that young women were changing their
viewpoints, possibly feeling empowered with the right to vote.
Document 2 shows a now-famous campaign to include women in the job market. Considered one of
the most successful marketing strategies, women were encouraged to take on jobs during World War
II. This image clearly conveys a belief that women were needed and valued in the economy, a
different perspective than in the earlier 1900s.
Document 3 is an excerpt from the introduction to study done on the role of women in America,
specifically how women could balance marriage and careers. This document supports the position
that women’s roles were changing in American life. They were now expected to find a balance
between an intellectually stimulating career and a life as part of a marriage and family.
Document 4 is a letter from a younger single woman named Miss Frances M. Kublicki to President
Roosevelt. The letter shows that single women were having difficulty getting and keeping jobs
compared with married women. This document points to the fact that not all women were finding
success in the workplace and there was so discrimination felt among single women.
Document 5 is a picture taken in Chicago, 1922. An officer is arresting two women on a beach for
wearing what was considered inappropriate swim wear. Although the women were testing their
boundaries of what was acceptable, there were still limits to what society would accept.
Document 6 is a letter in which Eleanor Roosevelt resigned from the Daughters of the American
Revolution (DAR) when it prohibited the world-famous singer Marian Anderson, an African American
woman, from performing at its Constitution Hall in Washington, DC. This letter demonstrates both
sides – a very vocal First Lady speaking out for civil rights and yet also demonstrates that although
women banded together (like the DAR), there were still limitations to what they could accomplish.
Eleanor Roosevelt’s letter also shows her limitations, even as a First Lady, in that she couldn’t fight to
have Marian Anderson perform at Constitution Hall.
Procedure (80 minutes):
1. Introduction of lesson, objectives, overview of SAC procedure (15 minutes)
2. SAC group assignments (30 minutes)
a. Assign groups of four and assign arguments to each team of two.
b. In each group, teams read and examine the Document Packet
c. Each student completes the Preparation part of the Capture Sheet (#2), and works with
their partner to prepare their argument using supporting evidence.
d. Students should summarize your argument in #3.
3. Position Presentation (10 minutes)
a. Team 1 presents their position using supporting evidence recorded and summarized on
the Preparation part of the Capture Sheet (#2 & #3) on the Preparation matrix. Team 2
records Team 1’s argument in #4.
b. Team 2 restates Team 1’s position to their satisfaction.
c. Team 2 asks clarifying questions and records Team 1’s answers.
d. Team 2 presents their position using supporting evidence recorded and summarized on
the Preparation part of the Capture Sheet (#2 & #3) on the Preparation matrix. Team 1
records Team 2’s argument in #4.
e. Team 1 restates Team 2’s position to their satisfaction.
f. Team 1 asks clarifying questions and records Team 2’s answers.
4. Consensus Building (10 minutes)
a. Team 1 and 2 put their roles aside.
b. Teams discuss ideas that have been presented, and figure out where they can agree or
where they have differences about the historical question
5. Closing the lesson (15 minutes)
a. Whole-group Discussion
b. Make connection to unit
c. Assessment (suggested writing activity addressing the question)
DOCUMENT PACKET
Document 1
In the 1920’s, young women began dressing and acting differently. This
change brought a lot of attention to women. Many people, especially older
ones, did not approve of their new lifestyle.
A symbol of young women's freedom and independence, the flapper
changed how a new generation of women expressed being a woman. Lively
and full of energy, she was single but eligible. She dared to shorten her
skirts (at first just to the ankles, eventually up to the knees) and bob her hair
in a short cut - like a boy's, but longer. Just as the flapper rejected her
mother's long hair, she also discarded older fashions, especially the corset,
which showed women's curves. Flappers preferred to be thin even if it
meant dieting and wearing restrictive undergarments to create appear thin
and long-limbed. Creating a flapper image and sticking to modern beauty
standards also involved purchasing and applying make-up. Wearing lipstick,
rouge, and eyeshadow, flappers further confused the boundaries between
respectable and inappropriate by their public activities. She would be seen
swearing, smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, dancing, and dating. The
athletic and independent young woman found pleasure in an exciting culture
even though older people looked down at her.
Vocabulary
flapper – a young woman in the 1920’s
who behaved and dressed in a bold new
manner
eligible – considered available to marry
corset - a stiff garment worn by women
under their clothes to shape the body to
look like a woman
Source: "The Flapper" by Dorothy Parker, a poet and writer from the early
1900’s.
http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/mmh/clash/NewWoman/Subnarratives/the%20fla
pper.htm
Document 2
This advertisement was created by the War Production Committee to bring
women into the work force during times of war. This specific ad was titled
“Rosie the Riveter” and encouraged women to get jobs during World War II.
Vocabulary
Riveter – someone who fixes or
secures something firmly
Source: We can do it! ca. 1942 – 1943 Records of the War Production
Board National Archives Identifier: 535413
http://docsteach.org/documents/535413/print
Document 3
This is the introduction to a study done on one hundred women who were interviewed
for their experiences balancing being a wife, a mother, and a working professional.
Lots of eager girls just stepping out of college, even already happily married women,
are asking themselves the question: How can they have the happiness in a husband
and children and still keep the mental activity and inspiration of interesting work?
Suggestions have been given by others. Many offer part time jobs for married women
as a solution. One writer suggests that if a professional woman marries a man in her
own profession as actors, singers and circus performers have done, the problem has a
better chance of solution. Another writer claims that economic pressure for higher
standards of living will force a change. There is truth in each theory but women are
impatient for the details of reality. What can be more useful to them are the actual
experiences of women who are reaching out for and getting it all.
As a matter of fact, the question of marriage and careers is really no longer a question
at all. The last U. S. census showed nearly two million of married women are
employed, and the number is steadily increasing. In 1910, less than five of every
hundred married women were employed; in 1920, the number had grown to nine.
There were also in 1920, 124,000 married women in the professions, a number that
had increased 40% between 1920 and 1910. The question has changed. It used to be,
should women combine marriage with careers? Now it is how do they manage it and
how does it work? So, the Bureau of Vocational Information did a study of one hundred
women who are actually making the combination, what general conditions, factors and
trends are happening. This report will show what these women have made of the
problem in the hope that it will prove useful and suggestive to other women who long to
attempt the combination or who have attempted it with indifferent success.
Vocabulary
census – an official count of a population.
In the US, it is every 10 years.
indifferent – only average
economic – having to do with money
Source: http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:RAD.SCHL:150389 Collier, Virginia MacMakin.
Marriage and careers. New York: Channel Bookshop, c1926.
Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America Harvard University
Document 4
This letter was written by a young single woman who wanted President Roosevelt to
know that single women were having a tough time getting and keeping jobs.
Kansas City, Missouri
December 20, 1933
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Washington D.C.
United States of America
Dear Mr. President,
Having long been an admirer of your integrity and wisdom, I am taking the liberty of
writing to you of a problem which is getting more serious each day.
I am thirty seven years old, and for fourteen years held the position of assistant
bookkeeper in a large department store in Kansas City. Recently, this company
changed hands, the new president bringing in a new system in the office, which
required bookkeeping machines and calculators. So far, there has been eight of us to
lose our jobs.
No consideration was given to who needed jobs, in fact it seemed that those who
needed them most, were fired. Not one married woman in that office was fired, and
each and every one of them has a husband employed.
I understand that some employers say that the married woman is more efficient. Of
course, the starving, worried, single woman hasn’t got a chance to compete with a
well-kept married woman who has two incomes. I have come in contact with quite a
few single women since I have been out of work, and many of them are eating only
one or two meals a day. My heart aches for these women, Mr. President, and I know
you would feel the same way, if you knew that this condition really exists.
Wishing you and yours a Glorious Christmas and a Merry New Year, I am.
Sincerely,
Miss Frances M. Kublicki
3012 Montgall, Kansas City, Mo.
Vocabulary
integrity – having high morals or beliefs
bookkeeper – person who records money
spent and received for a business
efficient – well organized
Source: Letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt from Miss Frances M. Kubicki
Regarding the Employment of Married Women www.docsteach.org 12/20/1933
Records of the National Recovery Administration National Archives Identifier: 5757442
Document 5
The caption with this picture reads: “Young women arrested on a Chicago
bathing beach for wearing skimpy bathing suits, 1922.”
Source: http://historyproject.ucdavis.edu/ic/image_details.php?id=3381
From the Collection of Roland Marchand. Copyright holder unknown. Library
of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, DC 20540. In
Oliver O. Jensen, "The Revolt of American Women," 1971, p. 164. 11.5.4
Document 6
This letter was written by Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
She was the First Lady for 12 years. Mrs. Roosevelt was a very public advocate of
social justice and she used her position as First Lady to promote social causes. In this
letter, she is protesting a decision made by the Daughters of the American Revolution
to not allow an African-American woman perform at Constitution Hall.
February 26, 1939.
My dear Mrs. Henry M. Robert, Jr.:
I am afraid that I have never been a very useful member of the Daughters of the
American Revolution, so I know it will make very little difference to you whether I
resign, or whether I continue to be a member of your organization.
However, I am in complete disagreement with the attitude taken in refusing
Constitution Hall to a great artist. You have set an example which seems to me
unfortunate, and I feel obliged to send in to you my resignation. You had an
opportunity to lead in an enlightened way and it seems to me that your
organization has failed.
I realize that many people will not agree with me, but feeling as I do this seems to
me the only proper procedure to follow.
Very sincerely yours,
Eleanor Roosevelt
Vocabulary
Daughters of the American Revolution –
a women's patriotic society founded in 1890
by descendants of those who fought in the
American Revolution. It has about 200,000
members and is based in Washington, D.C.
resignation – to leave a job or position
enlightened – well informed and open-minded
Source: http://archives.gov/exhibits/american_originals/eleanor.html From
the papers of Eleanor Roosevelt, which are at the Franklin D. Roosevelt
Library in Hyde Park, New York. February 26, 1939.
Some of the language and phrasing in these documents have been
modified from the originals.
CAPTURE SHEET
Did the 19th amendment radically change women's
role in American life?
Preparation:
1. Highlight your assigned position.
Don’t forget the rules of a successful
academic controversy!
1. Practice active listening.
2. Challenge ideas, not each other
3. Try your best to understand the other
positions
4. Share the floor: each person in a pair
MUST have an opportunity to speak
5. No disagreeing until consensusbuilding as a group of four
Yes: The 19th amendment radically changed women’s role in American life.
No: The 19th amendment did not radically change women’s role in American life.
2. Read through each document searching for support for your side’s argument. Use the
documents to fill in the chart (Hint: Not all documents support your side, find those that do):
Document
#
What is the main idea of this document?
What details support your position?
3. Work with your partner to summarize your arguments for your position using the supporting
documents you found above:
Position Presentation:
4. You and your partner will present your position to your opposing group members. When you
are done, you will then listen to your opponents’ position.
While you are listening to your opponents’ presentation, write down the main details that they
present here:
Clarifying questions I have for the opposing partners:
How they answered the questions:
Consensus Building:
5. Put your assigned roles aside. Where does your group stand on the question? Where does
your group agree? Where does your group disagree? Your consensus answer does not have
to be strictly yes, or no.
We agree:
We disagree:
Our final consensus: