Tag Archives: united states history

Women’s Liberation Movement

“Women’s liberation movement: Revival of feminism in the 1960s by U.S. women. A coalition of American women’s groups, including the National Organization of Women, sought to overturn laws that enforced discrimination in matters such as contract and property rights and employment and pay. The movement also sought to broaden women’s self-awareness and challenge traditional stereotypes of women as passive, dependent, and irrational. An effort in the 1970s to pass the Equal Rights Amendment failed, but its aims had been largely achieved by other means by the end of the century.”

­­­­­­Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.

Margaret Mead on Sex and Gender

“Historically our own culture has relied for the creation of rich and contrasting values upon many artificial distinctions, the most striking of which is sex…. If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place.”

Margaret Mead, Sex and Temperament in Three Primitive Societies conclusion (1935)

Excerpted from: Schapiro, Fred, ed. The Yale Book of Quotations. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006.

Jeanette Rankin Votes Against the Declaration of War in 1917

“[Casting her vote against the U.S. declaration entering World War I, 1917:] I want to stand by my country, but I cannot vote for war. I vote no.”

Quoted in Hannah Josephson, Jeanette Rankin: First Lady in Congress (1974)

Excerpted from: Schapiro, Fred, ed. The Yale Book of Quotations. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006.

Cultural Literacy: Golda Meir

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Golda Meir. This is a half-page document with a reading of three simple sentences and three comprehension questions. A short, symmetical introduction to this world leader.

Did you know she was born and raised in Milwaukee? That makes her part of United States history as well as women’s history.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

The Weekly Text, 15 March 2024, Women’s History Month Week 3: A Reading and Comprehension Worksheet on Patti Smith

On this, the third Friday of Women’s History Month 2024, here is a reading on Patti Smith with its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. I’d really like to think at this point that this extraordinary artist requires little introduction on this blog, so enough said.

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Resolved: Elizabeth Cady Stanton on Women, Social and Vocational Position, and the Law

Resolved, That all laws which prevent women from occupying such a station in society as her conscience shall dictate, or which place her in a position inferior to that of man, are contrary to the great precept of nature, and therefore of no force or authority.”

Resolutions, First Woman’s Rights Convention, Seneca Falls, N.Y., 19-20 July 1848

Excerpted from: Schapiro, Fred, ed. The Yale Book of Quotations. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006.

Cultural Literacy: Sandra Day O’Conner

OK: Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Sandra Day O’Conner, who you may know died recently. As is the case with many Supreme Court Justices and the presidents who appoint them (Earl Warren comes immediately to mind), Justice O’Conner was often at political variance with the Republican ideologue, President Ronald Reagan, who appointed her.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Seneca Falls Convention

“Seneca Falls Convention: (July 19-20, 1948) Assembly held at Seneca Falls, New York, that launched the U.S.s women’s suffrage movement. The meeting was initiated by Elizabeth Cady Stanton (who lived in Seneca Falls) and Lucretia Mott. Over 200 people attended the meeting including 40 men, The group passed the Declaration of Sentiments, a list of grievances and demands modeled on the Declaration of Independence that called on women to organize and petition for their rights. A controversial demand for the right to vote passed by a narrow margin.”

Excerpted from: Murphy, Bruce, ed. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition. New York: Harper Collins, 1996.

Cultural Literacy: Margaret Mead

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Margaret Mead. This is a half-page document with a reading of two very long sentences which might be best broken up if you’re teaching struggling readers, and three comprehension questions.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Book of Answers: Zelda Fitzgerald

Did Zelda Fitzgerald write any novels? One, Save me the Waltz (1932).

Excerpted from: Corey, Melinda, and George Ochoa. Literature: The New York Public Library Book of Answers. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1993.