Lesson Plan Title: Women Making Change in New York City During the Progressive Era Grade Level: AP United States History Class
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Lesson Plan Title: Women Making Change in New York City During the Progressive Era Grade Level: AP United States History Class. Lesson Overview: During the Progressive Era, women were active in addressing the problems created by rapid industrialization, urbanization, and immigration. In this lesson, the students will work collaboratively to create museum exhibits that focus on the efforts of three women in New York City: Lillian Wald, Clara Lemlich, and Jane Cunningham Croly. This lesson will explore the various expressions of female activism in the forms of the Settlement House Movement, the Labor Movement, the Women’s Club Movement in New York City. Lesson Objective:: Students will: Analyze textual and visual primary sources, as well as secondary sources, to determine the most significant information. Collaborate with classmates and create a museum exhibit. Compare and contrast the various ways in which women in New York City participated in the Progressive Movement. Standards Historical Thinking Skills: Analyzing Evidence: Content and Sources – A1 Creating and Supporting a Historical Argument – E1, E4 Comparison – C2 Contextualization – C3 Thematic Objectives: POL-2.0 Explain how popular movements, reform efforts, and activist groups have sought to change American society and institutions. WXT-1.0 Explain how different labor systems developed in North America and the United States, and explain their effects on workers’ lives and U.S. society. CUL-3.0 Explain how ideas about women’s rights and gender roles have affected society and politics. Key Concept 6.1: Technological advances, large-scale production methods, and the opening of new markets encouraged the rise of industrial capitalism in the United States. II. A variety of perspectives on the economy and labor developed during a time of financial panics and downturns. C) Labor and management battled over wages and working conditions, with workers organizing local and national unions and/ or directly confronting business leaders. Key Concept 6.3: The Gilded Age produced new cultural and intellectual movements, public reform efforts, and political debates over economic and social policies. II. Dramatic social changes in the period inspired political debates over citizenship, corruption, and the proper relationship between business and government. B. Many women sought greater equality with men, often joining voluntary organizations, going to college, promoting social and political reform, and, like Jane Addams, working in settlement houses to help immigrants adapt to U.S. language and customs. Key Concept 7.1: Growth expanded opportunity, while economic instability led to new efforts to reform U.S. society and its economic system. II. In the Progressive Era of the early 20th century, Progressives responded to political corruption, economic instability, and social concerns by calling for greater government action and other political and social measures. O:\WISTARIAHURST\GRANTS\NEH\Landmarks of America History 2017\For website\Lesson Plans\Lesson Plan Women Making Change in New York City.doc A) Some Progressive Era journalists attacked what they saw as political corruption, social injustice, and economic inequality, while reformers, often from the middle and upper classes and including many women, worked to effect social changes in cities and among immigrant populations. Lesson Preparation: Materials/Sources: See attached sheet Packets of Sources Procedures/Activities: 1. Review the context of the Progressive Era. 1. What were the problems created by rapid industrialization, urbanization, and immigration? What were the various responses to these problems? 2. Discuss the term “activism” and invite students to brainstorm how they would define this term and what forms can activism take during the Progressive Era and today. 3. Explain that we will look at the specific context of New York City at the turn of the 20th Century and what role did women play in addressing political, economic, and social problems. 4. Review the ideology surrounding women’s role in society that emerged in the early industrial age: The Cult of Domesticity and the newer ideology of “New Woman”/maternalism/”municipal housekeeping.” 5. Explain the concept of intersectionality. Explain that we will be will be examining the “intersection” between gender, class, and race. 2. Explain that students will create their own museum exhibits focusing on one woman from New York City active during the Progressive Movement. Place the students into groups. Depending on the size of your class, you may have two groups focus on the same woman and/or different aspects of the woman’s activism. Distribute 6 large index cards and placard to each group, packets of sources (See Below), and the Student Handouts (See below). Review the directions with the students. Be sure to emphasize that their goal is to tell a story through their exhibit. Explain that they must discuss and deliberate in order to make the decisions regarding the presentation of the artifacts. Provide time for students to work on the exhibit (1-2 classes.) 3. Students should visit each other’s exhibits and complete the questions on the Student Handout. 4. Debrief the answers to the questions about the content of the exhibit on the Student Handout. 5. Discuss the following questions for reflection about the exhibits: a. Which exhibit was most engaging? Why? b. Which exhibit told the strongest story? Why? c. Which exhibit helped you learn something new? d. Did anything you see today surprise you? e. What were some of the challenges in creating the exhibit? O:\WISTARIAHURST\GRANTS\NEH\Landmarks of America History 2017\For website\Lesson Plans\Lesson Plan Women Making Change in New York City.doc Assignment: Distribute Short Answer Question from the College Board. Students can complete in class or for homework. Assessment: APUSH Short Answer Practice “Most [Progressive Era reformers] lived and worked in the midstof modern society and accepting its major thrust drew both their inspiration and their programs from its specific traits. ... They prized their organizations ... as sources of everyday strength, and generally they also accepted the organizations that were multiplying about them. ... The heart of progressivism was the ambition of the new middle class to fulfill its destiny through bureaucratic means.” — Robert H. Wiebe, historian, The Search for Order, 1877–1920, published in 1967 “Women’s collective action in the Progressive era certainly expressed a maternalist ideology [a set of ideas that women’s roles as mothers gave them a responsibility to care for society as well]. ... But it was also sparked by a moral vision of a more equitable distribution of the benefits of industrialization. ... Within the political culture of middle- class women, gender consciousness combined with an awarenessof class-based injustices, and talented leaders combined with grass- roots activism to produce an impressive force for social, political, and economic change.” — Kathryn Kish Sklar, historian, “The Historical Foundations of Women’s Power in the Creation of the American Welfare State,” Mothers of a New World, 1993 Using the excerpts, answer a, b, and c. a) Briefly explain ONE major difference between Wiebe’s and Sklar’s historical interpretations. b) Briefly explain how ONE example from the period 1880 to 1920 not explicitly mentioned in the excerpts could be used to support Wiebe’s argument. c) Briefly explain how ONE example from the period 1880 to 1920 not explicitly mentioned in the excerpts could be used to support Sklar’s argument. Extensions: Continuity and Change: Ask students to investigate the ways that “women are making change” in New York City today? Students can research the various forms of activism that exist and think about the similarities and differences with activism that women were engaging in during the Progressive Era. Adaptations: O:\WISTARIAHURST\GRANTS\NEH\Landmarks of America History 2017\For website\Lesson Plans\Lesson Plan Women Making Change in New York City.doc Templates & Exemplars: Student Handout – Women Making Change in New York City During the Progressive Era 1. In a group, you will be responsible to create an exhibit highlighting one woman’s role within in a broader movement during the Progressive Era in New York City. You should tell the story of the woman and the movement that she led. Group 1: Lillian Wald – Settlement House Movement Group 2: Clara Lemlich - Labor Movement Group 3: Jane Cunningham Croly - Women’s Club Movement Your group must complete the following tasks: 1. Analyze the various sources that you have been provided in the packet. Determine which are primary sources that would be useful for display and which are secondary sources intended to provide you with background information. When reading the texts and examining the photos, be sure to consider the following: Source Historical Context Point of View or Perspective Purpose Intended Audience Tone 2. Come up with up with a title/theme/question that you are answering in your exhibit. Write it on the placard and display. 3. Select 4-6 items to tell your story. For each item to be displayed, create a display card. On the front of the index card include the following: Title of item Source (Who created this item?) (if known) Date (When was the item created?) (if known) Explanation of the Item (Description of the item, it’s historical context, and significance) Excerpted Quote/Passage (For textual sources only) On the back of the index card, students must