Her Stories: 10 Hoosier Women Students Should Know Lesson Plan Grades 3 ––– 555 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. 2 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. 3 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 4 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 5 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.