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Gail S Hennessey
Gail Skroback Hennessey taught for over 33 years, teaching sixth grade in all but two years. She earned a BA in early secondary education with a concentration in social studies and an MST in social...
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Women's History Month: Possible Interactive Notebook Activity

 
 
 
Women’s History Month (March)
 
"Remember no one can make you feel inferior without your consent." 
—Eleanor Roosevelt  
 
In 1978, a school district in  California, organized a “Women’s History Week”. By 1981, Congress passed a resolution establishing a National Women’s History Week and in 1987, Congress created a month, March, to honor the contributions of women and to promote the teaching of women’s history. 
 
The following information may be helpful  for Women’s History Month. The 2019 theme for Women’s History Month is “Visionary Women: Champions of Peace and NonViolence”.
 
At one time, women weren’t able to do many things because of their gender. Here are some women trailblazers.  Being the first, made it easier for other women to follow in their footsteps. Every year, new firsts continue to be made by women. Here is just a sampling of firsts made by women.
 
Lucy Brewer
First woman Marine
1812
 
Elizabeth Blackwell
First woman to receive a medical degree
1849
 
Amelia Jenks Bloomer
Publisher/editor of first prominent women's rights newspaper
1849
 
Harriet Tubman
First woman to run underground railroad to help slaves escape
1850
 
Lucy Hobbs
First woman to graduate from dental school
1866
 
Arabella Mansfield Babb
First woman admitted to the bar to practice law
1869
 
Frances Elizabeth Willard
First woman to become a college president (Evanston College)
1871
 
Victoria Chaflin Woodhull
First woman to be presidential candidate
1872
 
Helen Magill
First woman to receive a Ph.D. degree (Boston University)
1877
 
Belva Ann Lockwood
First woman to practice law before U.S. Supreme Court
1879
 
Clara Barton
Founder of the American Red Cross
1881
 
Suzanna Madora Salter
First woman mayor (Argonia, Kansas)
1887
 
Marie Curie
First women to win  a Nobel Prize AND first person awarded TWO Nobel Prizes(as of 2016)
1903 AND 1911
 
Mary McLeod Bethune
First woman to establish secondary school that became 4-year accredited college
1904
 
Blanche Scott
First woman to fly an airplane
1910
 
Jeannette Rankin
First woman U.S. House Representative (Montana)
1917
 
Bessie Coleman
First African American Female pilot in USA and first AMERICAN to receive an international pilot’s license
1921
 
Hallie Ferguson
First woman governor of U. S. state (Texas)
1924
 
Amelia Earhart
First woman to be a passenger on an airplane across the Atlantic Ocean (1928)
and first woman to fly  across the Atlantic Ocean
1932
 
Jane Addams
First American woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize
1931
 
Hattie Wyatt Caraway
First woman elected to U.S. Senate
1932
 
Amelia Earhart
First woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean
1932
 
Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova
First woman to fly in space, aboard Vostok 6
1963
 
Mary Clarke
First woman to be named major general in U.S. Army
1978
 
Sandra Day O'Connor
First woman to become a Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court
1981
 
Sally Kristen Ride
First American woman to reach outer space.
1983
 
Ann Bancroft
First woman to walk to North Pole
1986
 
Christa McAuliffe
First woman citizen passenger on a space mission(teacher)
1986
 
Lt. Col. Eileen Collins
First American woman to pilot a Space Shuttle
1995
 
Madeleine K. Albright
First woman Secretary of State and highest ranking woman in the U.S. government
1997
 
Condoleezza Rice
First African-American woman to be appointed Secretary of State
2005
 
Nancy Pelosi
First woman to become Speaker of the House
2007
 
Hillary Clinton 
First FIRST LADY to become a senator(from NY).First woman to be in a presidential primary and caucus in every state. She would go on to be the first female candidate for President for a major political party(Democratic Party)
2008/2016
 
Michelle Obama 
First African American First Lady
2008
 
Kathryn Bigelow
First woman to win the Best Director Award
2010
 
Mary Barra 
First female CEO of General Motors
2013
 
Women 
Allowed to compete in ski jumping events at the Winter Olympics for the first time
2014
 
Katie Higgins 
First female pilot of the Blue Angels(US Navy Flight demonstration squad)
2014
 
Megan Brennan
First female United States Postmaster General
2014
 
Carla Hayden
First woman(and African American woman) to become the 14th Librarian at the Library of Congress
2016
 
Susan Polgar
First woman in history to achieve the Grandmaster title in chess
2017
 
Peggy Whitson
Most days spent in space by a NASA astronaut!
2017
 
Vanessa O'Brien
First woman to successfully summit the 2nd tallest mountain, K2
2017
 
Gina Haspel
First woman to head the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency)as its director
2018
 
Carla Provost
First woman to become the Chief of the United States Border Patrol
2018
 
First ALL Women spacewalk
On March 29th, Christina Koch and Anne McClain will go outside the ISS and participate in the first all female space walk, part of Women's History Month.
2019
 
Questions:
  1. Are there any areas in which women still have yet to make a contribution?
  2. What are 3 character traits of women who have been trailblazers? What would you list as 3 of your best character traits?
  3. There is a Hispanic Heritage Month, a Native American Month, a Black History Month and a Women’s History Month. Why do you think such months were established? Do you think there is a need for such months to highlight different groups? Why, why not?
  4. If you could interview a woman trailblazer(past or present), who would it be and why? What might be 2 questions you would ask of that person?
  5. Illustrate one of the women’s history facts.
For Teachers:
 
4. Quiz your women’s history knowledge(women adventurers)  Quiz your women’s history knowledge (women leaders)
5. Check out the National Women’s Hall of Fame, opened in 1979, in Seneca Falls, NY. Check out the inductees to the National Women’s Hall of Fame:  
 
More Resources:
1. Women’s History Month: A Webquest on 12 women that made a difference:
2. Women History: A Bundle of TEN  Reader's Theater Scripts on Women in History:
3. Readings on TEN Famous Women in History:
5. Check out my TpT Store for Reader’s Theater Scripts on Famous women in history, science and literature: Susan B.Anthony, Elizabeth Blackwell, Hillary Clinton, Bessie Coleman, Michelle Obama, Edith Bolling Wilson, Eleanor Roosevelt, Amelia Earhart,Dolly Madison, Abigail Adams, Florence Harding, Lady Bird Johnson, Sacagawea, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Marian Anderson, Katherine Johnson and Rachel Carson:  I also have a Reader's Theater Script on WW2 Pilots(part of the WASP) and a Reader's Theater Script on Women Soldiers during the Civil War. I also have a Reader's Theater Script on Revolutionary War Female Spies.
 
Note: Photographs from wpclipart.com(photograph of Elizabeth Blackwell:public domain)
  • Left to right: Harriet Tubman, Amelia Earhart, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Blackwell

FREE Download: Women's History Month: Possible Interactive Notebook Activity