Library of Congress



[Detail] Woman suffrage headquarters in Upper Euclid Avenue.

1) Women in the News

Students can use the collection to practice both persuasive writing and news story writing. After viewing images of an event, students can do research using other resources. They can pretend they were organizing the event with the goal of gaining media attention. By developing slogans for signs, writing the event-day speeches, and editorials for the local newspapers, students can develop ways to draw attention to their event.

Students might also write news stories about the event. Students can use photographs from the collection to illustrate their stories, and create captions for them as well.

Students might search the collection on parades, pageants, and demonstrations to find images of events such as the May 16, 1912 Suffrage Parade in New York City.

2) Generations of Women's Rights

Suffragists' work to win the vote spanned many generations. Students can write journal entries for different generations of women whose lives were affected by this movement. They might choose historical figures or common citizens of a certain social, economic, or political group, or from a specific geographic region.

3) Biographies

The people who made woman suffrage their ambition had varied experiences of working for that right. Students can research and write biographies for one of these individuals.

For example, students might search on Susan B. Anthony, Mary Church Terrell, or Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

4) Amending the Constitution

Legislative language must be written very precisely. As seen in the debate for woman suffrage, anti-suffragists could turn to the language of the U.S. Constitution to argue their position that only men should vote. Students can read the Constitution and its Amendments to see how an individual word can greatly effect the laws of a nation and the lives of its citizens.