This collection contains videos with accompanying lesson plans and activities that help students connect women’s history to today’s current events.
The Birth Control Pill, Approved in 1960, Helped to Reshape Modern America
The contraceptive pill, approved in 1960, had a profound political, economic and social impact on modern America. The pill gave many women something earlier generations lacked: the ability to plan when to have children.
Shirley Chisholm Was a Trailblazer for Change
In 1972, Shirley Chisholm made history as the first Black woman to run for U.S. president. This video chronicles her journey from Brooklyn to Capitol Hill, where, as the first Black woman elected to Congress, she overcame sexism and racism as an outspoken advocate for racial equality, women’s rights and social justice.
The 1969 Occupation of Alcatraz Was a Catalyst for Indigenous Activism
In 1969, a group of young American Indians who wanted the world to know about the long history of mistreatment and treaty violations against Native people took over Alcatraz Island in California. The occupation sparked an activist movement that successfully reversed federal policies aimed at erasing Native Americans’ cultural identity and reinforced tribal sovereignty.
Women, Work and the Modern American Family
Since the 1990s, the debate over the ideal role of women with children has pitted women with full-time employment outside the home against those who are mothers full time. But the debate itself, and false assumptions that underlie it, may be the real problem.
Princess Diana Brought Attention to Land Mines, but Their Danger Lingers
Despite Princess Diana’s public crusade in the late1990’s to ban land mines, they, and other unexploded ordinances, remain an intractable problem around the world, killing and maiming thousands a year. Perhaps no country illustrates the problem more dramatically than Vietnam.
“No” on Impeachment Unites Today’s GOP. In the 1950s, a Renegade Dared to Break Ranks
Breaking with party unity can carry a political cost. In the 1950’s, Senator Margaret Chase Smith, a Maine Republican, alienated Senator Joseph R. McCarthy and others in their party when she condemned his fiery efforts to suppress Communism.
She Rocked the Pentagon
After a sexual assault scandal at the Tailhook convention rocked the Navy in 1991, one female officer, Paula Coughlin, launched a campaign to change military culture. Tailhook was called the worst case of sexual harassment in the U.S. Navy’s history and led to promises of culture change. But decades later, how much has really changed?
Argentina’s Stolen Babies, and the Grandmothers Leading the Search
As many as 30,000 people were tortured and killed during the seven year military regime in Argentina in the 1970s. They came to be known as the “disappeared.” Over time, it became clear that they were not coming back, but the question remained: What had happened to them and to the estimated 500 babies whose mothers were taken during pregnancy?
