Belle Baruch and the Women’s Suffrage Movement
Objectives
- Discover the history behind women’s suffrage
- Develop vocabulary related to civics and citizenship
- Make personal connections to suffrage history
Lesson Created By: Kelly Hogan Kinard - Edited by Lisa Ray and Lewis Huffman
Lesson Partners: The Belle W. Baruch Foundation, ETV Education
Essential Question
How did Belle Baruch’s desire for gender equality influence her personal choices and have a lasting impact on the community of Hobcaw where she lived?
Grade(s):
- 8
Subject(s):
Recommended Technology:
Tablets/Computers with internet access
Other Instructional Materials or Notes:
Lesson Progression
Step 1: Determine which terms are specific and should be learned in order to know about the suffrage movement in South Carolina.
Choices for Step 1: Word Wall – flash cards using the free app (Brainscape) – Create a Jeopardy game on PowerPoint or some other slide presentation software
Step 2: Write history from the bias point of view of Belle Baruch, as if she were writing this piece herself. How would she have considered herself a suffragette? Write a short editorial piece, worthy of publication, that connects Belle’s accomplishments with the ideals of the woman’s suffrage movement.
Step 3: Write a series of tweets (144 characters at the max) that ties a suffragette from SC’s past to an event that is currently newsworthy. The tweets can show continued discrimination, or show the movement forward for women in society.
Step 4: Answer the essential question. Combine steps 1-3 in your answer – find vocabulary that reflects the history of SC suffragettes and Belle Baruch. Take an excerpt from your editorial and connect your imagining of her words to the essential question. Find a favorite tweet, or create a new one that shows Belle’s impact on the Hobcaw community and surrounding areas.
Teacher Notes
The Baroness of Hobcaw: The Life of Belle W. Baruch by Mary Miller (depending on age group and reading level, assign whole text or excerpt of Chapter 5- “From Debutante to World Stage”).
Lesson Extension (Middle to High School)
Draw parallels to today: Ask students if there is anything they would change about today’s society. Have they experienced or witnessed modern examples of gender inequality (i.e. wage gap, representation of women in media, domestic violence, etc.)?
Homework/ Class Project Idea
Using the background information provided on the Women’s Suffrage movement, ask each student to choose a famous suffragette to research further.
Elementary school:
- Provide a list of names and pre-approved resources
- Students conduct research using sources provided and write a paragraph on their chosen suffragette.
- Teacher: Once papers have been read and approved, students present on their chosen suffragette and explain what she did to change history for women.
Middle/ High school:
- Have students conduct research using both the internet and library (require a set number of books to be used/ cited), and write a brief paper on their chosen suffragette (1-3 pages, depending on age group and reading level).
- Teacher: Once papers have been read and approved, students present their papers and explain how their suffragette changed history for women.
Exhibit: Women’s Rights Movement, 1848 - 1920 - History, Art & Archives: United States House of Representatives
Facts and information about "The Women’s Rights Movement", 1848–1920.
View ResourceThe Fight for Women’s Suffrage at the History Channel
On Election Day in 1920, millions of American women exercised their right to vote for the first time. It took activists and reformers nearly 100 years to win that right, and the campaign was not easy: Disagreements over strategy threatened to cripple the movement more than once. But on August 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was finally ratified, enfranchising all American women and declaring for the first time that they, like men, deserve all the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.
View ResourceHobcaw Barony Archives
The Belle W. Baruch Foundation is a non-profit organization and owner of Hobcaw Barony, a 16,000-acre property dedicated to research and education.
View ResourceGeorgetown County Digital Archives
Links to images from the Georgetown County Digital Library.
View ResourceStandards
- 8.4.CO Compare perspectives toward reform that engaged during the Progressive Era.
- This indicator was designed to encourage inquiry into how new state and federal Progressive legislation affected individuals and businesses in South Carolina and the US. The indicator was designed to promote inquiry into the new perspectives that emerged regarding social and political change.
- 8.4.CE Explain the causes and effects of World War I on South Carolina and the United States.
- This indicator was developed to encourage inquiry into the significant causes of World War I and the factors leading to U.S. involvement. This indicator was also developed to promote inquiry into the effects of the war, to include its impact on the homefront, migration patterns, and continued foreign policy debates.
- 8.4.CX Evaluate South Carolinians’ struggle to create an understanding of their post-Civil War position within the state, the country, and the world.
- This indicator was developed to encourage inquiry into how the former planter class, African Americans, women, and others adjusted to, gained, lost, and/or regained position and status during Reconstruction. This indicator was also written to foster inquiry into how South Carolina worked with a stronger federal government and expanding international markets.
Assessments
Evaluation for Step 4
Scale: (1)not at all, (2)somewhat, (3)usually, (4)to a considerable extent, (5)consistently
____ The presentation clearly ties steps 1-3 to step 4. It is interesting with a logical beginning and end.
____ The presentation is well organized with attention to detail.
____ The presentation utilized primary documents and internet resources well, using the documents to prove the connections between steps 1-3.
____ The presentation stayed on topic and clearly answered the essential question.
I understood and learned several things from the presentation. In my opinion, these facts stood out during the presentation:
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