American women have always worked, but their work in the home is often unpaid and invisible. One way to see this work is through what women wore. This labor—cleaning, cooking, child rearing, and other care work—fused with notions of what it meant to be a woman and shaped Americans’ ideas ab

Take a trip or conduct a phone interview with a member of the League of Women Voters. The League of Women Voters was created in 1920 to help organize women voters and encourage their active participation in civic life. Part of an OurStory module entitled Winning the Vote for Women, this activity

What do museums do? In this classroom activity, students will recognize the Smithsonian Institution and be able to explain what a museum does. This is accomplished through the use of discussion questions and activities in which they relate stories from prior museum visits or share ideas for a mus

A topical collection featuring African-American leaders, inventors, activists, sports figures, and culture-shapers whose lives changed history.  These stamps are part of the Black Heritage Stamp Series. U.S. postage stamps were in use for nearly a century before Booker T. Washington became t

This Learning Lab collection explores the life of Anna Dickinson, an abolitionist who became a prominent public speaker as a teenager during the Civil War. Consider the following guiding and supporting questions as you navigate the collection: What is the power of youth voice in the fight against

This historical investigation is aligned with the C3 Framework and is from C3teachers.org. This inquiry is an exploration into the concept of responsibility, beginning within the home and then expandi

This collection teaches students about the changing role of women during World War II: their role in the workplace, increasing presence in the military, and participation in voluntary organizations that supported the war. Students should think about how these activities reinforced traditional not

This historical investigation is aligned with the C3 Framework and is from C3teachers.org. Through the compelling question “Do we have to have rules?” this annotated inquiry inv

Join the National Museum of American History's for an online exploration into key social studies topics, highlighting museum resources from the Smithsonian. This series features museum educators and curators from different Smithsonian museums. Each video is about 30-60 minutes.

We will host a panel discussion connecting stories of teenagers in the past fighting to address systemic injustice to those of the present. The 2020 annual summit will be centered on the case study of Claudette Colvin—a 15-year-old Black student in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955. Colvin refused to g