Incorporating Women’s
History Month into our classrooms is a great way to recognize the accomplishments
and dignity of great women in history! Celebrating these women along with women
in our own families and communities leads to higher self-esteem in girls and
greater respect among boys. The following is a list of notable women in history
to encourage classroom discussion and further research.
Women born before
1800
- · Joan of Arc – Peasant girl who led the French army. She was later burned at the stake for her crimes against the English.
- · Pocahontas – She helped establish peace between the Natives and the English colonists.
- · Catherine the Great – She was the empress of Russia and helped to establish Russia as a great European super power.
- · Sacagawea – She traveled along with Lewis and Clark as a guide and interpreter.
Women born in the first half of the 1800s
- · Harriet Beecher Stowe – She played an important role in the movement to end slavery.
- · Susan B. Anthony – She was a leader in the women’s suffrage movement to get women the right to vote.
- · Florence Nightingale – She was a pioneer in modern nursing.
- · Harriet Tubman – She was a former slave who helped others escape to freedom from slavery.
- · Clara Barton – She founded the American Red Cross and served as a nurse during the Civil War.
- · Emily Dickinson – Famous poet who wrote over 2,000 poems.
Women born in the later 1800s
- · Annie Oakley – Famous sharpshooter who traveled with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show
- · Marie Curie – Chemist and physicist who worked with radioactivity and became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize.
- · Heler Keller – She was blind and deaf and fought for the rights of people with handicaps.
- · Eleanor Roosevelt – Wife of Franklin Roosevelt who fought for civil rights and women’s rights
- · Amelia Earhart – Famous aviator who was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She mysteriously disappeared while trying to fly around the world.
Women born in the 1900s
- Mother Teresa – Roman Catholic nun known around the world for her charitable acts.
- Rosa Parks – Civil rights leader whose arrest led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
- Anne Frank – Jewish girl who wrote about her experiences during the Nazi invasion.
- Sandra Day O’ Connor – She was the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court.
- Jane Goodall – She is famous for her studies with chimpanzees.
How to study these famous women in history?
- · The education site Ducksters.com is a great resource that allows students to research.
- · You may want to do this as a class by hooking up your laptop to a projector.
- · I strongly suggest allowing students to choose who they would like to research. They will be much more engaged if they’re allowed to choose who they’ve selected.
- · Research can be done individually or in groups.
- · Looking of a FREE reading passage? Women's History Month FREEBIE
- Don't overlook women in your community. Students can brainstorm women they know in their families and community and conduct interviews.
