What Is Women’s History Month? Resources To Learn More

When you pose the question “What is Women’s History Month?” in class, you’re really inviting students to examine how we shape history, whose stories are recorded, and how societies change over time.

In social studies, Women’s History Month gives you a structured opportunity to explore historical roles, leadership, innovation, and civic preparation as an essential part of world and U.S. history studies. 

With Newsela Social Studies, you can help students investigate these questions using accessible articles, videos, and primary sources to build background knowledge and historical thinking skills. 

Jump to:

• Highlight women’s admirable qualities in historical context
• Discover trailblazing women and their roles in society
• Explore women’s roles in American history across eras
• Analyze the suffrage movement and women’s rights history
• Additional Women’s History Month social studies resources

[Highlight women’s admirable qualities in historical context](id-qualities)

Key takeaways:

• Students can analyze historical character traits within real-world contexts.
• Choose lessons that connect individual choices to broader historical outcomes.
• Newsela Social Studies offers resources that support cause-and-effect and historical perspective skills.

Women’s History Month social studies lessons are most effective when students see how individuals responded to the circumstances of their time. Exploring qualities such as resourcefulness, leadership, innovation, courage, and strength helps students understand how historical conditions shaped decision-making and opportunities.

How have women demonstrated resourcefulness throughout history?

Women throughout history often adapted to limited resources and shifting expectations. They found creative ways to support their families, communities, and economies. Studying these examples helps students understand how necessity can influence innovation.

Teach a lesson with resources that explore how:

• Flappers of the 1920s and their dances helped the women’s liberation movement.
• The “Chili Queens of San Antonio” made carne con chili a popular southern food staple.
• A Ukraine-based nonprofit group called Zemliachky supports women serving in the country’s military.

What innovations and discoveries have women contributed to history?

Women have played key roles in science, math, and exploration, even if they didn’t get recognition at the time. Examining these contributions helps students understand how knowledge develops over time. Explore great minds like those of:

• June Almeida, the woman who discovered the first coronavirus in 1964.
• High school students Ne’Kiya Jackson and Calcea Johnson, who found new solutions to the Pythagorean theorem.
• The first team of all-women spacewalkers.

Who were the trailblazing women who shaped early American history?

Trailblazing women often worked within, and sometimes beyond, the boundaries of their time. Studying their leadership helps students understand power, influence, and civic participation. Introduce students to:

• The women leaders of the American Revolution, like author Mercy Otis Warren, activist Esther DeBerdt Reed, and the Edenton Ladies.
• Northern Black women who formed an abolitionist army during the years leading up to the Civil War.
• Women who forged a path on the American frontier, like Molly Brant, Anne Bailey, and Sacagawea.

When have women shown courage in dangerous or uncertain circumstances?

Courage often appears during periods of conflict or instability. Studying these moments helps students evaluate risk, choice, and consequence in historical decision-making. You can share stories about how:

• Women disguised themselves as male soldiers during the Civil War to fight in both the Union and Confederate armies.
• Young AAPI advocates developed a history lesson for schools to address community concerns.
• Holocaust survivor Lily Ebert used TikTok to tell her story of surviving time at Auschwitz-Birkenau.

How has strength been defined and redefined through women’s history?

Strength has taken many forms over time. Exploring the lives of women in athletics helps students see how definitions of physical and emotional strength evolve. With Newsela Social Studies resources, you can:

• Read about how tennis star sisters Venus and Serena Williams made history.
• Discover how a girls’ tackle football team in Utah helps players work through emotions.
• Watch a video about how Title IX, a law that affects youth sports and the athletes who play them.

[Discover trailblazing women and their roles in society](id-diverse)

Key takeaways:

• Students can examine diverse historical perspectives through articles, videos, and text sets.
• Choose lessons that highlight representation and leadership across cultures.
• Newsela Social Studies resources support comparative and global analysis.

Who are some accomplished women students should know about?

Learning about accomplished women across regions and time periods helps students connect individual achievement to larger historical trends. These stories support discussions about access, opportunity, and leadership. Introduce students to women like:

• Queen Liliuokalani, the last ruler of the Hawaiian Kamehameha dynasty.
• Helen Keller, a blind and deaf woman who overcame adversity to become an author and activist.
• Michelle Wie, a U.S. Women’s Open golf tournament winner.

How have women shaped history in lasting ways?

Some women’s influence is immediate. Others become recognized over time. Studying long-term impact helps students think about legacy and how we determine historical significance. Explore lasting contributions from figures like:

• Patsy Mink, the first Asian American elected to Congress
• Malala Yousafzai, an education activist for young girls
• Maya Angelou, a writer, poet, and activist
• Ellen Ochoa, the first Latina woman to go to space

You can extend the lesson by asking students to interview an inspirational woman in their own lives and introduce the Telling HERStory writing project.

Where have Hispanic women used their voices to influence change?

Hispanic women have shaped journalism, labor movements, and political discourse across the Americas. These examples help students examine leadership in different civic spaces. Introduce them to:

• Journalist and activist Jovita Idar.
• Civil rights and labor activist Dolores Huerta.
• The Mirabal sisters, known as Las Mariposas.

What can students learn from societies led by women?

Studying societies with women leaders challenges assumptions about governance and authority. It also helps students compare leadership structures across civilizations. Dive into ancient Egyptian society with the following lesson:

• Read about an exhibit at the National Geographic Museum in Washington, D.C. that explores the lives and significance of ancient Egyptian queens.
• Watch a video about women’s roles in ancient Egyptian society.
• Examine biographies of important ancient Egyptian leaders such as Hatshepsut, Queen Nefertiti, and Cleopatra.

[Explore women’s roles in American history across eras](id-history)

Key takeaways:

• Students can trace continuity and change across U.S. history.
• Choose lessons that reinforce chronological reasoning and contextual analysis.
• Find resources that connect individual experiences to national events.

Students can trace how women’s roles in American history changed over time while also showing continuity across experiences. By examining different eras, students can better understand how social, political, and economic conditions shaped women’s daily lives.

What did women do during the American Revolution?

Women contributed to the Revolutionary cause through writing, organizational work, and leadership. Studying their roles expands students’ understanding of how the colonists won the war. Learn about little-known legacies with resources like:

• An article about the surprising connection between President George Washington and Black poet Phillis Wheatley.
• An article on how women took on leadership roles during the American Revolution.
• A video about influential women of the American Revolution.

What roles did women play in the early republic?

In the early republic, women influenced social norms, family structures, and civic values. These lessons help students examine how informal roles shaped national identity. Dive more deeply into this time period and:

• Discover what rights women of the 1800s did and didn’t have.
• Read French historian Alexis de Tocqueville’s observations about the role of the “American wife” in the early 19th century.
• Watch a video about the gender roles and expectations of women in the 19th century.

How did women experience the Civil War?

The Civil War reshaped daily life for women across regions. Studying these experiences helps students compare perspectives and understand how war affects societies beyond the battlefield. Lessons can support primary source analysis and regional comparison. Students can explore firsthand accounts that revealed women’s Civil War roles, like:

• Notes from southern housewife Judith McGuire about leaving her Virginia home after Union Army occupation.
• Letters that show how Texas women guided local affairs during the Civil War.
• Information on Cathay Williams, the first documented Black woman to serve in the U.S. Army during the Civil War.

Why were women essential to the Civil Rights Movement?

Women played essential organizational and leadership roles that sustained reform efforts over time. Studying their contributions to the Civil Rights Movement helps students understand how organized groups operate.

Use Newsela resources to:

• Learn about the contributions Black women made to the Civil Rights Movement.
• Meet Ethel Payne, known as the First Lady of the Black Press.
• Discover how Freedom Rider Diane Nash risked her life to desegregate the South.

How are women involved in government today?

Women participate in government at the local, state, and national levels. Studying modern participation helps students connect historical trends to present-day governance. Support civic literacy and representation analysis with Newsela resources on:

• The famous firsts women politicians accomplished.
• Profiles of women who have served the United States Supreme Court.
• How more women become candidates at all levels of government with each election season.

[Analyze the suffrage movement and women’s rights history](id-vote)

Key takeaways:

• Students can examine voting rights and civic participation over time.
• Select lessons that strengthen primary-source analysis.
• Find resources that clarify how laws shape democratic access.

Understanding voting rights and civic participation is central to answering the question “What is Women’s History Month?” Students can examine how laws, movements, and public participation evolved over time.

When did women gain the right to vote in the United States?

Women gained the constitutional right to vote when the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920. Studying this milestone helps students understand how legal change happens. Support constitutional analysis and historic causation with resources like:

• A history explainer of the 19th Amendment.
• Profiles of key suffragettes who fought for the right to vote.
• A news article about outdated North Carolina voting laws.

What other women’s rights movements followed suffrage?

Voting rights were one step in many coordinated efforts to expand women’s participation and opportunities in society. Tracing these movements helps students understand how reform evolves. Support chronological reasoning and thematic continuity with Newsela Social Studies resources, like:

• An explainer article on the Declaration of Sentiments.
• A news article that looks at the popularity of women’s marches.
• Famous speeches from noted women’s rights leaders like Gloria Steinem, Susan B. Anthony, and Sojourner Truth.

How did feminism influence society in the 20th century?

Feminism influenced social norms, workplace expectations, and legislation throughout the 20th century. Studying its evolution helps students connect social ideas to policy outcomes. Explore the unit that focuses on topics like:

• Gender roles of the 1950s
• Emergence of Second Wave Feminism
• Feminist leaders and organizations
• Advocacy during Second Wave Feminism
• Civil rights issues in the feminist movement
• Opposition to the feminist movement
• Legislative and judicial acts of the feminist movement

[Additional Women’s History Month social studies resources](id-resources)

Key takeaways:

• Primary sources strengthen historical thinking skills.
• Videos support engagement and comprehension.
• Resources should integrate easily into existing lesson plans.

Do you want to extend or supplement your Women’s History Month lessons without redesigning instruction? Choose from resources that are easy to plug into existing units.

What primary sources can students analyze during Women’s History Month?

Primary sources let students engage directly with historical voices and events. Analyzing these sources strengthens historical inquiry and evidence evaluation. Use the following resources to provide authentic documents for student exploration:

• Newspaper articles about the Lowell mill girls and the factory system.
• Letters describing women’s experiences during the California Gold Rush.
• A speech from Zitkala-Sa to Indigenous activists.

How can videos support Women’s History Month instruction?

Videos help students visualize historical contexts and reinforce key ideas. They’re especially useful for introducing or summarizing complex topics. You can use Newsela videos to look more deeply into concepts like:

• World-changing women.
• Women activists in American history.
• The women’s suffrage movement.

Go further with your Women’s History Month lessons

We hope these resources make it easier to help you develop relevant, engaging lessons about women’s history in your class this March. For even more great content from Newsela Social Studies and our other great subject products, sign up for Newsela Lite to start your free 45-day trial of all our premium content and activities.