Women's History Month

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Credit: All images public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Teachers: Visit the free MY HERO Lesson Plan for Women's History Month for this film program. Includes discussion guide and learning outcomes.

Films

The following program of short films celebrate women trailblazers and show the kinds of obstacles these women faced, as well as common threads between their stories. The fight for women's rights has changed over the years, and we hope these films will empower you to fight for justice in your own lives.

RBG [Trailer]

Betsy West & Julie Cohen

At the age of 84, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has developed a breathtaking legal legacy while becoming an unexpected pop culture icon.

Inez Milholland ~ Forward into Light

Martha Wheelock

This short documentary is a window into the Women's Suffrage Movement through the sacrifice of an American Amazon who will inspire today’s woman as much as she did 100 years ago.

My Life with Rosie [Trailer]

Angela Williamson

This documentary is focused on Rosie Parks' 40 years of community service in the city of Detroit.

Women At the Wheel: Stories of remarkable women

Produced by:Pat Benincasa

Women At the Wheel: Stories of remarkable women shattering cultural roadblocks and gendered assumptions

On March 8, 1911, the world celebrated the first-ever International Women's Day. It was part of the women's suffrage movement, which was in full swing in European and North American countries: Women wanted to vote, and they wanted to have the same rights as men. In 1986, national Women's History Month was declared in the US.

Stories

These stories highlight female heroes who took on pioneering roles in the distant and recent past. Their long-lasting contributions to America push the country forward and open doors for the women who come after.

Elizabeth Blackwell

By: Victoria Davis

Hero Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman in the United States to receive a degree as a doctor, and started a women's medical college for women.

Michelle Obama

By: Princess Quinones

Michelle Obama has recently made history as the first African American to become the First Lady of the United States.

Abigail Adams

By: Nashua Haque

First Lady Abigail Adams effectively led the country while President John Adams was an envoy in France, through detailed letters between the two and her own business savvy.

Elizebeth Friedman

By: Sean Tran

Elizebeth Friedman is known as "America's first female cryptanalyist" for her work deciphering codes between Nazi forces during WWII.

Listen & Read Along

The following stories have a link so you can hear the audio as you read. Great for ESL students, visually impaired or blind students.

Dorothy Height

By: Yajahira from Las Vegas

Height was a civil rights/women's rights activist and an ally to the LGBTQ+ community.

Katherine Johnson

By: Kyra from Ankara, Turkey

Her story was hidden for decades: Katherine Johnson plotted multiple flight courses for NASA, including the Apollo 11 spacecraft, the first spaceship to reach the moon.

For Younger Readers, by Younger Readers

Sally Ride

By: Georgia Rowan

"Sally Ride is considered a hero because she has done amazing things, like when she went on the STS-7 mission in 1983."

Susan B. Anthony

By: Libby Huxley

An elementary student talks about her hero, women's suffragist Susan B. Anthony.

Art

Bessie Coleman

By: Marilyn Huerta

Marilyn Huerta's portrait of Bessie Coleman, who grew up during the time of segregation and was the first black woman to fly around the world.

Alice Paul

By: Robert Shetterly

Robert Shetterly depicts Alice Paul, crusader for equal rights for women.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton by Robert Shetterly, AWTT

By: Robert Shetterly

Portrait of women's rights activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton by Robert Shetterly.

Inez Milholland Boissevain

By: unknown

Dressed like Joan of Arc on a white horse, Inez Milholland Boissevain, a New York attorney, led a group of women all dressed in white. Here she is on horseback at the Women's Equality March in Washington D.C., 1913

Women's Equality Day

By: Becky Miller

Instituted by Rep. Bella Abzug and first established in 1971, the date commemorates the passage of the 19th Amendment, the Woman Suffrage Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which gave U.S. women full voting rights in 1920.