Commemorate "Women's History Month" with primary sources from the National Archives, the Library of Congress and other U.S. libraries and academic institutions:

1.  "Women's Rights" is a pictorial overview of pioneers in the voting-rights struggle. Nineteenth-century newspaper editorials, linked in the story, contain comments like these: "If our ladies will insist on voting and legislating, where, gentlemen, will be our dinners and our elbows?"  http://www.awesomestories.com/history/womens_rights/womens_rights_ch1.htm

2.  Lewis & Clark led one of the most successful explorations of all time.  One of their key interpretors was a female Shoshone teenager named Sacajawea.  http://www.awesomestories.com/biography/sacajawea/sacajawea_ch1.htm

3.  Anne Hutchinson and Mary Dyer, 17th century colonists, were tried for their religious beliefs in Massachusetts.  Dyer was condemned to death, in 1660, and became the first woman executed in America.  http://www.awesomestories.com/biography/mary_dyer/mary_dyer_ch1.htm

4.  During World War II, women left their homes to work in factories.  Producing much-need war materials, they helped the Allies prevail.  The U.S. government paid artists to create posters, encouraging American women to work in industry and to volunteer for the military.  Those primary-sources are featured in this story.  http://www.awesomestories.com/history/forgotten_posters/forgotten_posters_ch3.htm

5.  Women's history includes the history of children.  Girls and boys were part of the American work force until well into the 20th century.  Girls lost their arms http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/cph/3b30000/3b37000/3b37900/3b37900r.jpg at young ages.  Even a three-year-old girl, whose entire family (except for the youngest child)  http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/cph/3a00000/3a01000/3a01000/3a01064r.jpg worked at a Mississippi canning company, was - as her mother said - "learning the trade."  Posters, attempting to convince lawmakers to legally lighten a child's load, still reflect harsh expectations: "Every child should work but the work must develop not deaden."  The Library of Congress, and other national archives, document this little-discussed subject in American history.  http://www.awesomestories.com/history/child_labor/child_labor_ch1.htm 

The website http://www.awesomestories.com/ is free for all educators, schools and libraries.  Simply request an academic membership with this sign-up form.  http://www.awesomestories.com/group_signup.php  

Carole Bos
Grand Valley State University
Dean's Advisory Board