Better Days 2020 Announces Immediate Availability Of Utah Women’s History Education Curriculum for 5th and 11th Grades
February 5, 2019
New Utah women’s history curriculum for 5th and 11th grades showcases
the role Utah’s leadership played in achieving equal political rights
for women not just in Utah, but also in the national campaign to pass
the 19th Amendment in 1920.
SALT LAKE CITY–(BUSINESS WIRE)–lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/19thAmendment?src=hash” target=”_blank”gt;#19thAmendmentlt;/agt;–With 2020 marking the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment and
celebrating the Utah Territory women’s first vote in the modern nation
on February 14, 1870, Utah nonprofit Better
Days 2020 announces the immediate availability of its Utah women’s
history curriculum for 5th and 11th grade students. The new set of 5th
and 11th grade lessons, designed to work in tandem with U.S. History
courses, are immediately available for teachers to download at www.utahwomenshistory.org;
they augment the previously released lesson plans, which focus on 4th
and 7th grade Utah Studies.
“Many people know about the national suffrage story but they are unaware
of Utah’s role in that narrative,” explained Better Days 2020 Education
Director Naomi Watkins. “Our new women’s history curriculum for 5th and
11th grade students tells the story of Utah and its pivotal role in the
national suffrage movement. The lessons require students to examine
primary source documents from national and Utah suffrage organizations
and events, and ask students to reflect on how they can contribute to
their own communities.”
Better Days 2020 will offer two 2019 Teacher Training Seminars in
partnership with the Tanner Humanities Center at the University of Utah.
The first teacher training is scheduled for June 10-14 entitled, “The
Struggle for Women’s Rights in Utah: 1870s-1970s” and will include the
following lineup of scholars:
-
Dr. Jenny Reeder, 19th Century Women’s History Specialist, LDS Church
History Department -
Dr. Andrea Radke-Moss, Professor of Women’s History/American History,
BYU-Idaho -
Dr. Farina King, Assistant Professor of History and affiliate of the
Cherokee and Indigenous Studies Department, Northeastern State
University -
Dr. Martha Bradley-Evans, Professor in the College of Architecture and
Planning, University of Utah
The second teacher training is scheduled for July 15-19 and is entitled,
“Race and Religion in the Women’s Rights Movement, 1865-1965.” To date, Dr.
Anne Boylan, Professor of History, University of Delaware has been
confirmed with final confirmation from another scholar who will focus on
Black women’s activism during the movement; registration for both
teacher trainings open in March.
Watkins added, “While we hope these anniversaries are a catalyst for
teaching about this history, our education curriculum and teacher
training goal is to ensure women’s history and perspectives continue to
be integrated into classrooms beyond 2020.”
The Better Days 2020 campaign is comprised of strategic educational,
legislative and creative initiatives, which include projects such as the
development of a Utah
women’s history curriculum for 4th, 5th, 7th
and 11th grades; a historic walking tour and downtown
experience that includes significant suffragist sites; an art
installation in front of Utah’s historic Council Hall; and management
efforts with Utah’s federal delegation to pass a joint resolution giving
Utah its rightful claim as a major player in the suffrage movement;
among other key suffrage celebration projects.
ABOUT BETTER DAYS 2020
Better Days 2020 is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to popularizing Utah
women’s history. The year 2020 commemorates women’s history in Utah,
celebrating the Utah Territory women’s first vote in 1870, as well as
the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which granted all U.S.
women the right to vote. To learn more and/or support, visit www.betterdays2020.org.
Contacts
MEDIA CONTACT:
Lee Rech
for Better
Days 2020
801.556.8423
lbr@betterdays2020.org