Women’s Military History
with curators Bart Hacker and Margaret Vining
Podcast Link:
http://americanhistory.si.edu/sites/default/files/podcasts/women%20in%20military%20history.mp3
Questions—to help students build questioning skills, have them generate both basic understanding and thought
questions before and after the show. Here are some example questions.
Basic Understanding Questions—questions that have a simple answer
 What military jobs are women most commonly placed in?
 Before the ban was lifted, from which specific positions were women excluded?
Thought Questions—questions that require research on multiple perspectives and a great deal of thought
 How has the role of women in the military changed over time?
 How has the public depiction of women in the military changed over time?
 What led to the ban on women in combat positions? What led to it being lifted?
 What caused policy and reality to diverge? How was this dealt with by the government?
Related Resources—for continued instruction or resources for your students’ research
National Museum of American History:
 The Price of Freedom: Americans at War (exhibition)
http://amhistory.si.edu/militaryhistory/
 Women in uniform, World War I edition (blog post)
http://blog.americanhistory.si.edu/osaycanyousee/2011/09/women-in-uniform-world-war-i-edition.html
 Found in our military history collections: A Marine Corps tiara (blog post)
http://blog.americanhistory.si.edu/osaycanyousee/2011/04/a-marine-corps-tiara.html
 Scenes from the Hurly Burly Hotel: Louisa May Alcott’s Civil War (blog post)
http://blog.americanhistory.si.edu/osaycanyousee/2011/07/scenes-from-the-hurly-burly-hotel-louisa-mayalcotts-civil-war.html
 Pregnant in uniform (blog post)
http://blog.americanhistory.si.edu/osaycanyousee/2011/09/pregnant-in-uniform.html
History Explorer:
 Changing Gender Roles on the World War II Home Front
http://historyexplorer.si.edu/resource/?key=3252
 Maritime Voices: Merchant Marines and Shipyard Workers Remember World War II
http://historyexplorer.si.edu/resource/?key=3758
 Women’s Role in the Civil War
http://historyexplorer.si.edu/resource/?key=3232
 Who Am I? A History Mystery
http://historyexplorer.si.edu/resource/?key=3661
Related Historical Thinking Standard (National Center for History in the Schools)
 Standard 1: Chronological Thinking
 Standard 5: Historical Issues-Analysis and Decision-Making
Have your students email their questions, comments, and discoveries to [email protected]
Find this podcast and more at http://americanhistory.si.edu/podcasts
Name:
Date:
Topic:
Pre-Listening vocabulary—define these words:
Combat Role:
.
Support Role:
Pre-Listening (leave space after your questions to answer them as you listen):
What basic understanding questions do you have about this topic?
What thought questions do you have about this topic?
Post-Listening:
What new thought questions do you have?
Of all your thought questions, which few are especially important to the topic? Why?
Which is the most important thought question? Why?
What steps would you take to find the answer to the most important thought question?
Email your questions, comments, and discoveries to [email protected]
Find this podcast and more at http://americanhistory.si.edu/podcasts
Period: