“Organizing New Bedford: The Women Who Mobilized Change” is a digital exhibit and mobile tour that serves as a resource for teaching civic knowledge, civic skills, and civic dispositions In the exhibit, students are invited to explore historic New Bedford and to meet some of the women who devoted their lives to advocating for their community to bring about social and political change. Throughout, students are encouraged to consider:
- Who were the local changemakers of the past? What roles did they take on to address the issues of their day? What issues did they tackle and how?
- Historically how have women played a role in local government, in local activism and in community organizing?
- How have women from the SouthCoast addressed issues of equity, access, fairness, human rights?
How can I use this resource in my curriculum & connect to content standards?
“Organizing New Bedford: The Women Who Mobilized Change” provides multiple opportunities for students and teachers to explore community members who had an impact on civic and community life in the SouthCoast and beyond and provides an invitation for students to consider the possibilities of community-based civic engagement today.
This digital exhibit could be used as a resource to teach concepts of civic engagement, women’s history, local history, local government, and more. It offers a historic starting point to engage students in contemporary civic action through writing, further research, or through student-led inquiry projects.
Watch this brief video for an introduction to the exhibit and tips to navigate through it:
Supplemental Resources
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There are many videos, lesson plans, and other online resources that connect with the stories in “Organizing New Bedford: The Women Who Mobilized Change” and can support classroom teaching.
Massachusetts History, Social Science & 8th Grade Civics Project Connections
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“Organizing New Bedford: The Women Who Mobilized Change,” offers an entry point to engage with several of the Guiding Principles and standards in the History & Social Science Curriculum Framework for grades K-12. It also provides a generative starting place for 8th grade student-led civics projects, which require “students to apply civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions to engage with the process of creating social and political change in their communities.” By examining local women who were social and political changemakers of the past, students can build on that knowledge to consider contemporary local issues and potential theories of action to support positive change in their communities today.
Massachusetts English Language Arts & Literacy Connections
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“Organizing New Bedford: The Women Who Mobilized Change,” connects to several of the guiding principles and standards in the Massachusetts English Language Arts & Literacy Standards for grades K-12. The exhibit also invites students to do further research on historical women, issues of civic engagement, local politics along with comparisons to contemporary changemakers and issues. Students can present their understanding through persuasive or narrative writing, digital artifacts, or collaborate on projects connected to the content of the exhibit and the themes presented.
Massachusetts Digital Literacy Connections
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“Organizing New Bedford: The Women Who Mobilized Change,” can support the Guiding Principles and standards in the Massachusetts Digital Literacy & Computer Science Standards for grades K-12. By learning about the women and their contributions, students could see the lasting impact of their online presence and reflect on how they would want their own identity presented online. Students could explore the lack of information on local women available in online research and the credibility of digital resources about local women. Students can use the exhibit as a launch to do further digital research, to produce writing, digital products, or partake in collaborative projects.