WOMEN & THE AMERICAN STORY:
A CURRICULUM GUIDE
Women & the American Story (WAMS) is the flagship education initiative of the New-York Historical Society’s Center for Women’s History. This free curriculum project provides teachers and students, as well as the curious individual, with information about the myriad and often critical roles women played in shaping United States history. The primary sources, life stories, essays, and learning activities included in each of the ten units were designed for middle school students but also to be easily scalable for elementary and high school classrooms.
Through WAMS, we seek to make the history taught in our classrooms more representative, accurate, and engaging. When more students see themselves reflected in the social studies curriculum, they recognize their own agency. When students see a broader range of experiences represented in the narrative of the American past, they learn to value diversity and appreciate difference. Both strengthen our democracy.
WAMS has been designed for maximum flexibility to support social studies curricula in diverse schools. Learn “How To Use WAMS” in your classroom.
THE NEW-YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Since its founding in 1804, the New-York Historical Society has been a mainstay of cultural life in New York City and a center of historical scholarship and education. For generations, students and teachers have been able to benefit directly from our mission to collect, preserve, and interpret materials relevant to the history of our city, state, and nation. Our uniquely integrated collection of works of art, documents, and objects is particularly well-suited for educational purposes, not only for scholars, but also for schoolchildren, teachers, and the larger public.
New-York Historical is grateful to the many supporters of its educational initiatives. For more about what we do, who we serve, and who makes it possible, please visit www.nyhistory.org/education.
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at Richard Gilder Way (77th Street)
New York, NY 10024
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