Lesson 2: Day 4 - The Power of Women
Google Doc of This Lesson
Activity 1: Read Aloud
Overview: In this read-aloud, students will read an excerpt from The Underground Railroad in Pennsylvania (Blockson, 1981) to examine the role of Black women in Female Anti-Slavery Societies.
Time: 10 minutes
Format: Whole Group
Objective: SWBAT investigate the contributions of Black women to the anti-slavery movement by identifying key themes related to leadership, organizing, and resistance in 19th-century Female Anti-Slavery Societies.
Distribute copies of the excerpt of The Underground Railroad in Pennsylvania by Dr. Charles L. Blockson.
Read p. 19-21 aloud as a class, inviting student volunteers to take turns reading.
Pause occasionally to ask clarifying questions or highlight key themes that connect back to the podcast content.
Invite students to share one takeaway with a partner.
Partner #1 should spend about 90 seconds sharing.
Invite students to switch so Partner #2 can share their takeaway.
Activity 2: 1838 Black Metropolis Woman's Tour
Time: 10 minutes
Format: Whole Group
Overview: In this whole-group activity, students will view a short video highlighting the work of Mrs. Michiko Quinones and Ms. Morgan Lloyd, co-founders of 1838 Black Metropolis. The featured tour focuses on a historic Black women’s enclave in Philadelphia, offering students a glimpse into how public history can recover and amplify voices often left out of mainstream narratives.
Format: Whole Group
Objective: SWBAT interpret how contemporary public historians use storytelling, place-based research, and archival recovery to honor the lives and contributions of 19th-century Black women in Philadelphia.
Engage students in discussion by asking one or more of the following questions:
How do Mrs. Michiko Quinones and Ms. Morgan Lloyd use research and storytelling to make the lives of Black women in 19th-century Philadelphia visible today?
Why is it important to study and walk through the spaces where Black women lived and organized? What can place teach us that textbooks might not?
Activity 3: Daughters of Africa
Overview: In this interactive activity, students will read one of four articles about the Daughters of Africa and participate in a Four Corners Gallery Walk. By sharing their takeaways on post-its and engaging with peer insights, students will collectively build a deeper understanding of the varied roles Black women played in 19th-century Philadelphia’s resistance and organizing networks.
Time: 25 minutes
Format: Whole Group
Objective: SWBAT synthesize key takeaways from multiple historical accounts of the Daughters of Africa by contributing to and engaging with a collaborative gallery of peer insights.
Materials: Post-its; printouts of the article headlines; tape
Divide students into eight small groups.
Provide post-its so that each student has at least two sticky notes.
Assign each group one of the four readings:
Groups 1 & 5: In 1821 a group of single and widowed Black woman founded the Daughters of Africa
Groups 2 & 6: Were the Daughters of Africa More Powerful than We Thought?
Groups 3 & 7: Finding Phebe Lewis and The White Scorpions in The Daughters of Africa (Gibson, 2023)
Groups 4 & 8: Daughters of Africa By Laws (scroll down to the third item on the page)
Ask students to read independently for five to seven minutes.
While students are reading, label each corner of the room with one of the four article titles.
Have students write one to two key takeaways from their article on post-it notes—focusing on what they learned about Black women’s activism, leadership, or organizing strategies.
Ask students to place their post-its in the matching corner.
Invite four of the eight groups to visit each corner and read the peer post-its.
Give each group about one minute to view the gallery for each article and invite them to switch (moving clockwise to the next article).
Ask the other half of students to remain seated and respond to this reflection prompt:
What patterns or themes are emerging across the stories of Black women in 1838 Philadelphia? What surprised or inspired you?
After a few minutes, have groups switch roles so that all students complete both the gallery walk and the journal reflection.