1 10 38 https://www.lva.virginia.gov/collections/educator-resources/dbva/files/original/3e6fe4fe3e9e82c9bca57f0a0f0a0236.jpg ef484d7081333336f7c9052e49f0d65a https://www.lva.virginia.gov/collections/educator-resources/dbva/files/original/5b968b69c73a39f8178f79a2b4dc7a18.pdf d11642fa4b2cb77bda6492bb34be51cb Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Emergence of Modern America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1890-1930 Description An account of the resource The idea of a “Modern United States” begins with the advent of the Progressive era. The Progressive movement focused on reforms viewed as necessary after drastic increases in industrialization, immigration, and urbanization, as well as corruption in the business and political realms. Temperance reached its peak with the 18th Amendment and the decade of Prohibition, while woman suffrage became guaranteed nationally with the 19th Amendment. Other movements that gained traction on a new scale during this era were the labor movement, including the rise of unions, and the Harlem Renaissance. Shifting roles for African Americans migrating to northern cities and unprecendented immigration to America's shores heightened racial and ethnic tensions and led to the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan. With all of the changes on the home front of America, this era also saw the emergence of the United States as a major world power. The Spanish-American War pitted the U.S. against a European power other than Great Britain for the first time. Not long after, the United States found itself embroiled in World War I, despite strong isolationist tendencies. Along with a large death toll, World War I led to the development of the failed League of Nations, ultimately pushing the United States even further into an isolationist standing that would last for decades. The immediate postwar period of the Prohibition-era “Roaring 20s” saw a domination in politics and economics by big business and its supporters, which would all come crashing down in less than a decade. Learn more in the <a title="This external link will open in a new window." href="http://www.nchs.ucla.edu/history-standards/us-history-content-standards/united-states-era-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National U.S. History Content Standards</a>. Lesson Plan A resource that gives a detailed description of a course of instruction. Context On April 2, 1917, after pledging to keep the country out of the European conflict, President Woodrow Wilson stood before Congress and issued a declaration of war against Germany. "The world must be made safe for democracy," he stated, framing the war effort as a crusade to secure the rights of democracy and self-determination on a global scale. The words spoken by President Wilson resonated with many people, who viewed the war as an opportunity to bring about true democracy in the United States. Some argued that it would be insincere for the United States to fight for democracy in Europe while Black Americans had limited rights at home. In a letter to the New York Age published on May 31, 1917, Arthur G. Shaw proclaimed that "if America truly understands the functions of democracy and justice, she must know that she must begin to promote democracy and justice at home first of all." The Baltimore Afro-American, the longest running African American family-owned newspaper in the United States, used Wilson's pronouncement to frame the war as a struggle for African American civil rights. "Let us have a real democracy for the United States," an editorial asserted on April 28, 1917, "and then we can advise a house cleaning over on the other side of the water." For African Americans, the war became a crucial test of America's commitment to the ideal of democracy and the rights of citizenship for all people, regardless of race. The United States government mobilized the entire nation for war, and African Americans were expected to do their part. The military instituted a draft in order to create an army capable of winning the war. The government demanded "100% Americanism." Some Black Americans, however, remained hesitant to support a cause they deemed hypocritical. A small but vocal number explicitly opposed African American participation in the war. A. Philip Randolph and Chandler Owen, editors of the radical socialist newspaper The Messenger, openly encouraged African Americans to resist military service and, as a result, Randolph and Owen were closely monitored by federal intelligence agents. Nevertheless, many Black citizens saw the war as an opportunity to demonstrate their patriotism and their place as equal citizens in the nation. "Colored folks should be patriotic," the <a href="https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/John_Mitchell_Jr_1863-1929">Richmond Planet</a> insisted on April 21, 1917. "Do not let us be chargeable with being disloyal to the flag." More than one million Black men responded to their draft calls, and roughly 370,000 Black men were inducted into the army. Charles Pettus Brodnax, a farmer from Brunswick County, Virginia, recalled, "I felt that I belonged to the Government of my country and should answer to the call and obey the orders in defense of Democracy." In reality, a larger proportion of Black men were put into the highest draft category and a larger percentage of those were inducted into the draft than white men. About half served as laborers in segregated units. This lithograph was created by E.G. Renesch in 1918 to encourage Black men to enlist. Citation: “Colored Man Is No Slacker,” World War I Poster Collection, Special Collections, Library of Virginia <a href="https://truesons.virginiamemory.com/">Learn more about African American veterans of World War I in the Library's online exhibition True Sons of Freedom.</a> <a href="https://lva.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/collectionDiscovery?vid=01LVA_INST:01LVA&collectionId=81106460000005756&lang=en">See the Library's World War I Poster Collection at our Digital Collections Discovery page.</a> Standards Social Studies: 2.1, 3.1, VS.10, USII.4, USII.5, VUS.10, VUS.11, GOVT.5 Art: 4.3, 5.3 Suggested Questions Preview Activity Look at It: Have students partner or work in groups with only one able to see the poster. This person is the describer and should describe the poster in as much detail as possible to their group/partner. They should not interpret the poster, but only state the details they see. The listeners should take notes on what they “see” and form a hypothesis of the purpose of the poster and reasons for artistic decisions. Post Activities Artistic Exploration: Examine poster with class and discuss the overall message of the poster (what it wants the public to do); any emotions the poster plays upon; the effect that the poster would likely have on people at the time. Students should describe how the overall message is conveyed by the symbols, imagery, words, and colors of the poster. Another Perspective: Why might some members of the African American community feel that participation in the war effort might be hypocritical? Consider the time period and the status of most African Americans early in the 20th century. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource World War I African American Recruitment Poster Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1918 African American History Military History Reform Movements https://www.lva.virginia.gov/collections/educator-resources/dbva/files/original/e75637acf796495a541f7bc4d4369e06.jpg dcd999bb59a82764aa66ab9a8e468b37 https://www.lva.virginia.gov/collections/educator-resources/dbva/files/original/d7fe9bcee37f36423197463b85cb370d.pdf ad892973d26cc5b32252f6230900a3d5 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Emergence of Modern America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1890-1930 Description An account of the resource The idea of a “Modern United States” begins with the advent of the Progressive era. The Progressive movement focused on reforms viewed as necessary after drastic increases in industrialization, immigration, and urbanization, as well as corruption in the business and political realms. Temperance reached its peak with the 18th Amendment and the decade of Prohibition, while woman suffrage became guaranteed nationally with the 19th Amendment. Other movements that gained traction on a new scale during this era were the labor movement, including the rise of unions, and the Harlem Renaissance. Shifting roles for African Americans migrating to northern cities and unprecendented immigration to America's shores heightened racial and ethnic tensions and led to the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan. With all of the changes on the home front of America, this era also saw the emergence of the United States as a major world power. The Spanish-American War pitted the U.S. against a European power other than Great Britain for the first time. Not long after, the United States found itself embroiled in World War I, despite strong isolationist tendencies. Along with a large death toll, World War I led to the development of the failed League of Nations, ultimately pushing the United States even further into an isolationist standing that would last for decades. The immediate postwar period of the Prohibition-era “Roaring 20s” saw a domination in politics and economics by big business and its supporters, which would all come crashing down in less than a decade. Learn more in the <a title="This external link will open in a new window." href="http://www.nchs.ucla.edu/history-standards/us-history-content-standards/united-states-era-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National U.S. History Content Standards</a>. Lesson Plan A resource that gives a detailed description of a course of instruction. Context As Americans prepared to send soldiers overseas during the First World War, the government reorganized the economy to better supply and equip its troops. Peacetime industries shifted towards producing necessary military goods like uniforms and ammunition, and commercial farming focused on feeding servicemen at home and abroad. Citizens on the home front were asked to contribute to this reorganization in a variety of ways. From buying war bonds to reducing wasteful food practices, many citizens participated in patriotic initiatives intended to support the war effort. The National War Garden Commission encouraged citizens to plant gardens. These became known as "victory gardens." People grew fruits, herbs, and vegetables in these gardens to support the wartime economy. They used backyards, parks, and other available spaces for these efforts. The government encouraged planting war gardens to increase household self-sufficiency and lessen the demands on commercial farmers. War gardens were so effective during World War I that the government endorsed their use during World War II. As a popular activity that engaged men, women, and children while also supporting the economy, war gardens were just one example of how the home front played a crucial role in the American war effort. American children's book illustrator Maginel Wright Enright designed this poster in 1919 to symbolize the victory of the Allied forces over Germany and the Central Powers. Citation: War Gardens Victorious, World War I Poster, 1919, Prints and Photographs, Special Collections, Library of Virginia. <a href="https://lva.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/collectionDiscovery?vid=01LVA_INST:01LVA&collectionId=81106460000005756&lang=en">See the Library's World War I Poster Collection at our Digital Collections Discovery page.</a> Standards Social Sciences: K.8, 2.2, 2.13, VS.10, USII.4, VUS.11 Art: 4.1, 5.1 Suggested Questions Preview Activity Look at It: Look at the image. What do you see? What emotions are being evoked in this poster? What activities is it trying to encourage? Post Activities Making a Connection: Imagine you and your classmates are living during the First World War and want to plant a War Garden at your school. Where would you plant it? What would you plant? Analyze: Compare and contrast the program for War Gardens with other home front initiatives (like buying wartime bonds, reducing consumption, etc.) during World War I. Which do you think was the most effective? Why? Artistic Exploration: Create your own poster to encourage others to plant a War Garden. How might you visually convince others to participate? Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource War Gardens Victorious, World War I Poster, 1919 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1919 Government and Civics Military History Reform Movements https://www.lva.virginia.gov/collections/educator-resources/dbva/files/original/a672d48bf62975ff260f08a6057253b1.jpg 6a5ab16296ab25d26e9b97391b73dc3f https://www.lva.virginia.gov/collections/educator-resources/dbva/files/original/f5961b70371680297495c22e2b04c665.jpg 33a7540089eaadad2ea55b38413e1130 https://www.lva.virginia.gov/collections/educator-resources/dbva/files/original/464cafcf61d5ae28a9e6e348d79cb600.pdf 3b0f6f62b929d9b448cc940be4a6c2e3 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Emergence of Modern America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1890-1930 Description An account of the resource The idea of a “Modern United States” begins with the advent of the Progressive era. The Progressive movement focused on reforms viewed as necessary after drastic increases in industrialization, immigration, and urbanization, as well as corruption in the business and political realms. Temperance reached its peak with the 18th Amendment and the decade of Prohibition, while woman suffrage became guaranteed nationally with the 19th Amendment. Other movements that gained traction on a new scale during this era were the labor movement, including the rise of unions, and the Harlem Renaissance. Shifting roles for African Americans migrating to northern cities and unprecendented immigration to America's shores heightened racial and ethnic tensions and led to the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan. With all of the changes on the home front of America, this era also saw the emergence of the United States as a major world power. The Spanish-American War pitted the U.S. against a European power other than Great Britain for the first time. Not long after, the United States found itself embroiled in World War I, despite strong isolationist tendencies. Along with a large death toll, World War I led to the development of the failed League of Nations, ultimately pushing the United States even further into an isolationist standing that would last for decades. The immediate postwar period of the Prohibition-era “Roaring 20s” saw a domination in politics and economics by big business and its supporters, which would all come crashing down in less than a decade. Learn more in the <a title="This external link will open in a new window." href="http://www.nchs.ucla.edu/history-standards/us-history-content-standards/united-states-era-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National U.S. History Content Standards</a>. Lesson Plan A resource that gives a detailed description of a course of instruction. Context By the end of the 19th century, the conservative Democratic Party dominated Virginia’s General Assembly. After wresting control from the short-lived bi-racial Readjuster Party early in the 1880s, legislators passed a series of laws designed to weaken the power of the Black vote. The Anderson-McCormick Act enabled the General Assembly to appoint all local election officials. Democrats replaced all election officials, including clerks and local election judges, with loyal party members. This led to an increase in fraud and intimidation at the polls in Black and Republican-dominated districts, including adding extra or removing ballots from ballot boxes and forcing Black voters to stand in long, slow-moving lines. In 1901, Democrats sought to enshrine disfranchisement into a new Virginia Constitution and called for a convention. The elected representatives to the Convention included just eleven Republicans and no Black men, and they made clear their intent to disfranchise Black voters. So as not to violate the Fifteenth Amendment, which authorized (male) citizens to vote regardless of "race, color, or previous condition of servitude," the delegates agreed on two methods: an “understanding clause” and a poll tax. The understanding clause would enable registrars to “test” any potential voter on their knowledge of the Constitution, and would threaten to disfranchise not only illiterate citizens, but also anyone the registrar deemed incapable of understanding any questions he may have posed. The poll tax was set at $1.50 (approximately $58 in today’s currency), and had to be paid up for three years at a time. The architect of these new restrictions, Carter Glass of Lynchburg, argued that the aim of these policies was solely to disfranchise Black voters. In this excerpt from his April 4, 1902, speech to the convention, he made clear that the new constitution would allow for legal discrimination. Many people recognized that these measures would disfranchise more than just the population targeted by Glass and the other delegates. In fact, John Mitchell Jr., the outspoken Black editor of the Richmond Planet, rebutted this assumption. In editorials, he called the document “the unconstitutional constitution,” in part because the convention members refused to send the document to Virginia voters for ratification. In this July 1902 editorial, he pointedly stated that some of the provisions, including the banning of free travel for state officials on the railroads and the creation of a corporation commission to oversee railroads hurt only white men, as Black men could not serve as state officials and owned no railroads. He also clearly explained that the poll tax would disfranchise many white men as well as Black men. The delegates who wrote this Constitution never submitted it to voters for ratification, but it became the foundational government document of Virginia nonetheless in 1902. The understanding clause was so unpopular that the delegates included a provision for it to expire two years after the Constitution took effect. Disfranchisement was almost immediate and, as Mitchell predicted, both Black and white men were impacted. In the 1904 presidential election, 49% fewer voters participated than had voted in the previous election. White voting declined by 50%, and Black voting declined by 90%. Virginia consistently had one of the lowest voter participation rates in the country, and that did not change significantly until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and until the Supreme Court overturned Virginia’s poll tax in 1966. Citations: Carter Glass, excerpt from April 4, 1902 speech printed in Report of the Proceedings and Debates of the Constitutional Convention State of Virginia Held in the City of Richmond June 12, 1901, to June 26, 1902 (1906), 2: 33076–3077, and John Mitchell Jr., “Hurts White Folks Most,” Richmond Planet, July 5, 1902. Standards VS.11, USII.2, CE.3, CE.4, VUS.9, GOVT.2, GOVT.3, GOVT.6, GOVT.10 Suggested Questions Preview Activity Looking at Language: What words stand out, and why? What do Carter Glass and John Mitchell Jr. make clear about the new voting requirements? What kinds of language are they using to create their arguments? Post Activities Current Connections: Look at current news articles from mainstream media sources to find articles on current attempts to restrict the power of voters. How are legislatures trying to restrict voters’ power, and why? Analyze: Read the documents. What does Glass argue about voting restrictions in the new Constitution, and how does Mitchell refute those arguments? Which argument do you think is most compelling, and why? Why do you think that the convention representatives believed Glass’s assertions over the arguments made by Mitchell and others like him—or do you think they believed Glass at all? Why do you think the representatives did not put the Constitution up to the voters for ratification, as had been the case for Virginia's previous constitutions? Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Voting Rights and the Virginia Constitution of 1902 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1902 African American History Government and Civics https://www.lva.virginia.gov/collections/educator-resources/dbva/files/original/6cbe14c7a48e8d3d40df7ca357c9c2d8.jpg a19d18a0a31c134eeb21708f882a1681 https://www.lva.virginia.gov/collections/educator-resources/dbva/files/original/50d99f2f29cab4afda266533a100a7f0.jpg 305c5b21a0e4e37907d223422cfc79fe https://www.lva.virginia.gov/collections/educator-resources/dbva/files/original/444729b1d9de9999722d5cb6a5a26a42.pdf 538a2910b56f4f9afe742a44b989edac Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Emergence of Modern America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1890-1930 Description An account of the resource The idea of a “Modern United States” begins with the advent of the Progressive era. The Progressive movement focused on reforms viewed as necessary after drastic increases in industrialization, immigration, and urbanization, as well as corruption in the business and political realms. Temperance reached its peak with the 18th Amendment and the decade of Prohibition, while woman suffrage became guaranteed nationally with the 19th Amendment. Other movements that gained traction on a new scale during this era were the labor movement, including the rise of unions, and the Harlem Renaissance. Shifting roles for African Americans migrating to northern cities and unprecendented immigration to America's shores heightened racial and ethnic tensions and led to the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan. With all of the changes on the home front of America, this era also saw the emergence of the United States as a major world power. The Spanish-American War pitted the U.S. against a European power other than Great Britain for the first time. Not long after, the United States found itself embroiled in World War I, despite strong isolationist tendencies. Along with a large death toll, World War I led to the development of the failed League of Nations, ultimately pushing the United States even further into an isolationist standing that would last for decades. The immediate postwar period of the Prohibition-era “Roaring 20s” saw a domination in politics and economics by big business and its supporters, which would all come crashing down in less than a decade. Learn more in the <a title="This external link will open in a new window." href="http://www.nchs.ucla.edu/history-standards/us-history-content-standards/united-states-era-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National U.S. History Content Standards</a>. Lesson Plan A resource that gives a detailed description of a course of instruction. Context This pamphlet was one of many produced by the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia (ESL) to advocate voting rights for women during the 1910s. About twenty women met in Richmond in 1909 to establish the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia. Many of the officers, including League president Lila Meade Valentine, were involved in the social reforms of the time, collectively known as the Progressive movement. They understood that having the vote would give them more political influence and a better chance to achieve their other goals. Many of them believed that the right to vote was an essential aspect of citizenship to which women were entitled. Within ten years, more than 130 local leagues had been organized from the Eastern Shore to southwestern Virginia, with more than 20,000 members statewide. The league's membership did not include Black women. Barred from entry, Black women worked for voting rights through their own women's clubs and other organizations. In fact, the Equal Suffrage League often countered the anti-suffragist argument that allowing women to vote would increase the Black vote. Many members tried to reassure white voters that there were enough other restrictions in place to ensure that the majority of Black voters would remain disfranchised. They often published letters and pamphlets seeking to reassure white voters that their interests would be safe. Equal Suffrage League members collected signatures on petitions to submit to the General Assembly, they staffed booths at the state and county fairs, and they made suffrage speeches at county courthouses, schools, churches, movie theaters, and on street corners to educate the public and develop support for woman suffrage. The Equal Suffrage League also printed postcards and published leaflets, broadsides, and pamphlets for statewide distribution. The ESL focused on educating and persuading men and women of Virginia, and while they had "street meetings," or public demonstrations, they avoided picketing at the White House and preferred to persuade through public speaking, lobbying, and writing pamphlets like these. Citation: Equal Suffrage League of Virginia, "Voting Qualifications in Virginia," Equal Suffrage League of Virginia Records, 1908-1938, box 7, Accession 22002, Library of Virginia. Related Document Bank entries: <a href="https://edu.lva.virginia.gov/dbva/items/show/106">Twelve Reasons Why Mothers Should Have the Vote</a> <a href="https://edu.lva.virginia.gov/dbva/items/show/112">Virginia Association Opposed to Woman's Suffrage, Broadside, c. 1910s</a> <a href="https://edu.lva.virginia.gov/dbva/items/show/154">Anti-Suffrage Arguments, Broadside, Circa 1912</a> Learn more: <a href="https://edu.lva.virginia.gov/wedemand/#timeline">View a timeline of the campaign for women's voting rights in Virginia at We Demand: Women's Suffrage in Virginia.</a> <a href="https://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/dvb/bio.asp?b=Valentine_Lila_Meade">Learn more about Lila Meade Valentine in her Dictionary of Virginia Biography entry</a>. Suggested Questions Lesson Plan For detailed lesson plan options, visit our <a href="https://edu.lva.virginia.gov/dbva/items/show/337">Lesson Plan on the Woman Suffrage Movement in Virginia</a>. Preview Activity Analyze: Look at the justifications for woman suffrage. What do you think of the argument, and why? Post Activities Take a Stand: Imagine you are an early supporter of voting rights for women. What arguments would you make to convince someone to support the movement? Do you think that you would try to use the argument presented in this pamphlet? What other arguments might have been more useful? Be the Journalist: Imagine you are writing a story about the author of this pamphlet. What would you like to ask her, and why? How do you think she would respond to your questions? Standards USII.3, USII.5, CE.6, CE.9, VUS.12, GOVT.10 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Voting Qualifications in Virginia, Equal Suffrage League Pamphlet, 1910s Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1910s Government and Civics Reform Movements Women's History https://www.lva.virginia.gov/collections/educator-resources/dbva/files/original/948f5839660fbc1dc4c4841632f620c8.JPG 20cac6434ea0961af2e3c4199a2b6d15 https://www.lva.virginia.gov/collections/educator-resources/dbva/files/original/de14a12fd4aa3cc6a6d7b8449cc1adb5.jpeg 666b96a7bd865ef72f3381bcd307e63a https://www.lva.virginia.gov/collections/educator-resources/dbva/files/original/6352a358cd67c298aa53769b1faa4190.jpeg 296d70655d64f059385c7c5fb119f8ab https://www.lva.virginia.gov/collections/educator-resources/dbva/files/original/6991fb714de13458f6e0855b46f2e636.JPG dddc22fba1d2fd9ffb57559680b190a7 https://www.lva.virginia.gov/collections/educator-resources/dbva/files/original/23d25115f9a2db32364fbe31b0e90d0a.jpeg 8ec2fba62f7af0e65829fcd1d375a696 https://www.lva.virginia.gov/collections/educator-resources/dbva/files/original/669240b44aab927d12fa6b680d3e407f.pdf 5977531be6332636224327c3329ac81f Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Emergence of Modern America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1890-1930 Description An account of the resource The idea of a “Modern United States” begins with the advent of the Progressive era. The Progressive movement focused on reforms viewed as necessary after drastic increases in industrialization, immigration, and urbanization, as well as corruption in the business and political realms. Temperance reached its peak with the 18th Amendment and the decade of Prohibition, while woman suffrage became guaranteed nationally with the 19th Amendment. Other movements that gained traction on a new scale during this era were the labor movement, including the rise of unions, and the Harlem Renaissance. Shifting roles for African Americans migrating to northern cities and unprecendented immigration to America's shores heightened racial and ethnic tensions and led to the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan. With all of the changes on the home front of America, this era also saw the emergence of the United States as a major world power. The Spanish-American War pitted the U.S. against a European power other than Great Britain for the first time. Not long after, the United States found itself embroiled in World War I, despite strong isolationist tendencies. Along with a large death toll, World War I led to the development of the failed League of Nations, ultimately pushing the United States even further into an isolationist standing that would last for decades. The immediate postwar period of the Prohibition-era “Roaring 20s” saw a domination in politics and economics by big business and its supporters, which would all come crashing down in less than a decade. Learn more in the <a title="This external link will open in a new window." href="http://www.nchs.ucla.edu/history-standards/us-history-content-standards/united-states-era-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National U.S. History Content Standards</a>. Lesson Plan A resource that gives a detailed description of a course of instruction. Context In 1924, Virginia's General Assembly passed the Racial Integrity Act, which was designed to stop the “intermixture” of white and Black people. The act banned interracial marriage by requiring marriage applicants to identify their race as "white," "colored," or "mixed." The law defined a white person as one “with no trace of the blood of another race.” The law did stipulate that "persons who have one-sixteenth or less of the blood of the American Indian" would be considered white, an accommodation for elite white Virginians who proudly claimed to be descendants of Pocahontas. The act was amended in 1930, to delineate any person with "any negro blood" as "colored." The only exception was for Indigenous people who lived on Virginia's tribal reservations. As Virginia's first state registrar of vital statistics, Dr. Walter Plecker was a driving force behind the law along with members of the white supremacist Anglo-Saxon Clubs of America. Plecker oversaw the law's enforcement. After it was enacted, he sent this Virginia Health Bulletin to all the local governments in the state. It included specific instructions for clerks who issued marriage licenses, a copy of the law itself, as well as Plecker’s views on “intermixture,” and the harm to society caused “by such abhorrent deeds.” Plecker’s focus on the separation of races was bolstered by the eugenics movement, a part of which adhered to white racial superiority over non-whites and depended on white genetic purity. He declared that “intermarriage of the white race with mixed stock must be made impossible.” He meticulously checked each birth certificate and marriage license in the state and wrote frequent letters to county clerks who failed to uphold the law to his standards. He even wrote to midwives, including this Aug. 15, 1924 letter to Mary Sorrels, in which he warned her against making "false statements" about the racial identity of newborn infants. Plecker maintained that there were no Indians in Virginia who were not also descended from African Americans and were therefore "colored." He feared that people who claimed Indigenous ancestry were passing as white so they could attend white schools or marry white people. Many of his letters to county clerks focused on a group of families in Amherst and Rockbridge Counties, who he accused of trying to circumnavigate the law. Many of these families were of Indigenous descent (likely Monacan) whose ancestors had lived in the area for centuries. The Racial Integrity Act was not overturned until 1967 when the United States Supreme Court ruled in <a href="https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/loving-v-virginia-1967/">Loving v. Virginia</a> that prohibiting interracial marriage was unconstitutional. The Virginia General Assembly repealed the Racial Integrity Act along with other racially discriminatory laws in 2020. Citation: Virginia Health Bulletin, 16 (March 1924): 1-4; and W. A. Plecker to Mary Sorrels, Aug. 15, 1925, Rockbridge County Clerk’s Correspondence [Walter Plecker to A.T. Shields], 1912-1943, Library of Virginia. Related Document Bank entry: <a href="https://edu.lva.virginia.gov/dbva/items/show/168">Application for Marriage License Under the Racial Integrity Act, 1924</a> For more information about the Racial Integrity Act see the Library of Virginia's The UncommonWealth blog: <a href="https://uncommonwealth.lva.virginia.gov/blog/2024/03/20/the-centennial-of-the-law-to-preserve-racial-integrity/">The Centennial of the Law to Preserve Racial Integrity</a> <a href="https://uncommonwealth.lva.virginia.gov/blog/2024/07/17/racial-integrity-indigenous-tribes/">The Impact of the Act to Preserve Racial Integrity on Virginia's Indigenous Tribes</a> Standards VS.8, VS.11, USII.5, VUS.10, VUS.12, GOVT.11 Suggested Questions Preview Activity Scan It: Scan one page of the document. Identify three or four phrases or sentences that stand out. What do you think was the purpose of the act? What reaction do you think it got from the general public? Post Activity Be the Journalist: You are a journalist preparing to write a story about Dr. Walter Plecker and the lasting impact of the Racial Integrity Act on modern Virginians. How would you prepare to write your article? Who would you interview? What are three questions you would ask? Current Connections: What similarities and/or differences do you see between the struggle for interracial marriage and the fight for LGBTQIA+ marriage equality? Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Virginia Health Bulletin: The New Virginia Law To Preserve Racial Integrity, March 1924 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1924 African American History American Indian History Government and Civics https://www.lva.virginia.gov/collections/educator-resources/dbva/files/original/422465f12eb0a681ccf90bd25edcc0f3.jpg 3b39162e359f486c042ee1241dfdd425 https://www.lva.virginia.gov/collections/educator-resources/dbva/files/original/7052f616f6272a989a4212666ded539c.pdf 37226e569744ffcc8a8b130512dd369d Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Emergence of Modern America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1890-1930 Description An account of the resource The idea of a “Modern United States” begins with the advent of the Progressive era. The Progressive movement focused on reforms viewed as necessary after drastic increases in industrialization, immigration, and urbanization, as well as corruption in the business and political realms. Temperance reached its peak with the 18th Amendment and the decade of Prohibition, while woman suffrage became guaranteed nationally with the 19th Amendment. Other movements that gained traction on a new scale during this era were the labor movement, including the rise of unions, and the Harlem Renaissance. Shifting roles for African Americans migrating to northern cities and unprecendented immigration to America's shores heightened racial and ethnic tensions and led to the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan. With all of the changes on the home front of America, this era also saw the emergence of the United States as a major world power. The Spanish-American War pitted the U.S. against a European power other than Great Britain for the first time. Not long after, the United States found itself embroiled in World War I, despite strong isolationist tendencies. Along with a large death toll, World War I led to the development of the failed League of Nations, ultimately pushing the United States even further into an isolationist standing that would last for decades. The immediate postwar period of the Prohibition-era “Roaring 20s” saw a domination in politics and economics by big business and its supporters, which would all come crashing down in less than a decade. Learn more in the <a title="This external link will open in a new window." href="http://www.nchs.ucla.edu/history-standards/us-history-content-standards/united-states-era-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National U.S. History Content Standards</a>. Lesson Plan A resource that gives a detailed description of a course of instruction. Context For a significant portion of American history, women did not have the right to vote. State legislatures determined who could vote, and Virginia did not extend voting rights to all white men until 1851. The Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1868, extended voting rights to Black men. In 1869, Wyoming became the first U.S. territory to authorize woman suffrage and it was the first state to guarantee women's right to vote when it was admitted to the United States in 1890. At that time most Americans—women as well as men—did not support voting rights for women. Women were classified as a dependent class, under control of their fathers or husbands. Many people believed that women were meant to stay at home raising children and taking care of the household, sometimes referred to as the "domestic sphere." In Virginia, after supporters of women's voting rights had organized the Equal Suffrage League, anti-suffragists established the Virginia Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage in 1912. Like suffragists, anti-suffragists (sometimes known as "antis") printed and distributed pamphlets, leaflets, and broadsides like this one to share their views widely. Members of the Virginia Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage maintained that women were too elevated in society to delve into the dirty business of politics. They feared giving women the right to vote would erode their traditional roles in the home and bring about changes that might prove detrimental to society. However, after the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified in 1920, some of the Association's members registered to vote themselves. Citation: Virginia Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage, Anti-Suffrage Arguments, Broadside, 1910s, Manuscripts & Special Collections, Library of Virginia. Related Document Bank entries: <a href="https://edu.lva.virginia.gov/dbva/items/show/154">Anti-Suffrage Arguments, Danger!, Broadside, circa 1918</a> <a href="https://edu.lva.virginia.gov/dbva/items/show/157">Women Do Want the Vote, Broadside, 1916</a> <a href="https://uncommonwealth.virginiamemory.com/blog/2020/06/17/woman-suffrage-the-vanguard-of-socialism/">Learn more about the anti-suffrage movement in Virginia in The UncommonWealth blog.</a> Standards USII.3, USII.5, CE.6, CE.9, VUS.12, GOVT.10 Suggested Questions Lesson Plan For detailed lesson plan options, visit our <a href="https://edu.lva.virginia.gov/dbva/items/show/337">Lesson Plan on the Woman Suffrage Movement in Virginia</a>. Preview Activity Scan It: Scan the broadside and list any words or phrases that stand out to you. Why did they stand out? What impact might those words have on a person taking a quick or passing glance at the broadside? Post Activities Analyze: What arguments are made in favor of women not having the vote? In your opinion, which, if any, of these are justified by historical fact? Be specific. Social Media Spin: Imagine you are a member of an anti-suffrage organization, then create a catchy hashtag, motto, or tweet to spread the message. Current Connections: In recent years, some people of challenged women's voting rights. In what ways are their arguments similar to or different from those of anti-suffragists in the 1910s? Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Virginia Association Opposed to Woman's Suffrage, Broadside, 1910's Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1910s Government and Civics Reform Movements Women's History https://www.lva.virginia.gov/collections/educator-resources/dbva/files/original/3fa33fe18224d4f34840800c06300bbe.jpg 8de14a97e59558883b05fa05a45c0c1e https://www.lva.virginia.gov/collections/educator-resources/dbva/files/original/f98e81c1810ea6ab5d8577f9dc6c39b5.pdf 1357c0be6502da5f665be83e082d0bb2 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Emergence of Modern America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1890-1930 Description An account of the resource The idea of a “Modern United States” begins with the advent of the Progressive era. The Progressive movement focused on reforms viewed as necessary after drastic increases in industrialization, immigration, and urbanization, as well as corruption in the business and political realms. Temperance reached its peak with the 18th Amendment and the decade of Prohibition, while woman suffrage became guaranteed nationally with the 19th Amendment. Other movements that gained traction on a new scale during this era were the labor movement, including the rise of unions, and the Harlem Renaissance. Shifting roles for African Americans migrating to northern cities and unprecendented immigration to America's shores heightened racial and ethnic tensions and led to the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan. With all of the changes on the home front of America, this era also saw the emergence of the United States as a major world power. The Spanish-American War pitted the U.S. against a European power other than Great Britain for the first time. Not long after, the United States found itself embroiled in World War I, despite strong isolationist tendencies. Along with a large death toll, World War I led to the development of the failed League of Nations, ultimately pushing the United States even further into an isolationist standing that would last for decades. The immediate postwar period of the Prohibition-era “Roaring 20s” saw a domination in politics and economics by big business and its supporters, which would all come crashing down in less than a decade. Learn more in the <a title="This external link will open in a new window." href="http://www.nchs.ucla.edu/history-standards/us-history-content-standards/united-states-era-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National U.S. History Content Standards</a>. Lesson Plan A resource that gives a detailed description of a course of instruction. Context Founded in 1909, Virginia's Equal Suffrage League sought support for the vote in many ways. Members lobbied legislators, gave public speeches, and published editorial letters, broadsides, and pamphlets. They advanced many arguments about why women should have the vote, but one they used quite often—as did other suffragists around the country—focused on "maternalism." Women who embraced the maternalist ideology believed that as mothers, all women were better suited and indeed, obligated to make the world a better place for children, which is the argument used in this flyer printed by the Equal Suffrage League. They used this concept to fight for public health initiatives, child labor reform, prohibition of alcohol, educational opportunties, and other issues that were part of the broad-based social reform efforts known as the Progressive Movement early in the 20th century. Although it was reductive in its assumption that all women would be mothers and often moved into problematic territory with support of eugenics, it became one of the most-used concepts of the early 20th century in arguments to afford women more rights. A typical maternalist reformer looked like Richmond native Lila Meade Valentine (1865–1921). She devoted much of her life to advocating reforms in public education and health care. She also supported voting rights for women and she co-founded the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia in 1909. Serving as its first (and only) president, Lila Valentine helped establish local leagues across the state and built a strong organization of women who lobbied legislators, wrote letters to the editor, passed out suffrage literature on street corners and at county fairs, and made public speeches at courthouses, churches, schools, theaters, and from the back of open-top automobiles as part of their efforts to educate the public about the importance of women's voting rights. Lila Valentine made hundreds of speeches herself. The Equal Suffrage League wanted to persuade legislators to amend the state constitution to provide woman suffrage in Virginia. The General Assembly voted against amending Virginia's constitution three times, and Equal Suffrage League members began supporting efforts in favor of a federal amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Members did not convince the General Assembly to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920, but they did succeed in building support for woman suffrage in Virginia. After Tennessee ratified the amendment in August 1920 and women achieved the right to vote, the Equal Suffrage League dissolved and reorganized as the Virginia League of Women Voters to help women and men become informed voters. Citation: Equal Suffrage League,"Twelve Reasons Mothers Should Have the Vote," Equal Suffrage League of Virginia Records, 1909–1938, box 7, Accession 22002, Library of Virginia. Related Document Bank entries: <a href="https://edu.lva.virginia.gov/dbva/items/show/157">Voting Qualifications in Virginia Pamphlet, c. 1910s</a> <a href="https://edu.lva.virginia.gov/dbva/items/show/154">Anti-Suffrage Arguments, Broadside, circa 1912</a> <a href="https://edu.lva.virginia.gov/dbva/items/show/112">Virginia Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage, Broadside, ca. 1910s</a> Learn more: <a href="https://edu.lva.virginia.gov/wedemand/#timeline">View a timeline of the campaign for women's voting rights in Virginia at We Demand: Women's Suffrage in Virginia.</a> <a href="https://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/dvb/bio.asp?b=Valentine_Lila_Meade">Learn more about Lila Meade Valentine in her Dictionary of Virginia Biography entry</a>. Suggested Questions Lesson Plan For detailed lesson plan options, visit our <a href="https://edu.lva.virginia.gov/dbva/items/show/337">Lesson Plan on the Woman Suffrage Movement in Virginia</a>. Preview Activity Scan It: Look at the flyer: what stands out to you immediately, and why? Post Activities Artistic Expression: Design a poster that maternalists could have used to illustrate the arguments made in this flyer. What imagery will you rely on, and why? Analyze: Read through the arguments made in the flyer. What do you think of them? Whom does it exclude, and why? Were these arguments compelling? Were they successful? Why or why not? What other arguments could woman suffragists have made, and why? Current Connection: What are some examples of women today who have struggled with the notion of balancing the appearance of playing a traditional role while being an agent for change? Standards Social Studies: USII.3, USII.5, CE.6, CE.9, VUS.12, GOVT.10 Art: 4.1, 5.1 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Twelve Reasons Why Mothers Should Have the Vote, Equal Suffrage League Flyer, 1910's Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1910s Government and Civics Reform Movements Women's History https://www.lva.virginia.gov/collections/educator-resources/dbva/files/original/888b72f39304f80409d9482d649dbaed.jpg 6de16960b377f321d67d3e831cc2713e https://www.lva.virginia.gov/collections/educator-resources/dbva/files/original/2cfbe7a1ab5f86d87ebdb01c6f2eb0e3.jpg b905fd357f3eac371e4263fad3bfdb2d https://www.lva.virginia.gov/collections/educator-resources/dbva/files/original/ced7ee47f41c22aeea5b4d4a7b7e1583.pdf c8df16c67c535ea7ec7144dc420fec2d Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Emergence of Modern America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1890-1930 Description An account of the resource The idea of a “Modern United States” begins with the advent of the Progressive era. The Progressive movement focused on reforms viewed as necessary after drastic increases in industrialization, immigration, and urbanization, as well as corruption in the business and political realms. Temperance reached its peak with the 18th Amendment and the decade of Prohibition, while woman suffrage became guaranteed nationally with the 19th Amendment. Other movements that gained traction on a new scale during this era were the labor movement, including the rise of unions, and the Harlem Renaissance. Shifting roles for African Americans migrating to northern cities and unprecendented immigration to America's shores heightened racial and ethnic tensions and led to the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan. With all of the changes on the home front of America, this era also saw the emergence of the United States as a major world power. The Spanish-American War pitted the U.S. against a European power other than Great Britain for the first time. Not long after, the United States found itself embroiled in World War I, despite strong isolationist tendencies. Along with a large death toll, World War I led to the development of the failed League of Nations, ultimately pushing the United States even further into an isolationist standing that would last for decades. The immediate postwar period of the Prohibition-era “Roaring 20s” saw a domination in politics and economics by big business and its supporters, which would all come crashing down in less than a decade. Learn more in the <a title="This external link will open in a new window." href="http://www.nchs.ucla.edu/history-standards/us-history-content-standards/united-states-era-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National U.S. History Content Standards</a>. Lesson Plan A resource that gives a detailed description of a course of instruction. Context "Agitate – Educate – Legislate” was the slogan of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, which advocated the prohibition of alcohol. Established in 1874 in Ohio, the union became a national movement and Virginia women established a state chapter in 1883. The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) placed a special emphasis on encouraging women and children to support prohibition. The WCTU saw alcohol abuse as especially harmful in the home, where its effects could lead to impoverishment and endanger the lives of children or women. At the time, women did not have many legal rights and their families were often at the mercy of their husbands or fathers. The stated goal of the WCTU was “protection of the home,” which appealed to many women. The WCTU first followed the path of other temperance societies, encouraging adults and children to sign pledges of “Capital T total" (or “teetotal”) abstention from consuming alcohol. Although the pledge campaigns were successful, the WCTU feared that voluntary pledges were not sufficient and members started to push for government intervention in the form of prohibition legislation. In 1879, Frances Willard became president of the WCTU and expanded its scope, moving from moral persuasion to political action. Willard's personal motto was "Do Everything," which encouraged many women to become active in a variety of social issues that they believed could be solved with a woman’s perspective. By 1896, 25 of the 39 departments of the WCTU addressed non-alcohol-related issues, including women's voting rights, shelters for abused women and children, an eight-hour work day, equal pay for equal work, prison reform, promotion of nutrition and the Pure Food and Drug Act, and world peace. In order to achieve these goals, the WCTU was one of the first organizations to actively lobby Congress to promote its progressive agenda. In 1901, the WCTU was instrumental in securing passage of a law requiring temperance instruction in all public schools. The 18th Amendment outlawing the manufacture and sale of alcohol was ratified in 1919 and repealed in 1933. Outreach to children, the next generation, was central to the WCTU mission. In the 1890s, the WCTU started the Loyal Temperance Legion (LTL), an international club for boys and girls who pledged total abstinence from alcohol. Monthly meetings included such activities as plays, picnics, parades, and singing temperance songs. The first slogan of the Loyal Temperance League was “Tremble, King Alcohol, We Shall Grow Up!” In 1887, the WCTU began publishing an illustrated magazine, The Young Crusader, and it continued after Prohibition was repealed. In a 1934 story entitled “The Kittens Bring the Light,” Joan and Jimmy are crying because “Daddy went out with some of his friends to celebrate REPEAL.” The LTL mascot, Humpy the Camel, wrote a folksy monthly editorial encouraging children to stay focused on temperance even though alcohol had been legalized again. The featured story, “Good Times and Bob,” follows three boys on their way to school as they discuss how the end of Prohibition has impacted their families. The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union is still active today, and after 140 years it remains one of the oldest continuously operating women’s organizations in the world. Although the Loyal Temperance Legion is long gone, the WCTU continues its mission of educating children about alcohol and drug use through its website “Drug-Free Kids.” Citation: “The Young Crusader.” National Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. Evanston, Illinois. Call No. HV5287.N37 Y6 Standards VS.10, USII.3, USII.5, VUS.10, VUS.12, GOVT.10, CE.6 Suggested Questions Preview Activities Take a Look: Look at the cover art and title of the magazine. What might be the purpose of the image? Who might be The Young Crusader? What does the combined image and title suggest the purpose of the magazine might be? Scan It: Read the titles of the articles. Guess what the articles may be about without reading the actual article? Look at the image at the bottom of the page, what clues does it give you about the purpose of the magazine? Post Activities Analyze: Why would the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union target children? Do you think it was effective? Why or why not? Current Connections: How does "Good Times and Bob" from the Woman's Christian Temperance Union compare to the anti-drug and -alcohol programs in schools and society today? What is different? What is similar? Taking a Side: Imagine that you represent the local chapter of the WCTU. How would you influence and promote the concept of alcohol abstinence? Create your own artwork and write a paragraph supporting your positon. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Young Crusader, Woman’s Christian Temperance Magazine for Children, 1934 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1934 Government and Civics Reform Movements Women's History https://www.lva.virginia.gov/collections/educator-resources/dbva/files/original/0c6b5ccc90d803bda52473152b421a80.jpg 76192981511c314bfe3bb470e6c0a633 https://www.lva.virginia.gov/collections/educator-resources/dbva/files/original/b5e3fb9f25be39b050fe41b62b818ce1.jpg ee7fb38a9d8cf10019212aea296be330 https://www.lva.virginia.gov/collections/educator-resources/dbva/files/original/6560606fe0c6b98ee4ebaa5c1d2b09a2.pdf cc3abd6504e41428f19e43b3853f0b98 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Emergence of Modern America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1890-1930 Description An account of the resource The idea of a “Modern United States” begins with the advent of the Progressive era. The Progressive movement focused on reforms viewed as necessary after drastic increases in industrialization, immigration, and urbanization, as well as corruption in the business and political realms. Temperance reached its peak with the 18th Amendment and the decade of Prohibition, while woman suffrage became guaranteed nationally with the 19th Amendment. Other movements that gained traction on a new scale during this era were the labor movement, including the rise of unions, and the Harlem Renaissance. Shifting roles for African Americans migrating to northern cities and unprecendented immigration to America's shores heightened racial and ethnic tensions and led to the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan. With all of the changes on the home front of America, this era also saw the emergence of the United States as a major world power. The Spanish-American War pitted the U.S. against a European power other than Great Britain for the first time. Not long after, the United States found itself embroiled in World War I, despite strong isolationist tendencies. Along with a large death toll, World War I led to the development of the failed League of Nations, ultimately pushing the United States even further into an isolationist standing that would last for decades. The immediate postwar period of the Prohibition-era “Roaring 20s” saw a domination in politics and economics by big business and its supporters, which would all come crashing down in less than a decade. Learn more in the <a title="This external link will open in a new window." href="http://www.nchs.ucla.edu/history-standards/us-history-content-standards/united-states-era-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National U.S. History Content Standards</a>. Lesson Plan A resource that gives a detailed description of a course of instruction. Context At the turn of the twentieth century, the call for the prohibition of alcohol had become a national issue, advocated by many politicians and pushed by several strong organizations. The American Temperance Society, started in 1826, acted as a support group for members who took a pledge to abstain from alcohol. The Prohibition Party, founded in 1869, is the oldest existing third party in the United States, garnering 5,617 votes in the 2016 presidential election. The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, started in 1874, tended to focus on the moral implications of drinking and its effect on the family. Formed in Ohio in 1893, the Anti-Saloon League (ASL) used statistics, not morals, to fight the war on alcohol and Virginians organized a state league in 1901. The Eighteenth Amendment, which prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcohol in the United States was ratified in January 1919. Thirty-two states, including Virginia, had already voted to go dry. The amendment was set to go into effect on January 17, 1920. Flush with its victory, the Anti-Saloon League tried to assuage any lingering doubts with the publication of “The Verdict” in April 1919. To provide the “most reliable and representative sources,” a committee of league members asked the governors of the dry states about the success or failure of prohibition. Some of the reports provided statistics of the effects of prohibition, while others offered merely platitudes, but the governors overwhelmingly endorsed the success of prohibition in their states. The Anti-Saloon League clearly had high hopes for national Prohibition. Driven by this single mission, the Anti-Saloon League members were willing to ally with any group, including Democrats, Republicans, the Ku Klux Klan, the NAACP, the International Workers of the World, as well as many leading industrialists, including Henry Ford, John Rockefeller, and Andrew Carnegie. The consistent pressure of the Anti-Saloon League forced public figures and organizations to take a stand: wet or dry? Citation: The Verdict. April-May 1919. Anti-Saloon League of Virginia Papers, 1919, Acc. 45036, Library of Virginia. Standards VS.10, USII.3, USII.5, VUS.10, VUS.12, GOVT.10, CE.6 Suggested Questions Preview Activity Scan it: Scan the document. Why do you think the document is entitled “The Verdict”? Post Activities Analyze: According to the information in the document, was prohibition working in these states? Why or why not? Explain your answer, citing at least three specific examples. STEM STAT: Use the information from New Hampshire (No. 15) and Texas (No. 24) to determine the percentage decline in arrests for drunkenness. How could this result be used to argue for or against prohibition? Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Verdict, Anti-Saloon League Flyer, April-May 1919 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1919 Government and Civics Reform Movements https://www.lva.virginia.gov/collections/educator-resources/dbva/files/original/a40fda472288ab3dbd29a56441e7aa6e.jpg dc42b2075e8a752f3aad37c49a84548b https://www.lva.virginia.gov/collections/educator-resources/dbva/files/original/39572980e992a8f08b245f452b543a43.pdf ebbcc98a9dffcb327233152c577ada98 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Emergence of Modern America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1890-1930 Description An account of the resource The idea of a “Modern United States” begins with the advent of the Progressive era. The Progressive movement focused on reforms viewed as necessary after drastic increases in industrialization, immigration, and urbanization, as well as corruption in the business and political realms. Temperance reached its peak with the 18th Amendment and the decade of Prohibition, while woman suffrage became guaranteed nationally with the 19th Amendment. Other movements that gained traction on a new scale during this era were the labor movement, including the rise of unions, and the Harlem Renaissance. Shifting roles for African Americans migrating to northern cities and unprecendented immigration to America's shores heightened racial and ethnic tensions and led to the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan. With all of the changes on the home front of America, this era also saw the emergence of the United States as a major world power. The Spanish-American War pitted the U.S. against a European power other than Great Britain for the first time. Not long after, the United States found itself embroiled in World War I, despite strong isolationist tendencies. Along with a large death toll, World War I led to the development of the failed League of Nations, ultimately pushing the United States even further into an isolationist standing that would last for decades. The immediate postwar period of the Prohibition-era “Roaring 20s” saw a domination in politics and economics by big business and its supporters, which would all come crashing down in less than a decade. Learn more in the <a title="This external link will open in a new window." href="http://www.nchs.ucla.edu/history-standards/us-history-content-standards/united-states-era-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National U.S. History Content Standards</a>. Lesson Plan A resource that gives a detailed description of a course of instruction. Context The fight for woman suffrage was a decades-long struggle that included many participants who held different opinions on how to achieve the goal of voting rights for women. In 1915, suffragists in Virginia split over this issue. Since its founding in 1909, the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia, an affiliate of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), had focused its efforts on persuading legislators to amend the state constitution to authorize women's voting rights. But some Virginians agreed with Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage chair Alice Paul that a federal amendment would be more effective. Like other members of the Congressional Union (renamed the National Woman's Party in 1917), members of the Virginia branch signed petitions, distributed pamphlets and leaflets, sent letters and telegrams to their congressmen, and marched in demonstrations and parades, but they made little headway in convincing politicians to support a federal suffrage amendment. In 1917 Alice Paul implemented an innovative tactic to draw attention to the woman suffrage movement. Suffragists began standing outside the White House each day with banners that often quoted President Woodrow Wilson’s speeches in support of democracy abroad in order to highlight his hypocrisy in denying the vote to women at home. Virginians participated in these picket lines beginning in January 1917. They continued even after the United States entered World War I in April 1917, which angered some people who began confronting the suffragists, who they accused of being treasonous to criticize the president during war. In July, police began arresting the pickets for “obstructing traffic,” even though they were on a sidewalk and not blocking vehicles or pedestrians while exercising their constitutional rights of free speech and peaceful assembly. In 1917–1918, approximately 500 women, including some Virginians, were arrested and more than 160 served prison sentences. The pickets were respectable upper- and middle-class white women—very few African American women were encouraged to join the picket lines—and they were often not treated well at the Occoquan Workhouse, near Lorton, Virginia, where many of them were imprisoned. Poor sanitary conditions included shared water buckets for drinking, rats running through the cells, and being fed spoiled meat and bread. The white suffragists did not like sharing spaces and prison dress with African American prisoners. Some suffragists were placed in solitary confinement. A small number went on hunger strikes and were force fed. These actions attracted extensive media attention to the cause. Continued pressure by both the NWP and NAWSA ultimately convinced Congress to pass the Nineteenth Amendment, which was ratified in 1920. In August 1917, Julia S. Jennings, legislative chair of the Virginia branch of the National Woman's Party, wrote a long letter that was published in the Richmond Evening Journal. In it, she described the treatment faced by the picketing women and asked why women have no right to participate in the government that sends their sons, husbands, and family members to war. Citation: Julia S. Jennings, "Virginia Woman Asks for Justice," published in the Richmond Evening Leader, Aug. 28, 1917, clipping pasted in Minute Book, Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage, Virginia Branch records, 1915–1920, Accession 52758, Library of Virginia (available in the Library's <a href="https://lva.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01LVA_INST/altrmk/alma990016491920205756" target="_blank" title="this link opens in a new tab" rel="noreferrer noopener">online catalog</a>) Related Document Bank entries <a href="https://www.lva.virginia.gov/collections/educator-resources/dbva/items/show/106">Twelve Reasons Why Mothers Should Have the Vote, Equal Suffrage League Flyer, 1910's</a> <a href="https://www.lva.virginia.gov/collections/educator-resources/dbva/items/show/112">Virginia Association Opposed to Woman's Suffrage, Broadside, 1910's</a> Learn more about the woman suffrage movement in Virginia in the Library's online exhibition, <a href="https://www.lva.virginia.gov/events/exhibitions/we-demand" target="_blank" title="this link opens in a new tab" rel="noreferrer noopener">We Demand</a>. Learn more about Virginia suffragists and the National Woman's Party in <a href="https://uncommonwealth.lva.virginia.gov//blog/2020/06/10/freedom-justice-and-true-democracy-the-virginia-branch-of-the-congressional-union-for-woman-suffrage/" target="_blank" title="this link opens in a new tab" rel="noreferrer noopener">The UncommonWealth blog</a>. Standards USII.3, USII.5, CE.6, CE.9, VUS.12, GOVT.10 Suggested Questions Lesson Plan For detailed lesson plan options, visit our <a href="https://www.lva.virginia.gov/collections/educator-resources/dbva/items/show/337">Lesson Plan on the Woman Suffrage Movement in Virginia</a>. Preview Activity Timeline: Construct a timeline based on this letter. Based on this, what do you think President Wilson knew about what was happening to the women picketing, and why? Post-Activities Analyze: What were the ordeals the author pointed out? What do you think about the way she depicted some of the experiences she described, and why? Why do you think she brought up Black women? What do you think about how the police responded to the women, and why? Debate: Suffragists did not all agree on the most effective way of achieving women's voting rights. Taking either the side of the Equal Suffrage League/NAWSA or the Congressional Union/National Woman's Party, debate whether working for woman suffrage amendments to each state constitution or the U.S. Constitution would be most effective and whether or not more aggressive tactics would be effective. What arguments can they formulate for/against each issue/type of activism? Have them determine a conclusion—what ultimately do they think made the difference, and why? Social Media: Consider the actions taken by the National Woman's Party members. How might they advocate for women's voting rights today with all of the different avenues and technologies available to them? Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Suffragists Arrested and Imprisoned, Letter to the Editor, 1917 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1917 Government and Civics Women's History