50 Fearless Women
updated April 3, 2021
Recorded here is my own personal collection of articles, resources, favorite links, teaching ideas, and lesson plans. It encompasses many years, from the very beginning of my experience studying and learning about Waldorf to the present time. People from all around the world visit my site and recommend it to others. Welcome!
This site records my journey. I hope my honesty is encouraging and helps break down some barriers that may prevent people from trying Waldorf methods. Because this is an ongoing site documenting my curriculum planning and ideas, some materials are more Waldorf-y than others. Please feel free to take what you like and leave the rest.
This page has helpful links and LOADS of free resources to help you plan your second grade year. Enjoy!
Mission Statement - Consulting Services - Lending Library
50 Fearless Women
for Class 2
Rationale
This Cultural block was a bit unusual. We did the traditional block of the Saints with a mixed second/third grade class
in October but then did
"Fearless Women from U.S. History"
for our Virtuous People side of things. I got the idea because I taught this block in a mixed age homeschool co-op, and the fifth graders
did U.S. Presidents in October (2020 being an election year). I then had both groups hear stories about Fearless Women in March (when
fifth grade had N. Amer. Geography). It was a very balancing experience,
since they had both done so many male figures from history in October.
Books to Buy
I am basing this block on 50 Fearless Women Who Made American History by Jenifer Bazzit.

And if you have a wonderful idea for a woman who would be a great fit for this list, email Renee!
This block could obviously also be taught in 7th & 8th grade, when U.S. History is studied and
with a particular emphasis on biographies.
List of Stories & Activities
We can't study all 50 women in this book, of course. Here is the complete list of biographies.
Some of the resources I suggest would be better for doing this study in the older grades; I'm going to list
everything here for simplicity's sake and you can decide what makes sense for your child.
Pocahontas, p.1
(ca. 1597 - 1617)
Anne Hutchinson, p.4
Mercy Otis Warren, p.7
Phillis Wheatley, p.10
(ca. 1753 - 1784)
Deborah Sampson, p.13
(1760 - 1827)
Abigail Adams, p.16
Sacagawea, p.19
(ca. 1788 - 1812)
Lucretia Mott, p.22
Sojourner Truth, p.25
Dorothea Dix, p.28
Harriet Beecher Stowe, p.31
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, p.34
Susan B. Anthony, p.37
(1820 - 1906)
Harriet Tubman, p.40
(ca. 1820 - 1913)
Clara Barton, p.43
Elizabeth Blackwell, p.46
Mary Harris "Mother" Jones, p.49
(1837 - 1930)
Victoria Woodhull, p.52
Queen Lili'uokalani, p.55
(1838 - 1917)
Frances Willard, p.58
Jane Addams, p.61
(1860 - 1935)
Ida B. Wells, p.64
Nellie Bly, p.67
(1864 - 1922)
Clara Lemlich, p.70
Helen Keller, p.73
(1880 - 1968)
Emily Greene Balch, p.76
Georgia O'Keeffe, p.79
(1887 - 1986)
Eleanor Roosevelt, p.82
Amelia Earhart, p.85
Clare Boothe Luce, p.88
Grace Hopper, p.91
Rachel Carson, p.94
(1907 - 1964)
Virginia Apgar, p.97
(1909 - 1974)
Thu, Mar 25 and Fri, Mar 26
Crescendo
by Paola Quintavalle
Apgar score article
U.S. National Library of Medicine
Rosa Parks, p.100
Mon, Mar 29 and Tue, Mar 30
we are actually doing Claudette Colvin instead
(1939 - )
Exquisite: The Poetry and Life of Gwendolyn Brooks
by Suzanne Slade
1950 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice
by Phillip Hoose
March 2, 1955 (Montgomery AL)
Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down
by Andrea Davis Pinkney
February 1, 1960 (Greensboro NC)
Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World's Fastest Woman
by Kathleen Krull
1960 Summer Olympics
Let the Children March
by Monica Clark-Robinson
1963 (Birmingham AL)
Freedom Summer
by Deborah Wiles
1964 (Civil Rights Act of 1964)
The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read
by Rita Lorraine Hubbard
1964 (Chattanooga TN)
Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop: The Sanitation Strike of 1968
by Alice Faye Duncan
1968 (Memphis TN)
Belle, The Last Mule at Gee's Bend: A Civil Rights Story
by Calvin Alexander Ramsey and Bettye Stroud
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, TN
Marguerite Higgins, p.103
Maria Tallchief, p.106
1925 - 2013
Coretta Scott King, p.109
Muriel Siebert, p.112
Maya Angelou, p.115
Dolores Huerta, p.118
(1930 - )
Sandra Day O'Connor, p.121
Gloria Steinem, p.124
Barbara Jordan, p.127
Marian Wright Edelman, p.130
Billie Jean King, p.133
Sally Ride, p.136
Oprah Winfrey, p.139
Sonia Sotomayor, p.142
(1954 - )
Maya Lin, p.145
Mary Bonauto, p.148
Of course, we could also add in Kamala Harris, first woman vice president of the United States!
My blog posts from teaching this topic:
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