Changing Roles of Women in the 1920's

Unit: Roaring Twenties
Lesson: Women

Materials:

• Margaret Sanger’s letters from the Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College, Northampton, MA: Box 2 Folder 5, Box 2 Folder 7, Box 2 Folder 9, flapper diary entry 

Objectives:

• Compare 1920’s to 2003.
• Compare access to birth control in 2004 to 1920’s.
• Explain what Sanger’s goals were.
• Describe the typical day of a flapper.

Introduction:

• What qualities make up a flapper?

Procedure:

1. On the board compare lifestyles of the 1920’s to today. Include:

2. Introduce Margaret Sanger. Include:

• Her goals and visions for family limitations
• What she accomplished in the development of Planned Parenthood

3. Have the students break into four groups.  Each group will be presented with a letter. As a group, decide:

• Why did this person write the letter to Margaret Sanger?
• What education do we have in health class today that alleviates the problems expressed in the letter?

4. Students will individually read a letter from a diary entry of a typical flapper. (worksheet)

Closure:

• What aspects of the 1920’s do you wish were still around today? 

Homework:

• Read the next section in the chapter. 

Useful sources:

• The Margaret Sanger Papers from the Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College
• The Margaret Sanger Papers Project at NYU
• "Birth Control and Eugenics: Uneasy Bedfellows" 

New York State Standards:

• Social Studies Standard for United States History
• English Standard for reading
• Resource Guide: Lifestyle of the 1920’s