by Edward Dorgan
Lewis S. Mills High School, Burlington
TEACHER'S SNAPSHOT
Topics:
Business & Industry, Women, Work, World War I
Town:
Bridgeport, Statewide
Grade:
High School
D1: Potential Compelling Question
D1: POTENTIAL SUPPORTING QUESTIONS
- What is the message of the “Every American Woman” advertisement?
- Who is being targeted?
- What emotional reactions does the writer seem to be looking for from readers?
- Why do you think this broadside was published in the Bridgeport Times & Evening Farmer?
D2: TOOL KIT
Things you will need to teach this lesson:
Advertisement from the Bridgeport Times and Evening Farmer. Bridgeport, Connecticut, September 20, 1918. Library of Congress, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers.
Teacher’s Guide to Analyzing Newspapers, Library of Congress.
D3: INQUIRY ACTIVITY
- Students will analyze the U.S. Employment Bureau’s advertisement, “Every American Woman,” and answer the supporting questions.
- Students will annotate the words and images in the primary source, including those linked to patriotism and making connections to earlier historical events (previously studied).
D4: COMMUNICATING CONCLUSIONS
- Students will create their own advertisement/poster to recruit residents of Connecticut to assist in the effort to help win the Great War (WWI).
- Students will design a WWI monument that recognizes the war efforts of Connecticut residents on the home front.
- Extended Learning: Students will research other primary-source materials (see below for suggestions and links) and write an editorial for the Hartford Courant arguing the importance of the role Connecticut women played in the Great War (WWI).
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Place to GO
Most Connecticut towns have at least one war memorial, although they are sometimes “invisible,” even if in plain sight. Is there a monument to WWI veterans in your town? Visit at least one local WWI memorial and compare it to other town monuments, memorials, or historic markers.
Visit your local historical society or library to discover what original materials they have from WWI. You may find posters, photographs, letters, or personal accounts.
Things To DO
Browse Digitized Issues: The Bridgeport Times and Evening Farmer (1918-1922). Library of Congress, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, 2010.
Read a Book: Brown, Carrie. Rosie’s Mom: Forgotten Women Workers of the First World War. Boston, MA: Northeastern University Press, 2002.
Search the Connecticut State Library’s Remembering World War I Digital Collections
Search the Library of Congress World War I Poster Collection: Try using the keywords WOMEN or FOOD
Websites to VISIT
Connecticut State Library: Remembering World War I
Guide to World War I Materials at the Library of Congress
Articles to READ
Connecticut Explored: Greenwich Women Face the Great War: Our Contributions from the Home Front by Kathleen Eagen Johnson, Winter 2014–Winter 2015
ConnecticutHistory.org: A New Source of Farm Labor Crops Up in Wartime
