This is a great site that breifly sums up the Women's Right Movement from 1848 to 1920, although women fought for many years after. It describes the events that took place at the convention in Seneca Falls, NY where activists gathered to discuss many reforms. It was at this convention that Elizabeth Cady Stanton drafted the treatise that called for women's right to vote and insisted that women be granted "immediate admission to all the rights and privileges which belong to them as citizens of the United States."

This site takes a look into women who attended college during the late 1800s and early 1900s. These women were determined to get an education. In 1870, only .7% of students were women. By 1920, it was still only 7.6%. It wasn't until the Women's Movement that woman made a significant appearance in colleges. I thought this site gave a good background to the presence of women in college before and leading up to the Women's Movement, which helps understand the impact the movement had.

A New Woman is defined as a woman who worked, thus had more economic independence, making her less reliant on her husband or father. Their jobs were generally low paying, and the settings were usually in factories or department stores. They fought to change the idea of male dominance. One woman discussed is Colleen Moore, one of the first flappers, or a woman who wore short skirts, bobbed hair, listened to jazz, and showed disdain for conventional dress and behavior. An interesting fact about this site is that it comes from Prof. Lavender's course in women's studies program through the College of Staten Island/CUNY.

During the Woman's Movement, their were several famous feminists. This site pulls together a list of famous feminists and gives a little background information on who they were. Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman to graduate medical school at the top of her class and open her own clinic since others wouldn't hire her. Amelia Jenks Bloomer was a writer and editor for the first newspaper solely produced by woman, The Lily. Other feminists like Ruth Ginsburg and Emily Murphy, took to the courts to fight for equality for women. All these woman played an important role in achieving the equality and freedom woman have today.

This site is a collection of interview transcripts taken by Kelly Anderson of women describing their experiences during the Women's Movement. One woman by the name of Dolores Alexander describes how her father felt there was no need to educate her and refused to pay for her schooling while he paid for her brother's college in full. His reasoning was that she was a woman and was only going to have kids and had no need for an education. Another woman by the name of Virginia Apuzzo describes growing up as a lesbian in a world that held no tolerance for people like her. I think these transcripts give us a first hand look at what it was like to be in their shoes.

This article takes you through the Great Depression and the affects it had on American workers. According to the article, 25% of all workers and 37% of all non-farm workers in the USA were unemployed by 1933. Roosevelt used the New Deal to put people back to work on public projects. But it wasn't until WWII that the US came out of the Great Depression and people could begin to rebuild and find new jobs.

I thought this was interesting. It is a copy of a sharecropping agreement many blacks signed once they were free. They agreed to rent land from wealthy owners in return for a portion of the crop. Many blacks were unable to read when they signed these contracts and were unaware of the terms. This specific contract requires the lessor to furnish the mule, land, and other supplies up front and the lessee to pay for them later. It also forces the lessee to gin the cotton on the lessor's farm and is forced to pay a higher price to do so. Contracts like these were made to keep blacks poor. It was a way to keep the blacks thinking they were free, but in the end, working for nothing.

Dorothea Lange was another photographer during the Great Depression. Her images were focused on sharecroppers, migrant workers, and displaced farmers. She shows the plight of the lower class. Dorothea Lange's most famous for her portrait of Florence Owens Thompson, Migrant Mother, Nipomo, California. She was a 32yr old mother who sold everything she owned to take care of her children, eating birds and frozen vegetables. Her collection is viewable on the right side gallery. She was able to document the hardships the lower class endured through her photographs.

This article discusses the idea that those with money have power. The article explains how upper class went to private schools, held large banquets/tea parties, and think they are better than everyone and therefore know how to govern better. The upper class controlled large corporations through stocks. The articles defines the Power Elite, people who tend to dominate American policymaking. This group includes bureaucratic, corporate, intellectual, military, and government elites who control the principal institutions in the US. Their opinions and actions influence the decisions of the policymakers.

This site explains the relationship of the wealthy and poor during the 1930s. When the Great Depression began, the lower class people who lost their jobs sold what they could to get buy, even their houses. The wealthy were able to buy homes, land, and even stock for very low prices, which only made them richer. Lower class fought for tax changes to balance the nation's wealth.

This site explores the impact of the Jim Crow Laws. It starts by giving you a brief background about the civil rights movement. It divides the US up by regions and discusses the right of blacks in each area, which is helpful in understanding what it was like where Rosa lived. There are many examples included for each state on how the laws were implemented. In Alabama, all passenger bus stations in this state operated by any motor transportation company shall have separate waiting rooms or space and separate ticket windows for the white and colored races. This was on top of separate seating areas once aboard the bus.

I chose to step away from Rosa and focus on Martin Luther King, as he played an important role in the civil rights movement. Dr. King actually became the spokesman for what happened that day on the bus. He used his powerful motivational skills to speak out against segregation during the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

I really enjoyed this site. The picture of the bus is only black and white and taken from the inside. This site offers a look at the bus from the outside and in color. I never knew the bus was displayed at Detroit Henry Ford Museum. There is also a picture of Rosa being finger printed. This site not only describes what is going on in the picture, but gives you background on Rosa, everything from her demographics to her fears and jobs. Definitely some interesting information.

This site depicts how Rosa turned the focus of the civil rights movement from court to civil disobedience. People started to protest more and boycott buses or other places that showed discrimination. The boycotting eventually led to federal courts ruling that segregation laws were unconstitutional.

This site is rather short and to the point. Francisca Stewart summarizes what happened on the bus and how civil disobedience was used to make change. She also shared what happened in the years to follow, including the new rules that allowed both blacks and whites to sit where they chose. This site is useful to get a quick understanding of what the picture is about.