Student portraits of leading suffragists and suffragettes are collected as part of Women
Leading the Way’s national storytelling archive. Courtesy of Women Leading the Way
The project, sponsored by Lycée Français de New York, aims to help students form a deeper connection to the lessons of the Suffrage Movement through research and writing about historical figures as well as exploring their own family stories. Students then share what they found through an online national storytelling archive, which includes student portraits and biographical essays.
Women Leading the Way is free and open to all high school students and their teachers in the U.S. and its territories as well as international schools. The project encourages collaboration between English, history, and art teachers. Currently, there are 54 schools from 18 states participating; 21 independent schools are among them.
“This project speaks to unity and seeks to foster a greater sense of community and appreciation of humanity’s shared experience,” says project creator Mireille Miller, who also leads the Lycée Français primary school art program. “I hope that our national storytelling project will not only inspire future generations of storytellers but also encourage civic engagement and promote civil discourse beyond the classroom.”
Women Leading the Way has received support from the League of Women Voters, the New York Historical Society, the National Women’s History Project, the National Woman’s Party, the National Women’s History Museum, and others. To learn more and participate, go to suffragettes2020.com.
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