History to Her Story - Teachers page

History to Her Story is a purpose built website providing access to a diverse collection of documents which celebrate Yorkshire women past and present.

The learning materials are focused on two themes:
Life in a Victorian Lunatic Asylum and Women and War, offering students an opportunity to work with original primary sources taken from the West Yorkshire Archive Service.

The sources, worksheets and activities provide students with a basic understanding of life in a Victorian asylum and women’s reaction and contribution to war ranging from Amy Johnson to pacifism.

The modules aim to develop analytical skills, encouraging students to make their own observations about photographs and documents. Evidence such as language used, facial expressions and clothes worn are interpreted and used as a basis for a deeper understanding of the different ways women were treated in the past. The material also highlights the stories of ordinary women whose experiences have been largely forgotten by mainstream history.

The material may be linked to the knowledge, skills and understanding requirements within the Programmes of Study for the Citizenship, History, PSHE and RE Curriculum. The content can be adapted in a variety of ways to meet the needs of individual groups.

What’s here :

Most of the material, sources and worksheets, can be downloaded and completed on paper. For a full list of the worksheets and downloadable source material – click here (this links to a list of the 36 worksheets and resource sheets)

Each theme has an introductory page, which provides:

Contextual information (a fact file and a more facts page).
A quiz for completion after studying the modules.

This page then links into 3 modules, each of which contains:

A fact file.
Primary source material including images, documents and interviews.
Initial ideas for questions to promote discussion.
3 downloadable worksheets and resource sheets.

Themes	Lunatic Asylum	Women and War
Age Group	9-11 year olds - some material particularly the case study transcripts and images could be used for all ages.	Focused towards 12-14 year olds with images and concepts suitable for all ages.
Module 1	What was it like in the asylum? Includes details of everyday life, routines and special events.	Wives and Mothers Examines how war has affected women and their role in the family.
Module 2	What treatments were given? Includes details of medicines, work therapy and a case study.	Work and Leisure Examines how war lead to greater freedom and independence for women e.g. Amy Johnson
Module 3	Were there any children there? Analysis of the case notes of a child in the asylum.	Politics and Pacifism Examines how war or the threat of war motivated women to become politically active. Including suffrage and Greenham Common