Moment in History: A Writing Project

  • What was it like to be Harriet Tubman one night as she secretly led fugitive slaves through the deep South along the Underground Railroad?

  • What was it like to be Marie Antoinette as she was being led to the guillotine?

  • What was it like to be Sally Ride as she was about to lift off into orbit?

  • What was it like to be Joan Benoit Samuelson when she raced into the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1984, the leader of the first Olympic marathon for women in history?

  • What was it like to be Joan of Arc when she led the troops of France into battle against the British outside the city of Orleans?

    Put yourself in the place of a well-known woman in history. Try to imagine what it was like to be her at an important moment in her life. Think about what she was feeling; think about what she was seeing and hearing. Think about what she said or did.

    Now, write her story.

    "A Moment in History" is a project in which your students write about an historic event — or a moment during an event — from the perspective of a famous woman who was there. These fictional accounts can be read by students to one another, and then discussed within the classroom.

    ^ Top of Page

    Back to Women's History

    		•