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Women's History: Dirt On Their Skirts

I. Introduction - rationale, goals, target audience
If your students believe baseball is only for boys, they should think again. Rich with the history of women who broke barriers to play the National Pastime, this thematic unit covers 150 years of striving for equity and diversity on the diamond. Meet the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, as well as the young ladies of the 19th century who played the game long before they even had the right to vote. What do skirts and strawberries, charm school and chaperones have to do with baseball? Each teaches an important lesson in the story of gals who gave their all so that boys and girls can play side-by-side today.

II. Objectives - in completing this lesson, students will:
A. Examine historical facts from various sources, including museum and library collections, artifacts, primary source documents, video and film, testimonials and Web sites.

B. Analyze milestones and events in the history of women's baseball to determine how their achievements led to a greater appreciation of equal opportunities in our modern culture.

C. Understand, the challenges women overcame in the 19th and 20th centuries to inspire increasing levels of confidence, accomplishment and respect in the classroom, the clubhouse, the kitchen and the corporate arena.

III. Preparing the Students
A. Background
Women have played baseball since the late 1800s, long before the 19th Amendment was passed in 1920 giving them the right to vote. In 1943, women continued breaking barriers in sports when the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) was formed to keep baseball alive when many major league players were fighting in World War II. In 1943, Phillip Wrigley announced formation of the AAGPBL with four teams from the Midwest. By 1948, the AAGPBL had grown in popularity to 10 teams and one million fans. From 1943 to 1954, the AAGPBL was comprised of nearly 600 players from the United States, Canada and Cuba. Their love of the game presented them with new opportunities for travel, friendships, eventual career choices and a place in history as having paved the way to new roles for women in contemporary American society.

B. Vocabulary
Amateur
Artifact
Barnstorming
Barrier
Camaraderie
Chaperone
Charm school
Competitive
Contract
Demeanor
Demise
Disband
Diversity
Equity
Primary source
Professional
Resolute
Rosie the Riveter
Semi-professional
Sidearm
Strawberry
Suffrage

C. Pre-Program Activities
1) Students should research events in women's history and organize them into three categories: Women in Baseball, Women Changing Society and Women Breaking Barriers. Students will decide which events from each category they feel are the most impressive. Students will then create three different timelines (one for each category), inserting the events they have chosen into their timelines. Timelines could be placed parallel from each other on banner paper by several groups, or combined into one large timeline, to be analyzed by the class. Lead a discussion comparing and contrasting these events, their significance and place in time. Encourage students to look for patterns of change, periods of rapid advancement and possible setbacks for women.

2) Students will each research one of the following women in baseball history: Amanda Clement, Lizzie Murphy, Alta Weiss, Edith Houghton, Effa Manley or the Bloomer Girls. Using this information, they will write a biographical essay about the player or team. Then they will use the information to create a booklet of poetry, a diary of the player, a picture book or a one-act play.

3) Locate the following cities on a map of the United States: South Bend, Ind.; Rockford, Ill.; Kalamazoo, Mich.; Racine, Wis.; Chicago, Ill.; Fort Wayne, Ind.; Springfield, Ill.; Battle Creek, Mich.; Grand Rapids, Mich.; Peoria, Ill.; Kenosha, Wis.; Milwaukee, Wis.; Muskegon, Ill.; and Minneapolis, Minn. Using the scale of the map, determine the distances between each of these cities according to alphabetical order. Insert your hometown in the list and determine its distance from the last city in alphabetical order; find the cities that are closest to and farthest away from your hometown.

IV. Presentation
If you are participating in a school visit or videoconference please do not review this section with your students. It will be taught as part of the presentation.

A. Opening
1) Show a photograph of the Vassar College Resolutes, a women's baseball team that played in the 1870s. Without disclosing the purpose of the group, ask students to suggest what kind of club this was. Discuss the dress and demeanor of the women in the photo. Ask them to guess when the photo was taken. Compare and contrast the uniforms of the players and their inferred style of play with those of baseball players today.

2) Discuss the team's name, the "Resolutes." Why that name? What does it mean? Explain Vassar College was a women's-only liberal arts college founded in 1861.

3) Introduce other women who played baseball at the turn of the century - such as Amanda Clement, Lizzie Murphy, Alta Weiss and Effa Manley - and explore with students how their careers coincided with other milestones in women's history, such as the suffrage movement and passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920, giving women the right to vote. Engage students by asking them to contribute what they know about these individuals and events through research they've done.

B. Lesson
1) The advent of World War II provided opportunity for women to assume some roles previously held by men, who now left home to serve in the armed forces. Stories of "Rosie the Riveter" depict images of women working in stateside factories to support the war effort overseas. Ask students how these new roles for women changed American culture and society.

2) Discuss that many young women were presented with new choices. Some elected to stay home and raise their children; others chose to pursue various careers outside the home. Discuss how World War II slowly opened the door to newfound opportunities and decisions for women.

3) At the same time, many major league baseball players left to serve in the military. Some of these included Joe DiMaggio, Bob Feller and Hank Greenberg. Discuss with students why the departure of these star players caused concern among baseball team owners. What were the implications of the war and its impact on major league baseball? INSTRUCTOR NOTE: Refer to copy of President Roosevelt's "Green Light" letter urging continuation of baseball in spite of the war.

4) Ask students of their familiarity with Phillip Wrigley, owner of the Chicago Cubs. Enlist creative thinking to suggest how an owner might have identified ways to sustain attendance at ballgames. How might a women's league fit into a war-time marketing plan to prevent declining attendance?

5) Introduce the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL), founded by Phillip Wrigley in 1943 as a way of maintaining baseball's popularity during World War II. Ask students if they are familiar with the 1992 movie, "A League of Their Own."

6) Encourage students to question the presenter or teacher about various topics associated with the AAGPBL. This could be done as a simulated press conference where the students' queries stem from details provided in an announcement or news article with basic information about formation of the league.

7) The presenter should portray or take on the character of Wrigley, a player or another personality associated with the league. Answers should be provided as if the presenter is the character and has first-hand knowledge of the league's history.

8) Use the simulated press conference to explore several themes, such as breaking barriers (e.g. the popularity of a women's league in a male dominated sport), life in the league (e.g. geographic location of teams, salaries, charm school and rules), style of play (e.g. skirted uniforms, underhand to overhand pitching), teamwork and camaraderie (host families, fan support, bus travel, chaperones).

C. Conclusion
1) When the "press conference" concludes, the "character" should step aside then re-enter the scene as the presenter.

2) Explain that the AAGPBL ended play in 1954 when the league disbanded. Ask students to speculate how the women players might have felt about the demise of the league. Encourage them to discuss various factors that led to the downfall of the league (e.g. advent of television, end of the War, improved quality of major league baseball, declining attendance at AAGPBL games).

3) Discuss with students how the AAGPBL provided new opportunities these young women might not have experienced otherwise. What were some of these choices (e.g. careers, returning home to raise a family, attending college, continued involvement in athletics)?

4) Encourage students to list current examples of successful women athletes. Point out that women recently played professional baseball in competitive leagues, the most recent example being the Colorado Silver Bullets that played in the late 1990s.

5) Discuss how the AAGPBL helped pave the way for the involvement of women in sports today.
If you are participating in a school visit or videoconference please do not review this section with your students. It will be taught as part of the presentation.

V. Enrichment and Assessment Activities
A. Students will brainstorm as individuals or in groups about items necessary for team travel. From this brainstorming activity, students will list items, prioritize them and defend their choices. As they make their selections, keep in mind the relatively small size of suitcases at that time. This information will be used to write an essay describing what they will take with them. Follow up activity: discuss with students how their choices and options as to what to take would be different today than in the 1940s and '50s.

B. To stimulate learning about travel and geography, students can construct a suitcase resembling those carried by players in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. To do so, students must exhibit teamwork, problem-solving and critical thinking skills. Organize students into groups of three to construct their own traveling suitcase. When finished constructing the suitcase, students should decorate it with travel decals just as the AAGPBL players might have done after visiting new cities. These decorations may either be hand drawn or computer generated. One of the stickers should be the AAGPBL logo. In decorating the suitcase, students may want to research an Internet site, such as vintagelabels.org, to find reproductions of actual luggage stickers. Print some of these from the Internet and apply them to the suitcase. Study any and all of the labels online to find only those from cities or modes of transportation that could actually have been frequented by players in the AAGPBL from 1943 to 1954. Each group should explain the various stickers and artwork it selected to decorate the suitcase. Have students talk about the cities and modes of transportation represented in the labels and how these may have figured into the economics and geographic history of the AAGPBL.

C. Encourage students to bring items from home to fill the suitcase. These should be things similar to those actually carried by the women when they traveled from city to city (e.g. a uniform, baseball glove, leisure clothes, toiletries, reading material, etc.). Ask students to explain the items they chose to fill the suitcase. Their explanation should include the rationale for why these objects would be important to a traveling ballplayer. This could be done as a writing assignment and/or a group presentation to the class.

D. Encourage students to imagine they are the newly appointed board of directors for a fictional women's baseball team. Their task is to create a team identity that reflects the pride and history of their local municipality. To begin the lesson, students should discuss as a class what makes their community or region unique. This discussion should consider representative names, mascots, colors and symbols of local industry or regional history. Following discussion, the students develop an inventory sheet of these elements, and reach consensus on the name, mascot and uniform colors of the women's team. One class period should be allowed for the group discussion. Have students cut-out a 29"l x 12"w isosceles triangle out of material selected by the group. Newsprint paper is recommended. Have the students mock-up a pennant with their selected inventory items. Have students transfer their pennant elements to poster board for their final design. Once the students have completed their final design, then laminate the pennant. (optional) Have students attach four tassels to the pennant.

E. Students may work individually or in groups of two. Each student should be given a copy of the document "Changes in the AAGPBL from 1943 - 1954". Using the information in the table, students should calculate the distance the catcher would have thrown from home plate to second base. They should also find the total distance a player would run, if she hit a homerun. (You will probably want them to round their answer, possibly to the nearest hundredth.) Each student or group of two could either calculate this information for all changes in base path length or, if this lesson is done in conjunction with the "Play Ball" lesson, only for the time period during which the size baseball that they were assigned is being used.

F. Students will build models of different sized spheres, given the circumferences. These models will represent the six different sized balls that were used by the AAGPBL from 1943 - 1954. They will calculate the radius and diameter of each sphere. If appropriate to the class, they could also compare the volumes of the spheres. Upon completion, students will design a method of displaying their sphere(s), listing all of the pertinent information, such as the year(s) that size ball was used by the AAGPBL, the circumference, radius, diameter, etc.

G. Students will each research one player of the AAGPBL. Using this information, they will write a biographical essay about the player. Then they will use the information to create a booklet of poetry, a dairy of the player, a picture book, or a one act play. They will also research one topic connected with "Women in Baseball" and write an essay.

H. Students should explain, in their own words, Title IX (of the Educational Amendments of 1972 to the 1964 Civil Rights Act), without error; debate whether or not Title IX should exist as it is today.

VI. Additional Resources
A. Literature
Adler, David. Mama Played Baseball. Gulliver Books, 2003.

Berlage, Gai Ingham. Women in Baseball: The Forgotten History. Greenwood Publishers, 1994.

Brown, Patricia I. A League of My Own. McFarland and Company, 2003.

Corey, Shana. Players in Pigtails. Scholastic, 2003.

Galt, Margot Fortunato. Up to the Plate. Lerner Publications, 1995.

Gregorich, Barbara. Women at Play: The Story of Women in Baseball Harcourt Brace & Co., 1993.

Hopkinson, Deborah. Girl Wonder. Simon and Schuster, 2003.

Johnson, Susan E. When Women Played Hardball. Seal Press, 1994.

Macy, Sue. A Whole New Ball Game. Puffin Books, 1993.

Madden, W.C. The AAGPBL Record Book. McFarland & Co., 2000.

Madden, W. C. The Women of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League - A Biographical Dictionary. McFarland & Co., 1997.

National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Baseball As America. National Geographic Books, 2002.

Rappaport, Doreen and Callan, Lyndall. Dirt On Their Skirts. Dial Books, 2000.

USA Today, August 28, 2002. "Title IX Meeting Brings Out Emotion."

B. Web Links
baseballhalloffame.org
Official site of the Baseball Fall of Fame and Museum

aagpbl.org
Official site of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League

vintagelabels.org
Vintage Luggage Stickers

usdoj.gov/crt/cor/coord/titleixstat.htm
Text of Title IX

womenplayingbaseball.com
Official site of the American Women's Baseball League

www.exploratorium.edu/baseball/girlsofsummer.html
Information on the History of Women in Baseball

womenssportsfoundation.org
Information on Women's Sports and Title IX

rosietheriveter.org
Rosie the Riveter Trust

C. Multi-Media Gallery
Photo of Vassar College Resolutes
Photo of Colorado Silver Bullets
Photo of the AAGPBL logo
Copy of President Roosevelt's "Green Light" letter

Copy of "A Guide for All American Girls" manual given to AAGPL players
http://ali.apple.com/ali/exhibits/1000544

Website devoted to the Colorado Silver Bullets
coloradosilverbullets.org

VII. Relevant National Learning Standards
A. History
1) Distinguish between past, present, and future time.

2) Interpret data presented in time lines and create time lines by designating appropriate equidistant intervals of time and recording events according to the temporal order in which they occurred.

3) Reconstruct patterns of historical succession and duration in which historical developments have unfolded, and apply them to explain historical continuity and change.

4) Hypothesize the influence of the past, including both the limitations and the opportunities made possible by past decisions.

5) Formulate historical questions from encounters with historical documents, eyewitness accounts, letters, diaries, artifacts, photos, historical sites, art, architecture and other records from the past.

6) Obtain historical data from a variety of sources, including: library and museum collections, historic sites, historical photos, journals, diaries, eyewitness accounts, newspapers and the like; documentary films, oral testimony from living witnesses, censuses, tax records, city directories, statistical compilations and economic indicators.

7) Identify the gaps in the available records and marshal contextual knowledge and perspectives of the time and place in order to elaborate imaginatively upon the evidence, fill in the gaps deductively and construct a sound historical interpretation.

8) Identify the author or source of the historical document or narrative and assess its credibility.

9) Identify the central question(s) the historical narrative addresses and the purpose, perspective or point of view from which it has been constructed.

10) Appreciate historical perspectives-(a) describing the past on its own terms, through the eyes and experiences of those who were there, as revealed through their literature, diaries, letters, debates, arts, artifacts and the like; (b) considering the historical context in which the event unfolded-the values, outlook, options and contingencies of that time and place; and (c) avoiding "present-mindedness," judging the past solely in terms of present-day norms and values.

11) Draw upon data in historical maps in order to obtain or clarify information on the geographic setting in which the historical event occurred, its relative and absolute location, the distances and directions involved, the natural and manmade features of the place and critical relationships in the spatial distributions of those features and historical event occurring there.

12) Draw upon visual, literary and musical sources including: (a) photographs, paintings, cartoons and architectural drawings; (b) novels, poetry and plays; and (c) folk, popular and classical music, to clarify, illustrate or elaborate upon information presented in the historical narrative.

13) Identify issues and problems in the past and analyze the interests, values, perspectives and points of view of those involved in the situation.

14) Evaluate the implementation of a decision by analyzing the interests it served; estimating the position, power and priority of each player involved; assessing the ethical dimensions of the decision and evaluating its costs and benefits from a variety of perspectives.

15) Investigate new forms of popular culture and leisure activities at different levels of American society.

16) Analyze how the emergence of the "New Woman" challenged Victorian values.

17) Specify and evaluate the extension of secondary education to new segments of American society.

18) Assess how increased leisure time promoted the growth of professional sports, amusement parks and national parks.

19) Analyze the effects of World War II on gender roles and the American family.

20) Explore the range of women's organizations, the changing goals of the women's movement and the issues currently dividing women.

21) Understand the extent and impact of economic reconversion and its effects on the economy.

22) Explain the reasons for the "return to domesticity" and how it affected family life and women's careers.

23) Understand the women's movement for civil rights and equal opportunity.

B. Language Arts
1) Students read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.

2) Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate and appreciate texts. They draw on their previous experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies and their understanding of other textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).

3) Students adjust their use of spoken, written and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.

4) Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.

5) Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language and genre to create, critique and discuss print and non-print texts.

6) Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and non-print texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.

7) Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.

8) Students develop an understanding of and respect for diversity in language use, patterns and dialects across cultures, ethnic groups, geographic regions and social roles.

9) Students use spoken, written and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion and the exchange of information).

C. Math
1) Analyze characteristics and properties of two- and three-dimensional geometric shapes and develop mathematical arguments about geometric relationships.

2) Precisely describe, classify and understand relationships among types of two- and three-dimensional objects using their defining properties.

3) Create and critique inductive and deductive arguments concerning geometric ideas and relationships, such as congruence, similarity and the Pythagorean relationship.

4) Use visualization, spatial reasoning and geometric modeling to solve problems.

5) Draw geometric objects with specified properties, such as side lengths or angle measures.

6) Use geometric models to represent and explain numerical and algebraic relationships.

7) Recognize and apply geometric ideas and relationships in areas outside the mathematics classroom, such as art, science and everyday life.

8) Apply appropriate techniques, tools and formulas to determine measurements.

9) Use common benchmarks to select appropriate methods for estimating measurements.

10) Select and apply techniques and tools to accurately find length, area, volume and angle measures to appropriate levels of precision.

11) Select appropriate methods and tools for computing with fractions and decimals from among mental computation, estimation, calculators or computers, and paper and pencil, depending on the situation, and apply the selected methods.

12) Develop, analyze and explain methods for solving problems involving proportions, such as scaling and finding equivalent ratios.

13) Build new mathematical knowledge through problem solving.

14) Recognize and apply mathematics in contexts outside of mathematics.

15) Select, apply, and translate among mathematical representations to solve problems.

D. Economics
1) Understand like individuals, governments and societies experience scarcity because human wants exceed what can be made from all available resources.

2) Understand choices involve trading off the expected value of one opportunity against the expected value of its best alternative.

3) Understand the choices people make have both present and future consequences.

4) Understand the evaluation of choices and opportunity costs is subjective; such evaluations differ across individuals and societies.

5) Understand incentives can be monetary or non-monetary.

6) Understand people's incomes, in part, reflect choices they have made about education, training, skill development, and careers. People with few skills are more likely to be poor.

7) Understand entrepreneurs compare the expected benefits of entering a new enterprise with the expected costs.

8) Can read short biographies of various entrepreneurs and identify the risks each entrepreneur faced and the entrepreneur's incentive(s) for accepting the risk.

E. Geography
1) Understand how to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process and report information from a spatial perspective.

F. Technology
1) Students use technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity and promote creativity.

2) Students use productivity tools to collaborate in constructing technology-enhanced models, prepare publications and produce other creative works.

3) Students use telecommunications to collaborate, publish and interact with peers, experts and other audiences.

4) Students use technology to locate, evaluate and collect information from a variety of sources.

5) Students evaluate and select new information resources and technological innovations based on the appropriateness for specific tasks.

G. Visual Arts
1) Students integrate visual, spatial and temporal concepts with content to communicate intended meaning in their artworks.

2) Students use subjects, themes and symbols that demonstrate knowledge of contexts, values and aesthetics that communicate in tended meaning in artworks.

3) Students analyze, describe and demonstrate how factors of time and place (such as climate, resources, ideas and technology) influence visual characteristics that give meaning and value to a work of art.

4) Students compare multiple purposes for creating works of art.

H. Physical Education
1) Demonstrates understanding and respect for differences among people in physical activity settings.

2) Understands that physical activity provides opportunities for enjoyment, challenge, self-expression and social interaction.

VIII. Planning a Videoconference?
A. Videoconference Checklist (PDF)