ProclaimHer Newsletter of the Boston's Women's Heritage Trail (BWHT) -- Winter 2001
Bringing the Women's Memorial Alive in the Classroom
In Fall 2001 the Boston Women ’s Memorial,designed to commemorate the contributions of women in Boston history,will be installed on Commonwealth Avenue. Meredith Bergmann’s sculpture depicts celebrated First Lady and letter writer Abigail Adams, women’s rights activist Lucy Stone and poet Phillis Wheatley. The BWHT is working with the Boston Women’s Commission to develop a curriculum to ensure that the memorial will be a site of active learning for years to come. We are already teaching students about the Memorial even before it is installed. Last spring we assembled a Memorial Curriculum Starter Kit. Presently, we are sponsoring a three-dimensional sculpture contest to promote the Memorial in the Boston Public Schools grades 6 to 12. The contest is being organized by Sara Masucci, a student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Look for news about and results of the contest in our next newsletter. In addition, this past summer and fall Board members Jennifer Grant and Mary Smoyer have taught Women’s Memorial apprenticeships at Citizen Schools.Jennifer, a Boston Park Ranger and her colleague Lisa Marsh, taught their apprenticeship at the Wilson Middle School this fall. Her report is below.
This fall Lisa Marsh and I designed and taught a Citizen Schools apprenticeship combining information about the Women’s Memorial and the Junior ParkRanger training program. Our goal was to have the students present information they had learned about women’s history in a free walking tour. Citizen Schools provide an innovative after-school program for Boston Public School students ages 11 to 14. In addition to home-work time and team-building activities, students participate in “apprenticeships”, during which professionals from the community share knowledge and skills used in their fields with the students. This sharing enables the students to create an adult quality product, called a “WOW”, at the end of the term. Using the Women’s Memorial Curriculum Starter Kit as well as the internet, the BWHT Guidebook and other materials, the students re-searched their topics and toured historic sites related to Boston women. One student got a jumpstart on his presentation at a special Citizen Schools dinner given for the parents, where he was the star of the night. Sculptor Meredith Bergmann visited the class to talk about the work she is doing to create the memorial. The kids had a chance to pose as statues and even work with clay thmeselves. After writing their speeches, editing, and rehearsing outside in frigid temperatures, we were ready to go!	On December 9, the day of the “WOW”, the BWHT treated the kids to lunch at MacDonald’s and then we headed to the Park Ranger station on Boston Common for last minute preparations. All the kids were given Boston Parks and Recreation hats to wear for the tour. It was a very cold, but sunny day. After an introduction in front of the Visitors Information Center, we headed to the State House grounds to see the statues of Anne Hutchinson and Mary Dyer. Next we stopped at 5 Park Street to talk about Lucy Stone. We ended at the Old South Meeting House, where participants were given free admission to view the Phillis Wheatley exhibit. After interpreting all the sites we visited, students told participants about the Women’s Memorial and showed a picture of it superimposed onto its new location on Commonwealth Avenue Mall. Board Member Marie Turley arranged for hot chocolate in the education room at Old South, where the kids got to relax and talk about their apprenticeship. Everyone enjoyed the program and the apprentices really came through to pull off a wonderful tour. Special thanks go to: Justine Liff, Commissioner, Parks and Recreation; Gene Survillo, Chief Park Ranger; Jill Sanderson, Education Director, Old South Meeting House; John Werner and Meghan Symmes, Citizen Schools; Starbucks. Please contact us if you work with young people who would like to learn more about the Memorial. Rangers and Ranger give their tour.
	Next