Celebrating Jewish American Women’s History
While the museum is closed the JMM team is coming together to bring some of our favorite activities from our recent family programs direct to your homes. Each collection of materials will be inspired by either one of our exhibits, Jewish History, or a Jewish holiday. All of the activities we share will be designed for families to complete together and only require supplies you are likely to already have in your home. The activities we offer will be varied from crafts, activities, games, scavenger hunts, and online story times. You can check out previous activity packs here!
~The JMM Programs Team
Did you know that May is Jewish American Heritage month?
This month we’re using our weekly family activity packets to highlight different aspects of Jewish American history, inspired by our collections. This week’s activities focus on Jewish American women’s history, featuring stories of women from the 1800s and 1900s.
Don’t forget to share photos of you enjoying our crafts and activities on our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Tumblr pages and use #MuseumFromHome.
Download the full Celebrating Jewish American Women’s History activity packet as a single pdf here.
Matching Maryland Jewish Women
Test your memory skills with this classic card matching game.
Each pair of cards features a different notable Maryland Jewish Woman! All the women and images featured in this game are from the JMM collections.
Supplies needed:
Download and print cards
Scissors
Download Instructions for Matching Maryland Jewish Women Game
Create Your Own Women’s History Card
Use this activity to make them their very own matching card! You can share the cards you create with women you chose, letting them know how much you appreciate them. You can also add your newly created cards to the matching game you made in the activity above.
Supplies needed:
Paper
Pencil or pen
Craft supplies
Download Instructions for Creating Your Own Women’s History Card
Suffrage Buttons
Did you know that 2020 marks the centennial anniversary (that’s 100 years!) of the 19th Amendment? This amendment gave women the right to vote in America. But this amendment took a lot of work, especially by suffragists (people who fought for women to have the right to vote). There were many Jewish American women who counted themselves as suffragists – including Maryland Jewish women like Sadie Jacobs Crockin.
One way suffragists advertised their support for the movement was by creating and wearing buttons, often with the phrase “votes for women” on them. In this activity you can design and create your own suffrage button.
Supplies needed:
Recycled cardboard
Scissors
Craft supplies
Safety pin
Tape
Download Instructions for Creating a Suffrage Pin
Jewish Women Write Science Fiction:
Many works of science fiction have been written by Jewish authors, and a Jewish inventor coined the term science fiction.
Click on their names to check out the work of a few Jewish female sci-fi authors including Baltimore-based Sarah Pinsker, Sally Ember, Pat Cadigan, and Pamela Sargent. Then, use your imagination to create your own sci-fi story!
Supplies needed:
Piece of paper
Pencil or pen
Craft supplies
Download Instructions for Writing Science Fiction
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg:
This activity is inspired by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the first Jewish woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court. During her 13 years on the Supreme Court, she became known for advancing women’s rights and earned the title “the great dissenter” because of her ability to disagree strongly but respectfully.
She was also known for the various collars she wore to express her opinions about court rulings or political events. In honor of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, create your own artistic collar to express an idea or cause that you believe in.
Supplies Needed:
• Collar template (provided)
• Scissors
• Craft supplies
• Ribbon
• Tape or glue
Download Instructions for Ruth Bader Ginsburg Collar
Keep Discovering
There is so much more to learn about Jewish American Women’s History! We’ve got a few resources highlighted below and we encourage you to do some looking on your own.
There were many Jewish American women involved in the suffrage movement, like Ernestine Rose (check out these two great JMM blog posts, The First Feminist and America’s Jewish Women) as well as Maud Nathan, Anita Pollitzer, and Gertrude Weil.
Explore the Jewish Women’s Archive for even more stories about Jewish American Women and Suffrage, along with a ton more Jewish American Women’s History!
For something a little more contemporary (that means happening now) follow along with this reading of I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark about the first Jewish woman on the U.S. Supreme Court.
You can find more great kids books about RGB here.
Did you know that a major landmark in the United States has strong ties to an American Jewish woman?
The poem written on a plaque in the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty was written by Emma Lazarus. Learn more about Emma here. You can even learn about Henrietta Szold’s connection to Emma Lazarus here!