Ona Judge

 

  

Center for Civic Education: Ona Judge 

Ona Judge escaped George and Martha Washington's household, where she was an enslaved housemaid, and made her way to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where she eluded George Washington's determined attempts to capture her. She made a new life for herself in New Hampshire, marrying and having three children. Her side of her remarkable story survives because she gave interviews to at least two abolitionist newspapers.

POP QUIZ:

USCIS 100:60.  What group of people was taken to America and sold as slaves?

USCIS 100:64.  There were 13 original states.  Name three.

USCIS 100:70.  Who was the first President?*

USCIS 100:74.  Name one problem that led to the Civil War.

USCIS 100:55.  What are two ways that Americans can participate in their democracy?

Harriet Tubman Day

Harriet Tubman Day is an American holiday in honor of the anti-slavery activist Harriet Tubman, observed on March 10 in the whole country, and in the U.S. state of New York. Observances also occur locally around the U.S. state of Maryland.

 

TED-ED: The breathtaking courage of Harriet Tubman - Janell Hobson

Take a closer look at the life of escaped slave and American icon Harriet Tubman, who liberated over 700 enslaved people using the Underground Railroad.

Escaping slavery; risking everything to save her family; leading a military raid; championing the cause of women’s suffrage; these are just a handful of the accomplishments of one of America’s most courageous heroes. Janell Hobson details Harriet Tubman's many fights for freedom.

Lesson by Janell Hobson, directed by Yan Dan Wong.

POP Quiz

60. What group of people was taken to America and sold as slaves?

92. Name one state that borders Canada.

73. Name the U.S. war between the North and the South.

74. Name one problem that led to the Civil War.

76. What did the Emancipation Proclamation do?

48. There are four amendments to the Constitution about who can vote. Describe one of them.

77. What did Susan B. Anthony and Harriet Tubman do?

55. What are two ways that Americans can participate in their democracy?

Connect Historical Figures Life Lesson to Adult Students’ Lives through Generative AI Interviews (full article)

Immigrant students are required to learn about important American historical figures with whom they do not share a cultural or emotional connection. Putting the name and face of American hero on a classroom poster, street sign, or dollar bill is no guarantee that a student will understand the values and historical contributions that are being honored. The key is to find common experiences and struggles that resonate across culture. How many of our adult learners have been denied opportunities because of their country of origin just as Washington was denied a career in the British military because he was colonial-born? How many of our students are still walking, like Harriet Tubman, even though they have crossed over to a “free state?” Teaching students how to use generative AI tools may help students connect on multiple levels.

The initial lesson generated by Humy.AI-generated Harriet Tubman Interview was too juvenile in tone for an intermediate-level English literacy level adult students. Adapting the example from Google Applied Digital Skills: Introduction to Research and Interview a Person from History and supplementing with graphics from NPS.gov: Underground Railroad, more fully informed students of hard details of Tubman’s life. They began to see parallels between her escape and their own immigration journey. Students extended both the historical research and digital skills objectives by submitting the first two interview questions from the above Google Applied Digital Skills: Harriet Tubman plus added their own clarification questions) to Humy AI Chat with Harriet Tubman which was able to convey to communicate the emotional content that was hidden behind the text and graphics. Because the novelty of using a generative AI chatbot exposed common ground of growth, loss, and the need to carry-on, students emerged from the Humy.AI interview (source: interview transcript) with a much deeper connection with their adopted culture, not only with the historical figure, Harriet Tubman, but with each other.

Learn more:

• Back Story: Harriet Tubman Day
• Harriet Tubman: Harriet Tubman Day
• Harriet Tubman Byway:  Story and Events
• US Mint: Harriet Tubman Coins
• Wikipedia: Harriet Tubman Day

Incorporating Digital Literacy in an Adult Citizenship Curriculum

 

 pdf

Coverture and the Colonial Era

 

Center for Civic Education: Coverture and the Colonial Era 

 

March is Women's History Month! All this month, 60-Second Civics will explain the struggle for equal rights for women and how our Constitution and laws evolved to make our nation a more representative democracy. 

In this episode, A married woman living during the American colonial era would have lived under the legal doctrine called "coverture," where her legal identity was subsumed under that of her husband. William Blackstone wrote, "By marriage, the husband and wife are one person in the law: that is, the very being or legal existence of the woman is suspended during the marriage, or at least is incorporated and consolidated into that of the husband: under whose wing, protection, and cover, she performs every thing." This was governed by colonial law before independence and state law after independence. It would not change substantially after the Revolution in most states, but divorce and child custody laws would change.

Also watch New York Historical: What is Coverture? (WAMS E01)

2024-2025 MAE Citizenship Class 21

Khan Academy: Benjamin Franklin as diplomat | US History 

This is the fifth class of our new semester.  

• Future Citizenship: Greetings and Shaking Hands 140-141; George Washington and Benjamin Franklin 19-22
• 05 Practice Citizenship Interview based on the USCIS Form N-400 (2024)
• Numbers quiz
• C-1 Interview
• Preparing for the Oath: Famous Citizens

Learn more:

• US Citizenship Resources for Women's History Month post  

The Struggle for Equality

 

Center for Civic Education: The Struggle for Equality 

 

March is Women's History Month! All this month, 60-Second Civics will explain the struggle for equal rights for women and how our Constitution and laws evolved to make our nation a more representative democracy. In this episode, we briefly trace the struggle of women for equal voting rights in the United States.

U.S. Citizenship Resources for Women's History Month

Happy Women's History Month! (updated 2025-03-01)

Resources

• WomensHistoryMonth.gov 2025
• ACLU: Major Supreme Court Decisions On Women's Rights pdf 
• AmericanEnglish.state.gov: Women's History Month pdf
• CivicEd: Women's History Month page
• Click View: What is International Women's Day video
• Women in the 19th Century: Crash Course US History #16 (video)
• Crash Course: Women's Suffrage: Crash Course US History #31 video
• DOD.gov: Celebrating Women's History Month video
• DOL.gov: Women's History Month
• EL Civics: National Women's History Month
• ESL Library: International Women's Day (new beginning LP plus more lessons)
• Five Minded: The History of International Women's Day video
• Google Arts and Culture: New Beginnings: Immigrant Women and The American Experience
• House.gov: Women in Congress
• iCivics: Women's History Month
• National Women's History Museum: Online Exhibits
• NPS.gov: Woman's Suffrage History Timeline
• SI.edu Postal Museum: Women on Stamps Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
• State.gov: Secretary of State's International Women of Courage Award
• TED-ed: Well-behaved women seldom make history video playlist
• TED-ed: The historic women’s suffrage march on Washington - Michelle Mehrtens video
• TED-ed: Who were Las Mariposas, and why were they murdered? - Lisa Krause video
• UN: Women's Footprint in History: Interactive Timeline
• UN Women: A global history of women’s rights, in 3 minutes video
• UnLadylike 2020: Unsung Women who Changed America English | select Spanish CC on YouTube
• US Courts: Women's History Month
• US Mint: American Women Quarters™ Program page
• USPS: Women on Stamps pdf
• WomensHistoryMonth.gov: March is Women's History Month

VOA News:

• 21 Extraordinary Women Honored with Courage Award 2021
• 100th  Anniversary of US Women’s Voting Rights 2020
• For 200 Years Women Fought for Their Rights in the US (2020)
• Equal Pay Reminder of Pay Disparity Between Men, Women 2022
• Pioneers of Women's Voting Rights Highlighted in New Exhibit (2020)
• VOA Special Report: Suffragist Village

uscitizenpod: PDFs and Podcasts

• American Women who Fought for the Right to Vote mp3 / pdf 
• Eight Outstanding Americans by Choice for International Women’s Day! podcast / pdf
• Four American Women in Honor of Women’s History Month pdf
• International Women's Day pdf
• Women and USCIS 100 Questions: Civics mp3  pdf
• Women in the Executive Branch podcast / pdf
• Women in the Legislative Branch Quiz podcast / pdf (fixed)
• Women in the Judicial Branch podcast / pdf

uscitizenpod: Podcasts and Videos

• Azucena Guevara’s First Practice U.S. Citizenship Interview (video)
• Elvia Velázquez’s Practice U.S. Citizenship Interview  video
• Maria Flores’ Practice U.S. Citizenship Interview (video)
• Martha Arroyo Orozco’s Practice U.S. Citizenship Interview (video)
• Maya Gomes (Guatemala)’s Practice U.S. Citizenship Interview Part 1 (video) (podcast)
• Maya Gomes (Guatemala)’s Practice U.S. Citizenship Interview Part 2 (video) (podcast)
• Nga Tran's U.S. Citizenship Interview video
• Patrice Lumumba (Senegal)’s Practice U.S. Citizenship Interview  (video) (podcast)
• La Entrevista de Ciudadanía en Español con audio mejorado video
• Thao Nguyen: Happy New Year, Happy New U.S. Citizen! video
• Thi Nhung Phan's Practice U.S. Citizenship Interview (video)
• Thi Nhung Phan's Second Practice U.S. Citizenship Interview video
• Thien Thi Kim Phan’s Practice U.S. Citizenship Interview  video
• Thuy Thu Pham’s Practice Citizenship Interview (video)
• Thuan Thi Dieu Vo's Practice U.S. Citizenship Interview video
• Thuan nói về cuộc phỏng vấn thi công dân Hoa Kỳ của cô video
• Yinghong Xu’s Practice U.S. Citizenship Interview  (video) (podcast)

Family Fun!

• Classroom Doodles: Women's History Month
• Education: Women's History Month Worksheets and Printables (4 pages)
• Highlights Along the Way: Women's History Month

Toledo welcomes 40 new US citizens in naturalization ceremony

 

WTOL 11: Toledo welcomes 40 new US citizens in naturalization ceremony 

The ceremony at the Main Library in downtown Toledo was led by Magistrate Judge Darrell Clay.