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Sound Learning Monthly Feature: No Place for a Woman

In 1970, nearly half the women in the United States had paying jobs, but most were for low pay. Women were waitresses, clerks, and cleaning ladies. Less than five percent of lawyers were women. About three percent of police officers were women. In the iron mines of northern Minnesota, zero percent of the steelworkers were women. But in the mid-70s, women there began taking jobs running shovels, driving trucks, and operating enormous machines in the ore processing plants.

While women had worked in the mines before, most notably during the Second World War, this was the first time they competed directly with men for the same jobs. Some of the men tried to force the women miners out. Women were harassed, threatened, and even assaulted. "No Place for a Woman," a documentary from American RadioWorks, chronicles how the women miners of northern Minnesota fought back, and made legal history.

Use the documentary as a starting point for discussing labor history and the struggle for women's rights. Included in this month's feature are resources and lesson templates designed to help you connect the documentary with your history or reading curriculum. Each lesson template correlates with the Minnesota Graduation Standards. A note of warning: the program contains graphic language and descriptions. It may not be appropriate for students younger than the high school level.

Use these templates to help you integrate the material in the American RadioWorks program "No Place for a Woman" with your social studies or language arts curriculum
Lesson template a class discussion on the "No Place for a Woman" documentary.
Document Word format | DocumentPDF format
Lesson template for using the "No Place for a Woman" documentary to help your students prepare for the Minnesota Reading Basic Skills Test.
Document Word format | DocumentPDF format
Excerpts for the reading comprehension lesson template:
Document "A Man's World" excerpted from the online article "A Man's Job." Includes practice questions.
Document "The Lawsuit" excerpt from the online article "A Legal Landmark."
Document "The Legacy" excerpt from the online article "The Legacy."
Selected Resources
Use these resources to help you use the American RadioWorks feature "No Place for a Woman" in your classroom:

DocumentNo Place for a Woman Web site

DocumentIron Range Region Historical Overview from the Minnesota Historical Society

Document"Iron Range Map" from the Minnesota Historical Society

PDF"Bedrock Geology of the Mesabi Iron Range" from the Minnesota Geological Survey (6.3 MB PDF file)



Use these excerpts and articles to assess your students' reading comprehension:

Document "A Man's World" excerpted from the online article "A Man's Job." Includes practice questions.

Document "The Lawsuit" excerpt from the online article "A Legal Landmark."

Document "The Legacy" excerpt from the online article "The Legacy."

Document "Women Enter the Mines" excerpted from the online article "A Man's Job."

Document "While the Men Were At War" (complete article)



Use these resources for background information:

DocumentAmerican Women from The Library of Congress American Memory project.

DocumentWomen and Social Movements in the United States, 1775–2000 by Thomas Dublin and Kathryn Kish Sklar



DocumentLiteracy and Sound Learning: Strategies for Thoughtful Reading



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