Curriculum - Washington State Historical Society

Looking for a lesson plan, a general overview of Washington State History, or ways to teach with objects? We’ve got it, and we’ll be adding more.

Black History Month special feature

Download a PDF of the article “Here Lies a Suffragist: Nettie Craig Asberry” by Lorraine Rath, who is part of the COLUMBIA Magazine team at Washington State Historical Society. This story was published in the fall 2020 issue of the magazine. Nettie Craig Asberry is believed to be the first Black woman to earn a doctorate in the United States. She lived in Tacoma, Washington, where she was a suffragist and a music teacher. Learn more!

Curriculum updates

Many of our curriculum modules are undergoing improvement and will be reposted as soon as they become available. To accommodate those students and teachers who have been using them for some time, a limited number of lesson plans are available for download below under Lesson Plans.

For additional resources and materials, we encourage you to check out Columbia Magazine’s excellent collection of articles associated with the various topics of our curriculum modules (such as Lewis and Clark, women’s suffrage, Chief Leschi, and railroads). Full PDFs of this quarterly history journal are available.

For more information, contact the Education Department at 253-798-5879.

Printable Exhibitions

Tacoma’s Struggle for Civil Rights

This exhibition is an updated version of a project created in association with the Tacoma Civil Rights Project. It is written for middle school aged readers, but appropriate for many different audiences.

Washington Women Led the Way

Developed to acknowledge the National Women’s Suffrage Centennial, this panel exhibition explores women fighting for and winning the right to vote in Washington State. Follow the link to request the printable exhibition for download.

Curriculum Units

In this section, you will find the stories of Washington and its connections to the world. Offerings range from complete curriculum units to individual lesson plans and student activities. Our units provide both background materials on specific historical subjects and standards-based projects and assessments.

Browse the current selection of units below.

Curriculum Unit

Women's Suffrage in Washington State

Women in Washington gained the right to vote in 1910, and women nationwide gained that right in 1920. In honor of these anniversaries, the Washington State Historical Society created curriculum to share the story of this struggle with students. The fight for women’s suffrage in Washington State is a unique story that explores themes of voting rights and social movements for change.

Curriculum Unit

Cultivating Washington: The History of Our State's Food, Land, and People

HistoryLink, the Washington State Historical Society, digital studio North by Northwest, and digital-learning company Vivayic have teamed with Washington’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop Cultivating Washington, a project that shares the rich history of Washington agriculture with a new generation of students. Cultivating Washington: The History of Our State’s Food, Land, and People is hosted on Moodle via the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The curriculum units have been developed to tell the story of the history of agriculture in Washington state, with special focus on Native Americans, immigrants, globalization, trade, and technology. Each lesson is introduced by a video, and features first-person primary source materials.

Lewis & Clark in Columbia River Country 2

Curriculum Unit

Lewis and Clark in Columbia River Country

Travel through Washington with the Corps of Discovery, exploring such topics as the context for exploration, communication, and tribal cultures. Includes original illustrations by artist Roger Cooke.

Curriculum Unit

The Treaty Trail: U.S.-Indian Treaties in the Pacific Northwest

Examine treaty negotiations in early Washington Territory, following in the footsteps of governor Isaac Stevens, artist Gustav Sohon, and the Native peoples who were displaced in the process.

Curriculum Unit

The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882

In May 1882, Congress, responding to pressure from unions, passed the Chinese Exclusion Act. This treaty with the Chinese Government banned Chinese emigrants from entering America and called for the deportation of anyone of Chinese ancestry who arrived after 1880. Learn more about this Act and its impact on Washington in this curriculum unit.

Lesson Plans

The following section will help you find particular lessons faster by presenting them in Elementary, Middle, and High School groupings that list topics covered and applicable standards.