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.
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.