Heroic Girlz, a synopsis

Four modern 11-year-old girls want to know, “who are we and what will we become?” The answer?  The girls must journey to the past to discover their own futures.  In the Afterlife they become four historic women heroes: Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Amelia Bloomer, Louisa May Alcott, and Amelia Earhart.  Amelia Bloomer eagerly suggests "maybe we’re to relive what it meant to be 11!”   Each woman travels back in time with the help of the others to relive an important moment from her 11-year-old girlhood.   Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s father asks her, “why couldn’t you have been born a boy?” Louisa May Alcott races and writes herself into her future, and Amelia Earhart plummets down a homemade rollercoaster!

Making History: the How and why of HEROIC GIRLZ

...is a short documentary featuring Dr. SuEllen Hamkins, author of THE MOTHER/DAUGHTER PROJECT and recent guest on The Today Show and NPR’s Morning Edition, describing the importance of the arts in the exploration of self and the learning of history. MAKING HISTORY guides the viewer through the process the girls and their teachers took in making HEROIC GIRLZ.

TEACHER’S GUIDE

Director Cindy L. Parrish, a university professor, writer, and teacher’s professional development instructor, and Meg Agnew, professional teaching artist in the schools, have composed this Massachusetts and New York State standards-compatible guide. It details numerous language arts, visual arts and theater arts exercises for the use of the film as well as exercises in “making your own HEROIC GIRLZ.”