Excerpt... But Beware!
Sometimes it is wise to take an excerpt from a source when the text is too difficult or too long. If an excerpt is taken, make sure you fill in the students on the missing content so they can understand it in its true context.
Activity
Read the primary sources listed below. How did your interpretation of the writers' viewpoints on women's rights change as you read through all of the letters. What do you think is the relationship of the writers?
- Letter from Alexander Graham Bell to Mabel Hubbard Bell, October 5, 1875
- Letter from Mabel Hubbard Bell to Alexander Graham Bell, October 13, 1875
- Letter from Alexander Graham Bell to Mabel Hubbard Bell, October 18, 1875
- Letter from Mabel Hubbard Bell to Alexander Graham Bell, October 23, 1875
After spending some time inferring the relationship between the writers, go to the Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers on the Library of Congress American Memory site to research and discover if your inferences were accurate.
by Eliza Hamrick and Donna Levene
