This is a collection of items belonging to, or about, Frances M. Albrier. Although an important female leader and activist during the mid-20th century, many students may not have heard of Ms. Albrier. Encourage students to act as history detectives, exploring the collection to determine why this woman's belongings are in the collections of the Smithsonian.

Some questions to consider:

• What are Albrier's main accomplishments? What types of occupations did she have?
• Based on these, what values do you think were important to her?
• How does Albrier's life reflect major changes for women during the 20th century? Changes for African-Americans?
• What do these items tell us about challenges facing African-American women in the mid-century?
• What remains unknown about Albrier based on this collection? Where else could you go to look for more information?
• Look at an encyclopedia entry for Ms. Albrier. Are there any events mentioned not covered in this collection? What might be a good item to add in order to better show her life?

tags: activism, civil rights, union, labor, voter registration, 60s, world war II, shipyards, WW2, nursing, Red Cross, National Council of Negro Women, Nigeria, independence, peace, moral rearmament, #BecauseOfHerStory