Illustrations by Juliette Toma

STANDARDS

Common Core: RH.6-8.1, RH.6-8.2, RH.6-8.4, RH.6-8.9, WHST.6-8.2, WHST.6-8.4, WHST.6-8.7, WHST.6-8.8, RI.6-8.1, RI.6-8.2, RI.6-8.4, RI.6-8.10, SL.6-8.1, SL.6-8.6

NCSS: Time, Continuity, and Change • Individual Development and Identity • Civic Ideals and Practices

FLASHBACK

True Teens of History

These Girls Broke Barriers!

Meet four young women who challenged injustice in their communities­—and whose actions made lasting impacts on the country. 

As You Read, Think About: What injustice did each teen face? How did she respond to it?

2010 ❘ Constance McMillen
She pushed to expand LGBTQ rights in American schools.

Illustration by Juliette Toma

Growing up in Fulton, Mississippi, Constance McMillen dreamed of attending her prom. By the time she was a senior at Itawamba Agricultural High School in 2010, the 18-year-old had come out as gay and wanted to take her girlfriend to the dance. There had never been an openly gay couple at her public school before, so Constance asked the principal for permission to attend with her girlfriend.

He told Constance that the girls could go to the dance—but not together. He also said they’d be thrown out of the event if they were caught slow-dancing or holding hands. In addition, he refused Constance’s request to wear a tuxedo.

Constance knew she was being discriminated against. She contacted the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) for help. The legal rights group sent a letter to Constance’s school demanding that same-sex couples be allowed to attend prom. A week later, the Itawamba County School District canceled the dance altogether.

In response, the ACLU sued the school district on the grounds that it had violated Constance’s First Amendment right to freedom of expression. The judge in the case agreed. The Itawamba County School District had to pay Constance a settlement. It also created a district-wide policy that protects students from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

Although Constance didn’t get to attend her own prom, she ensured that countless other students after her could attend theirs—with whomever they choose. In the process, she strengthened the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) students everywhere.

1969 ❘ Alice de Rivera
She fought against gender discrimination in schools.

Illustration by Juliette Toma

Alice de Rivera was a math whiz. In 1969, not only had the 13-year-old skipped a grade, she had earned one of the highest scores on a region-wide math exam. Yet the New York City ninth-grader longed for greater challenges.

She wanted to attend nearby Stuyvesant High School. Widely regarded as one of the country’s best public schools, Stuyvesant offered a specialized math and science program. 

However, like many of the top U.S. high schools and universities at the time, the school accepted only boys. Knowing she had the grades to attend the school, Alice requested an application anyway. She was promptly denied by the school’s principal.

So with the help of a lawyer, Alice filed a lawsuit against the state of New York’s Board of Education. The suit claimed that Stuyvesant High School was discriminating against Alice because of her gender. 

The trial lasted several months. Finally, just as the case was about to be decided, the Board of Education repealed Stuyvesant’s gender restrictions. For the first time, the school, which was founded in 1904, would accept girls!

In the fall of 1969, 13 girls enrolled there. But Alice, who is now a doctor in Maine, wasn’t among them. That’s because her family moved away soon after the trial. Still, her case had a historic impact on education in the United States. Across the country, male-only schools, including some top universities such as Princeton and Yale, began accepting girls and women. And today, more than 50 years after the lawsuit, nearly half of Stuyvesant students are female.

1955 ❘ Claudette Colvin
She took a stand against racism—by staying in her seat.

Illustration by Juliette Toma

In 1955, several months before Rosa Parks famously refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama, a 15-year-old high school student took the same brave stance first.

Claudette Colvin had had enough of the racist Jim Crow laws that segregated black people from white people in the South. At the time, African Americans couldn’t eat at most restaurants, were forced to drink from separate water fountains, and, in Montgomery, had to give their seats to white passengers on public buses.

On March 2, Claudette was sitting on a crowded bus when the driver demanded that she give her seat to a white woman. Claudette refused, stating that it was her constitutional right to sit there. The driver called the police, who arrested her.

Few know the story of how Claudette stood up to racial injustice.

Black people in Montgomery had been subjected to such mistreatment for years. But Claudette’s rebellion signaled a new spirit. When Parks refused to give up her bus seat later that year, the act sparked the Montgomery bus boycott. African Americans refused to ride city buses until the laws were changed.

Although Parks’s story is better known today, Claudette continued to play a huge role in the desegregation of Montgomery’s buses. She was one of the plaintiffs in Browder v. Gayle, a federal court case that challenged the city’s bus policy. In 1956, that case—including Claudette’s testimony—made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declared segregation on all public buses unconstitutional.

Today, Claudette is a retired nurse’s aide living in New York City. She’s proud of her role in the U.S. civil rights movement.

2005 ❘ Tatyana McFadden
She helped ensure that students with disabilities can compete in school sports.

Illustration by Juliette Toma

Tatyana McFadden was born in Russia with a condition that left her paralyzed from the waist down. Unable to care for her, her mother left her at an orphanage when she was just a baby. 

In 1994, when Tatyana was a young girl, she was adopted and brought to Maryland. Tatyana was underweight and in poor health, so her adoptive mother enrolled her in wheelchair sports to help build her strength. Tatyana took part in everything from basketball to ice hockey. But she found her true talent—and passion—in wheelchair track and field.

By the time Tatyana was 15, her racing skills had qualified her for the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece. There, she won two medals.

This champion’s greatest win was helping others with disabilities.

Back home in the U.S., however, competing wasn’t so simple. Officials at her school—Atholton High School, in Columbia, Maryland—wouldn’t allow Tatyana to race in track meets against able-bodied runners. They said her racing wheelchair created a safety hazard and gave her an unfair advantage. 

Fed up with being blocked from participating, Tatyana sued her school district for the right to compete with fellow student athletes—and won. 

Her lawsuit paved the way for the 2008 passage of a statewide law guaranteeing all Maryland students with disabilities the right to participate in school sports. And, thanks in part to Tatyana’s lobbying, the legislation became federal law in 2013. 

Now 30, the athlete has won dozens of world championships and marathons— plus 17 Paralympic medals. But she says her greatest achievement is helping ensure that students with disabilities can take part in school sports nationwide.

Write About It! Choose one of the teens from the article to research. Tell her life story in a written biography, graphic novel, movie script, or podcast episode. Include any challenges she faced in her fight for equality.

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