Grant to guide way onto the path of women's history

Here's one for the history books.

The History Channel has awarded a $10,000 grant to the Boston Women's Heritage Trail and the Codman Academy Charter School to develop a historic women's walking trail in Dorchester.

The money is one of the channel's Save Our History grants, given to 29 historical organizations nationwide to engage children in the preservation of local history.

The Codman School, at 637 Washington St., will use the money for a course that teaches local women's history to 30 students in grades 9 through 12 with help from the Boston Women's Heritage Trail, a nonprofit group of the Boston public schools system.

The course is slated to run for 10 consecutive Saturdays beginning March 5 and include four field trips.

Part of the course will require students to venture out in their neighborhoods and gather oral histories from relatives, friends, and neighbors to learn about the lives and achievements of women who shaped Dorchester.

One local example will be Lucy Stone, a Pope's Hill resident who championed women's rights nationally in the 1800s.

The students' research will culminate in developing the Dorchester Women's History Trail, similar in spirit to the Freedom Trail.

"We've got some rich history here that should be known locally and more widely," said Meg Campbell, founder of the Boston Women's Heritage Trail and head of the Codman Academy Charter School. "We want to look at the women who kind of touched down in Dorchester."

The students will also work to design, create, and distribute 1,000 walking trail brochures that would include a map of historic highlights that would eventually be posted on www.bwht.org.

"It's always important for people to know their own history and to celebrate and honor it," said Campbell.

JOHNNY DIAZ