As Women’s History Month draws to a close, I was inspired to look back at the archives of the Picture This blog and to note the many ways we have celebrated the contributions of women in history. We have written posts about women making their mark, such as Shirley Chisholm and Amelia Earhart. And we have shared the stories of women like Susan B. Anthony, fighting for women’s rights. And as a division focused on visual materials, we have highlighted the work of women photographers and artists. Whether they are the subject of the story or the ones creating the images, all these women were making history. In light of this, I added a new category—Women’s History—to the several dozen posts we have written to mark the contributions of women and to make it easier to find these posts. I’ll share a few examples below:
Shirley Chisholm in Pictures: Unbought and Unbossed
Learn about groundbreaking politician and activist Shirley Chisholm in Shirley Chisholm in Pictures: Unbought and Unbossed. “Elected as a Representative for New York’s 12th congressional district in 1968, Chisholm was the first Black woman to serve in the United States Congress. Just a few years later, she began a campaign for the U.S. presidency, becoming the first African American candidate from a major party and the first woman from the Democratic party to do so.”
Women at Work: Glimpses through Time
Explore a visual overview of women in the workplace through the collections from the Prints & Photographs Division in Women at Work: Glimpses through Time. “While single images can hardly tell the rich and complex story of women’s participation in the workforce, I realized that some images from different collections depict related experiences and, sometimes, in their similarities and differences, help us reflect on how intent shapes content and composition.”
Anything to Get the Shot: Photos by “Flash-Light”
Frances Benjamin Johnston had a long career as a photographer, spanning more than six decades from the late nineteenth century into the mid-twentieth. Learn about one of her many projects, photographing Mammoth Cave in Kentucky in Anything to Get the Shot: Photos by “Flash-Light”. “Frances Benjamin Johnston ventured underground to photograph several times, including visits in the early 1890s to the same Mammoth Cave, on assignment for Demorest’s Family Magazine. She used a combination of magnesium and chlorate of potash powders, mixed and lit on the spot, to take these dramatically lit images.”
Learn More:
- Revisit all of the Picture This blog posts related to Women’s History to date.
- Explore Research Guides for the Library of Congress about Gender and Women’s Studies.
- Enjoy past concerts and talks during Women’s History Month at the Library.