13 powerful portraits of women throughout the decades
- National Geographic's powerful photography collection is highlighting women all over the world through photos drawn from the infamous National Geographic archive.
- Here are 13 portraits that capture women's strength and perseverance throughout the decades.
Excerpted from "Women: The National Geographic Image Collection" by National Geographic and Susan Goldberg with permission from National Geographic. Copyright 2019.
1890s: Journalist and civil rights activist Ida B. Wells rallied against injustices faced by people of color until her death in 1931.
Source: Chicago Historical Society, 1890s
1900s: An Ouled Nail woman in Algeria displays her dowry of gold coins.
Source: Lehnert & Landrock, 1905
1910s: Three Japanese women dressed in traditional kimonos pose behind cherry blossoms.
Source: Eliza R. Scidmore, 1918
1920s: Roller skaters stop traffic as they take to the streets in Washington, D.C.
Source: Fred Schutz, 1929
1930s: A group of colorful dancers perform at the Mississippi State College for Women in Columbus.
Source: J. Baylor Roberts, 1937
1940s: Travelers find fields of wildflowers in bloom along Route 99 in the San Joaquin Valley, California.
Source: B. Anthony Stewart, 1942
1950s: A woman walks her dachshund along the Copacabana Promenade in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Source: Charles Allmon, 1955
1960s: A Tahitian woman stands in profile.
Source: Luis Marden, 1962
1970s: A woman walks across a sidewalk in Toronto, Canada.
Source: Sam Abell, 1978
1980s: Two women take a break to share a laugh while working in the rice paddies in Honshu, Japan.
Source: Paul Chesley, 1981
1990s: Veiled actress Benedetta Buccellato performs as la Corifea, the female protagonist in Prometheus Bound, at the Greek Theater of Syracuse in Sicily.
Source: William Albert Allard, 1994
2000s: A woman in Florence, Italy, takes a moment to herself to read a greeting card designed as a newspaper.
Source: Jodi Cobb, 2005
2010s: Members of the Palmer Society, a campus women’s organization, enjoy graduation day at Whittier College, one of the most diverse universities in the United States.
Source: Karla Gachet and Ivan Kashinsky, 2017