U.S. Civil Rights Movement

"Men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less." - Susan B. Anthony Throughout the late 1800's and the early 1900's, women all over the world lobbied for their rights. The right to vote wasn't given to women in the U.S. until 1920. These photos capture many of the struggles of those women fighting for civil rights.

Most Americans have their first voting experience in school - class president, vice-president, and other officers are chosen every year. So begins their foray into democracy. In the beginning of our democracy, only white men who were property owners could vote. In the succeeding decades, African-Americans and women were added to the Constitution, giving a political voice to those who were previously left out. It's thanks to great people from our past like those mentioned below that we owe our thanks for the rights that we take for granted today.

There is a lot of controversy about statues on public land that honor those on the Confederacy side of the U.S. Civil War. Many of these statues and monuments - in fact the majority - were erected decades after the Civil War from about 1900 through 1920 (after the Plessy v. Ferguson trial which upheld racial segregation laws) and during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960's. Who were these men to whom a majority of these statues are dedicated? Perhaps the most interesting perspective comes from Robert E. Lee, one of the men who has the most memorials: "I think it wiser,” he wrote about a proposed Gettysburg memorial in 1869, “…not to keep open the sores of war but to follow the examples of those nations who endeavored to obliterate the marks of civil strife, to commit to oblivion the feelings engendered.”

Holy men, hunters, chiefs, merchants and ceremonial dancers - discover photos of the indigenous peoples of North America. We're fortunate that photographers like Edward Curtis and Heyn & Matzen took such pains to document Native American culture around 1900. Many are included here, as well as a couple from the 1920's.

While some charges such as being "unattractive", having a "shrill voice", and not looking "Presidential" persist, the truth is that woman now have the right to vote thanks to the brave women suffragettes such as those in this video.

The history of the Native American peoples is long, diverse, and complex. When Europeans came to North American shores the lives of Native Americans changed forever. However, with the invention of the camera and photography some of the tribal groups, as well as daily and spiritual events, were documented.

These photos celebrate the courage, talent, and genius of families and individuals in the African-American community who contributed to the United States since the beginning. Some of these individuals are known, but I bet that many of these photos will surprise you.