Women, Gender and Sexuality Archives - Picturing Black History

A photograph of three African American women who were identified as domestic helpers waiting for a street car, all three women are wearing coats and hats, two men and a woman who are white are also waiting on transportation, Atlanta, Georgia. 1939. From the New York Public Library.

Black Women’s Work and Leisure in the Black Mecca

The everyday lives and struggles of Black women in Atlanta reveal the roots of their activism.

Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784). Portrait of American poet seated at a desk writing with a quill pen. Undated hand-tinted color engraving with an original caption which reads: "Phillis Wheatley, Negro servant to Mr. John Wheatley, of Boston."

Picturing Early Black Women Leaders

From Phillis Wheatley Peters to Ida B. Wells-Barnett, leading Black women activists defined their public images through their portraits to advance their ideas.

Singer Mahalia Jackson speaking at the Illinois Rally for Civil Rights at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois. Over 70,000 persons attended the rally.

Mahalia Jackson and the Music of the Movement

A photograph of Mahalia Jackson in 1964 offers a window on the role of music in the civil rights movement.

Leaning on a porch rail, waiting for their turn at morning exercises are (l-r): 2nd Lts. Joan L. Hamilton, Marjorie S. Mayers, Prudence L. Burnes, and Inez E. Holmes. All are military nurses training to be sent to advanced posts on the Southwest Pacific.

The Integration of the American Military

Hoping to court Black voters in the 1948 Presidential election, President Harry Truman issued Executive Order 9981, an act that significantly changed the armed forces and the Black experience in America.

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater perform 'Revelations' at Sadler's Wells in London, UK, June 1973.

Alvin Ailey’s Pluralistic Vision for America

The famed choreographer used his art to emphasize the universal resonance of African American stories.

The Nineteenth-Century Roots of Black Feminism

Sojourner Truth, Anna Julia Cooper, the National Association of Colored Women, and the foundations of Black women’s struggles today.

MORNING MUSTERING OF THE 'CONTRABAND' AT FORTRESS MONROE, ON THEIR WAY TO THEIR DAY'S WORK, UNDER THE PAY AND DIRECTION OF THE U.S

Journey to Freedom

Enslaved refugees sought freedom in Union contraband camps during the American Civil War.

American gospel singer Sister Rosetta Tharpe standing onstage, singing at the microphone with her guitar, at Cafe Society Downtown, New York City, December 11, 1940

The Godmother of Rock and Roll

The remarkable story of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, a forgotten founder of rock and roll.

Circa 1968: Studio portrait of American pianist and jazz singer Nina Simone (1933 - 2003) reclining on the floor while wearing a sleeveless, V-neck dress with a shell neckpiece.

Nina Simone’s Life in Music and Activism

The performer’s transformation from jazz to politics during the Civil Rights Era

Crowning Miss Parkridge: Black Leisure in Southern California

The Parkridge Country Club demonstrated the fragile promise of African American recreational space in 1920s Los Angeles

Photographs and stories that changed the world

Women, Gender and Sexuality