Happy Thanksgiving!
These images come from a 1937 farming extension report submitted by the Carson Indian Agency to Commissioner of Indian Affairs.
Note the caption on one of the images, “As usual, the women do most of the work.” This caption was written by Alida C. Bowler, the Superintendent of the Agency, who was also a woman. Her unique perspective shows through as she was documenting the turkey flocks raised by the local families.
Images from our holdings of the Phoenix Area Office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (RG 75) at the National Archives at Riverside.
On June 4, 1919, the suffrage amendment passed both houses of Congress and was sent to the states for ratification. Initial efforts to secure the right to vote for women in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s achieved some success at the state level, but women’s organizations finally concluded that an amendment to the U.S. Constitution was essential for woman suffrage. World War I played an important role in helping women achieve the right to vote as many women began to work outside the home to support the war effort. In 1917 President Woodrow Wilson called for a Constitutional amendment, and though the House passed a woman suffrage amendment in 1918, it failed in the Senate, largely because of the opposition from southern states. After the amendment passed Congress in 1919, many states quickly approved it, and on August 13, 1920 Tennessee became the 36th state to approve the amendment. Two weeks later, on August 26, Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby signed the certification that the required number of states had ratified the Nineteenth Amendment. However, in early 1920, five states rejected the amendment. Mississippi was among them. Political cartoonist Clifford K. Berryman portrays the Mississippi rejection as an April Fool’s joke played on the suffrage movement.
April First by Clifford K. Berryman, 4/1/1920, U.S. Senate Collection (ARC 6011595)
WAAC Recruitment Brochure
On May 14, 1942, Congress approved the creation of a Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) for women to serve in noncombatant military positions. This 1942 recruitment brochure encouraged women to join. Only the cover of the brochure is shown.
One word: Amazing!
Just in case you still haven’t decided on a proper chapeau for the Kentucky Derby…
We now present to you a Flickr collection from the Truman Library all about hats.
The Library has many photos of First Lady Bess Truman wearing hats, and the archivists culled their holdings for images of men and women in history wearing hats.
According to Bess’s best friend, Mary Paxton, “Bess had more stylish hats than the rest of us did, or she wore them with more style…” Here’s a photo of the BFFs, Bess and Mary in 1901. Bess is on the left, wearing a hat with a large ruffle and feather.
40 days til the 1940 census
no. 31
What are the ladies up to? In the 1930 U.S. Census, a social worker, Alida C. Bowler was living on Kensington Road in Los Angeles, California. By 1937, she was the Superintendent at Carson Indian Agency in rural Nevada. In these images, she is checking out the work the Shoshone and Paiute women were doing with their poultry (RG 75).
Some things never change: The hard work of raising birds was needed because “…they pay the grocery bill.”
Dolly Moose and May Decker (Mrs. Louis Hicks) helped to support their families with their flocks. From the holdings of the National Archives at Riverside.
Counting down 40 Days til the 1940 Census
no. 27
Caption Information:
“Colorado River 12. A full-blood Yuma Indian in California decorates a piece of pottery which she has made by hand from native materials. While Yuma pottery is not well-known as some of the pottery of other tribes, still it has a distinctive style. Present-day policies encourage the Indians to market genuine Indian wares instead of cheap imitations some Indians had been making to meet the tourist trade demands, which are essentially unsatisfactory. Genuine Indian wares, such as sturdy baskets and pottery, serve utilitarian purposes for indians in their daily lives. Colorado Indian Agency, Parker, Arizona. Photo by Werner, 1940.”
40 Days til the 1940 Census
no. 24
Circa 1937: “As usual, the women do most of the work.”
From Annual Extension Reports of the Carson Indian Agency, 1937 (RG 75). From the holdings of the National Archives at Riverside.
40 Days til the 1940 Census
no. 23
“Maricopa Pottery Firing demonstration back of Phoenix Federal Art Center. 1939.”
The woman in the series of images demonstrates each step for the a photo series held in an Annual Extension Report of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
40 days til the 1940 Census
no. 19
Two big changes in the 1930s and 1940s: large numbers of radios in people’s houses and large numbers of women in the military. We thought this image was a nice combination of both those things.
The photograph, “WACs Listening to News Broadcast,” was taken in 1944 by the publicity photographers at the Port of Embarkation, Los Angeles, CA (RG 336). From the holdings of the National Archives at Riverside.
“Cmdr. Thomas A. Gaylord, USN (Ret’d), administers oath to five new Navy nurses commissioned in New York…” Phyllis Mae Dailey, the Navy’s first African-American nurse, is second from the right. March 8, 1945.
