A section of a large mosaic of Ida B. Wells displayed at Union Station in Washington, DC, in August 2020
A section of a large mosaic of Ida B. Wells displayed at Union Station in Washington, DC, in August 2020 (© Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Photo)
Gazing upon 'Portraits of Change'
For the start of Women's History Month, we've come to Union Station in Washington, DC, to view a mosaic of historical photographs of thousands of American women who fought to win voting rights. The ratification of the 19th Amendment, on August 18, 1920, finally secured the legal right of women to vote, but this mainly benefited white women. Despite heroic contributions to achieve suffrage, Black, Indigenous, and other women of color continued to face barriers to voting in the form of poll taxes, restrictive local laws, and hostile intimidation. This mosaic, called 'Our Story: Portraits of Change,' attempts to show a more complex history of the fight for American women's right to vote.
© Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Photo