+
upworthy
Most Shared

They're here: photos released of 8 female activists that history almost forgot.

If you picture the Victorian era in America, what do you see? Probably the Wild West, or maybe some dude in a top hat.

But the late-1800s were also a hotbed of activism and civil rights struggles, especially among women and African-Americans. History books tend to name a select few, like Sojourner Truth or Booker T. Washington.

But the truth is, we forget that real change is only possible thanks to the labor of countless individuals.


We’re now getting another chance to peer into the past thanks to the Library of Congress.

In 2013, the Library of Congress got a hold of the photograph collection of William Henry Richards, a prominent African-American leader who taught at Howard University from 1890 to 1928.

In the collection, they found portraits of the young, badass female African-American activists whom Richards worked alongside.

1. People like Maria Baldwin

Photo by Elmer Chickering. Image via the Library of Congress.

Baldwin was a teacher and civics leader. In 1889, she became principal of the Agassiz Grammar School, turning it into one of the best schools in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

2. Hallie Quinn Brown

Photo by F. S. Biddle. Image via the Library of Congress.

A dean, professor, and lecturer, Brown founded civics organizations, spoke at national political conventions, and represented the United States at the 1899 International Congress of Women.

3. Anna J. Cooper

Photo by Falor & Smedley. Image via the Library of Congress.

Another notable educator, Cooper wrote "A Voice from the South by a Black Woman of the South," which called for equal education and the advancement of other opportunities for black women.

4. Lillian Parker Thomas

Photo by Giers & Koellein. Image via the Library of Congress.

Thomas, a journalist, was a local and correspondent editor for the New York Freeman, and she is believed to have been the first black woman to be a professional theater critic.

5. Clarissa M. Thompson

Image via the Library of Congress.

Thompson was a poet, novelist, educator, and an advocate for the Woman's Christian Temperance Union.

6. Laura A. Moore Westbrook

Image via the Library of Congress.

A passionate educator, in 1880, Westbrook moved to Victoria, Texas, where she took over as the Victoria city school principal.

7. Fannie Barrier Williams

Photo by Paul Tralles. Image via the Library of Congress.

A teacher, political activist, and women's rights advocate, Williams helped found the NAACP.

8. Josephine Silone Yates

Photo by The New Photographic Art Company. Image via the Library of Congress.

Yates was a poet, writer, columnist, teacher, and activist. She helped organize the Women's League of Kansas City and became its first president.

It's thanks to these labors of these women, and countless others like them, that we're able to be where we are today.

These women lived in a time where opportunities were hard fought for African-Americans — even more so for African-American women. These haunting, fascinating photos help remind us of who these women were and how much we owe to activists like them.

The Library of Congress hopes these photos will inspire more people to learn about the people who put together America's past.

A pitbull stares at the window, looking for the mailman.


Dogs are naturally driven by a sense of purpose and a need for belonging, which are all part of their instinctual pack behavior. When a dog has a job to do, it taps into its needs for structure, purpose, and the feeling of contributing to its pack, which in a domestic setting translates to its human family.

But let’s be honest: In a traditional domestic setting, dogs have fewer chores they can do as they would on a farm or as part of a rescue unit. A doggy mom in Vancouver Island, Canada had fun with her dog’s purposeful uselessness by sharing the 5 “chores” her pitbull-Lab mix does around the house.

Keep ReadingShow less
Representative Image from Canva

Let's not curse any more children with bad names, shall we?

Some parents have no trouble giving their children perfectly unique, very meaningful names that won’t go on to ruin their adulthood. But others…well…they get an A for effort, but might want to consider hiring a baby name professional.

Things of course get even more complicated when one parent becomes attached to a name that they’re partner finds completely off-putting. It almost always leads to a squabble, because the more one parent is against the name, the more the other parent will go to bat for it.

This seemed to be the case for one soon-to-be mom on the Reddit AITA forum recently. Apparently, she was second-guessing her vehement reaction to her husband’s, ahem, avant garde baby name for their daughter, which she called “the worst name ever.”

But honestly, when you hear this name, I think you’ll agree she was totally in the right.

Keep ReadingShow less

An English doctor named Edward Jenner took incredible risks to try to rid his world of smallpox. Because of his efforts and the efforts of scientists like him, the only thing between deadly diseases like the ones below and extinction are people who refuse to vaccinate their kids. Don't be that parent.

Unfortunately, because of the misinformation from the anti-vaccination movement, some of these diseases have trended up in a really bad way over the past several years.

Keep ReadingShow less

A beautiful cruise ship crossing the seas.

Going on a cruise can be an incredible getaway from the stresses of life on the mainland. However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t an element of danger when living on a ship 200-plus feet high, traveling up to 35 miles per hour and subject to the whims of the sea.

An average of about 19 people go overboard every year, and only around 28% survive. Cruise ship lawyer Spencer Aronfeld explained the phenomenon in a viral TikTok video, in which he also revealed the secret code the crew uses when tragedy happens.

Keep ReadingShow less
Joy

Kudos to the heroes who had 90 seconds to save lives in the Key Bridge collapse

The loss of 6 lives is tragic, but the dispatch recording shows it could have been so much worse.

Representative image by Gustavo Fring/Pexels

The workers who responded to the Dali's mayday call saved lives with their quick response.

As more details of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore emerge, it's becoming more apparent how much worse this catastrophe could have been.

Just minutes before 1:30am on March 26, shortly after leaving port in Baltimore Harbor, a cargo ship named Dali lost power and control of its steering, sending it careening into a structural pillar on Key Bridge. The crew of the Dali issued a mayday call at 1:26am to alert authorities of the power failure, giving responders crucial moments to prepare for a potential collision. Just 90 seconds later, the ship hit a pylon, triggering a total collapse of the 1.6-mile bridge into the Patapsco River.

Dispatch audio of those moments shows the calm professionalism and quick actions that limited the loss of life in an unexpected situation where every second counted.

Keep ReadingShow less
Joy

Yale's pep band had to miss the NCAA tournament. University of Idaho said, 'We got you.'

In an act of true sportsmanship, the Vandal band learned Yale's fight song, wore their gear and cheered them on.

Courtesy of University of Idaho

The Idaho Vandals answered the call when Yale needed a pep band.

Yale University and the University of Idaho could not be more different. Ivy League vs. state school. East Coast vs. Pacific Northwest. City vs. farm town. But in the first two rounds of the NCAA basketball tournament, extenuating circumstances brought them together as one, with the Bulldogs and the Vandals becoming the "Vandogs" for a weekend.

When Yale made it to the March Madness tournament, members of the school's pep band had already committed to other travel plans during spring break. They couldn't gather enough members to make the trek across the country to Spokane, Washington, so the Yale Bulldogs were left without their fight song unless other arrangements could be made.

When University of Idaho athletic band director Spencer Martin got wind of the need less than a week before Yale's game against Auburn, he sent out a message to his band members asking if anyone would be interested in stepping in. The response was a wave of immediate yeses, so Martin got to work arranging instruments and the students dedicated themselves to learning Yale's fight song and other traditional Yale pep songs.

Keep ReadingShow less