The Commons provides a wealth of photos of the half of the world being celebrated today, International Women’s Day — every one of them uncommon and important in her own way.

Wilhelmina Drucker, women’s rights pioneer, is portrayed by Truus Claes on the occasion of her seventieth birthday (1917).

Nationaal Archief

Gwyneth Richards, the only girl in the YFC taking part in sheep shearing competitions in Wales (1944).

National Library of Wales

Eileen Power, Professor of Economic History from 1931 to 1940, London School of Economics (1930s).

LSE Library

Co-eds with hoes: The county experimental hop yard recruited Oregon State College coeds for a quick job of hoeing (1944).

Oregon State University Archives

An unnamed 14-year-old striker, actress and political activist Fola La Follette, and prostitute-turned reformer Rose Livingston (1913).

Library of Congress

Rita Trudget (or Trudgett), wicket keeper, in Moore Park, Sydney, Australia (1930s).

State Library of New South Wales

Field Museum Library

U.S. National Archives

U.S. National Archives

New York Public Library

This one’s for you, Shelley!

The Nancy Grey with a whale, Norway.

Library of Congress

A whale in Sydney Harbour.

State Library of New South Wales

Model of a whale.

Smithsonian Institution

Posing on whale bones.

State Library and Archives of Florida

Stranded blackfish whales.

National Library of New Zealand

Whaling / Walvisvaart

Nationaal Archief

A sperm whale jawbone.

Nantucket Historical Association

A large whale skeleton.

Field Museum

Whale-back at pier.

Brooklyn Museum

March 1st is observed as St. David’s Day, a national holiday in Wales. To mark the occasion, some images of the Welsh from across the Commons …

A photochrom image of two knitting and spinning Welshwomen, 1890s, in traditional costumes

[Library of Congress]

Mr. Roberts, a Welsh harpist, c. 1875

Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru/National Library of Wales

A family of Welsh immigrants to Patagonia, Argentina, 1924; this photo was taken as part of the Captain Marshall Field Expedition for Vertebrate Paleontology (1922-1925)

Field Museum Library

Fisherman’s family outside cottage, Tenby, Pembrokeshire, c.1890 (be sure to see the then-and-now posted in the comments on this one)

National Maritime Museum

Welsh artist Frank Brangwyn (1867-1956)

Smithsonian Institution

From a Flickr Gallery curated by david_cory, we bring you … Oddities from the Commons!

Ed E. Ford, comedian, at the Tivoli Theatre, Sydney, ca. 1914 / photographer unknown

State Library of New South Wales

Library Mummers Play, 1980

Library Mummers Play, 1980

Poster for a side show at the Vermont state fair, Rutland (or, as David says, “Disturbing on many levels”)

Library of Congress

Hunter with 3 Foot Grasshopper

Galt Museum & Archives

Sea serpent visitors

Nantucket Historical Association

Check out the rest of David’s gallery for more Oddities from the Commons!

Winter seems to be a bit “off” in the Northern Hemisphere this year — too little snow in the British Columbia mountains, too much snow in Oklahoma, and much too cold in the UK. But winter in the Commons? It’s always wonderful! See more winter and snow in the Commons.

Carol and Bobbie Ann’s February 1953 snowman, in Richmond, Virginia. (Where are Carol and Bobbie Ann today?)

The Library of Virginia

A snowman on the *other* side of the “pond”, in Wales.

LlGC ~ NLW

It’s a much colder winter in Antarctica – or it certainly was in the 1910s.

State Library of New South Wales

The city of Montreal may be saving on snow-clearing costs this year, but this is what we expect a Montreal winter to look like, even 120 years later.

Musée McCord Museum

Snow-clearing out west — the heavy-duty way.

Galt Museum & Archives

Where little snow fell, in London, there was work for the street sweeper.

George Eastman House

It may be work to clear later, but when the snow makes the city nearly disappear into white, that work is more than repaid by beauty.

Library of Congress

Had enough snow? Maybe it’s time for a visit to Florida …

State Library and Archives of Florida

Nina Kuriloff is a New York-based painter whose selections from the Commons have enlivened our Best of the Commons posts recently. Many of our Across the Commons posts recently have drawn on her selections in themed topics in the Flickr Commons group, which this blog grew out of. This one, though, is special, because whether Nina knows it or not, many of the trees she’s discovered in the Commons, wherever they were found, echo her own paintings – Nina’s Trees:

Acacia tree and vegetation – Kenya, 1906

Field Museum

Large fig tree and native vine growing in the middle of sugar cane in the Logan district – Queensland, Australia, 1870

State Library of Queensland, Australia

Passaic River, below the falls (etching) – New Jersey, 1920

New York Public Library

Kembla fig tree – New South Wales, Australia, circa 1900

Powerhouse Museum

Baobab tree – Kenya, 1906

Field Museum

Burns Night celebrates the birthday of Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759-1796), which was January 25. If you like Burns’ poetry, haggis, rutabagas, and Scotch whisky, you might like to find a Burns Night observance near you. Or just recite your favorite poem aloud and have a look at some appropriate images from across the Commons.

At a Burns Night in 1958, the festivities include the Piping in of the Haggis.

Galt Museum & Archives

It’s not necessary to dress up for Burns Night, but these boys posed in their finest for an Ellis Island photographer.

New York Public Library

Some music perhaps? The 92nd Gordon Highlanders at Edinburgh Castle in 1846.

National Galleries of Scotland

Modern dance pioneer Ruth St. Denis was born on 20 January 1879 (date as in the American National Biography; some sources give 1877, 1878, or 1880 instead), in New Jersey. I’ve made two purses with the set of images of her in the New York Public Library’s Flickr stream, and I know many, many other Commons fans have favorited her striking poses … Celebrate her birthday by doing a little barefoot dance, perhaps?

Ruth St. Denis in Radha

New York Public Library

Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn in an out-of-doors photograph, in color

New York Public Library

Ruth St. Denis, a personal study taken out of doors at Mariarden

New York Public Library

From the Flickr Commons thread highlighting some of the remarkable images of bridges across the Commons:

Castle and suspension bridge, Conway (i.e. Conwy), Wales, ca. 1890–ca. 1900 (more about the Conway bridge).	Library of Congress
Suspension bridge, Niagara, ON, 1869, designed by John Roebling (before the Brooklyn Bridge), photographed by William Notman.	Musée McCord Museum
Templand Bridge, Cumnock, Scotland, ca. 1890–ca. 1900.	Library of Congress
The Brooklyn Bridge in 1905, printed in 1977.	George Eastman House
The Ness Road Bridge in Inverness, Scotland, between 1890 and 1900; the bridge was demolished in 1961.	Library of Congress
The 14th-century Pont Valentré, Cahors, France, June 1902, photographed by Eugène Trutat.	Bibliothèque de Toulouse