On August 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified, recognizing the right of women to vote. In 1971, Congress passed a resolution declaring August 26 “Women’s Equality Day.” Flickr Commons collections are full of photographs of the American suffrage movement. Here are just a few for the day…

Susan B. Anthony with seven other women, ca. 1903

DC Public Library Commons

Suffragettes Bonfire and Poster at the White House (1917-18)

US National Archives

Suffragists in Parade

Library of Congress

“Votes for Women” Canvas Bag, ca. 1920

Cornell University Library

Fine day but cold and dull. General Haig's diary entry for Armistice Day 1918. (National Library of Scotland)

From Flickr Commons group members’ suggestions and recent uploads, images for Armistice Day/Remembrance Day: November 11, commemorating the Armistice of 1918 ever since.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning, / We will remember them.
— Lawrence Binyon, “For the Fallen” (1914)

Soldiers in a trench, Gallipoli, Turkey, 1915.

National Library NZ

No Mans Land, Flanders Field, France, 1919.

Library of Congress

A surgical operation, 1918.

Library of Virginia

World War I Army Biplane, first published February 1919.

UA Archives / Upper Arlington History

Rudolf Menzel with group of soldiers, 1915.

Center for Jewish History, NYC

The announcing of the armistice on November 11, 1918, was the occasion for a monster celebration in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania…on Broad Street.

U.S. National Archives

Armistice Day ceremony at the Cenotaph, Sydney, 11 November 1938 / photograph by Sam Hood

State Library of New South Wales

Four mates about to embark for service in Korea. The description for this image tells who each man is, and who did not return.

Australian War Memorial

Soldiers carry a wounded comrade through a swampy area, 1969.

U.S. National Archives

While there’s still a bit of summer left in the United States, there’s still time to visit a state or county fair.

The Vermont State Fair, 1941

Library of Congress

The New York State Fair, 1918

Cornell University Library

The Oregon State Fair, 1912

Oregon State University Archives

The Florida State Fair, 1947

State Library and Archives of Florida

Garfield County Fair, Colorado, 1973

U.S. National Archives

Cheshire County Grange Fair, New Hamphire, 1892

Keene and Cheshire County (NH) Historical Photos

… as found by Penny in two different Commons collections. David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson photographed Lady Eastlake in 1845, seemingly on different days.

George Eastman House

National Galleries of Scotland

It’s not hard to spot–the hands facing each other, close above the lap, each holding a needle. Maybe her attention is on the project; or maybe she doesn’t need to look. Sitting, standing, walking; old and young; there’s a whole lot of knitting going on across the Commons. (For a larger collection, check out the Knitting Across the Commons gallery.)

“Elderly woman, knitting”–clearly a formal portrait, but she’s not about to put down her knitting for the occasion.

George Eastman House

“Mrs. Lewis, Y Borth at 84 Years Old”–notice that, in the time the shutter took to open and close, Mrs. Lewis was completely still except for her hands.

Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / The National Library of Wales

“Herring girls, Scarborough, Yorkshire”–no idle hands for these herring girls, c1910; knitting is a time-honored way to make use of wait time.

National Maritime Museum

“Breien in lagere school in woonwagenkamp”–two girls learning to knit in wartime Holland, 1941; commenters point out that the girls are knitting “English Style,” not “Continental Style”.

Nationaal Archief

“Girls Knitting, 1918″–long before Barbies or Wiis, knitting served the purpose of a social activity for little friends, on a summer day in Ohio.

UA Archives/Upper Arlington History

From a gallery by Spellbound Blog (jkramersmyth) in celebration of yesterday’s summer solstice …

Young boy fishing with his dog: Palm Beach County, Florida

State Library and Archives Florida

Three Generations of Oldlands Have Ranched on Piceance Creek. in the Summer They Move 15 Miles South to Their Cow Camp, and Their Cattle Graze on Higher Lands Owned by the Bureau of Land Management and Private Oil Companies Haying Crew at Work, 07/1973

U.S. National Archives

Atlantic City Beach

George Eastman House

Enjoy the rest of the Spirit of Summer gallery here!

Margaret Wise Brown was born 100 years ago this month (23 May 1910). A tribute, using images from the Flickr Commons.

In the great green room …

Smithsonian Institution

… there was a telephone …

Genevieve Clark (Lib. of Congress)

… and a red balloon …

L. Stevens (Lib. of Congress)

… and a picture of a cow …

Pauline (DC Public Library)

… jumping over the moon …

Margaret Ballardini & Fred Watson (State Lib. of NSW)

Hands are, uh, handy subjects–everyone has some nearby, right? And they’re an interesting shape. Some photographs of the hand at work, at play, under study and under a rodent, from the Flickr Commons. (Or come visit the gallery “Hands across the Commons” for fourteen handfuls of the same.)

Olifantsspitsmuis in Artis. Oppasser houdt muisje op de hand (a.k.a., an elephant shrew)

Nationaal Archief

Library Appeal 1973

. LSE Library

Women Bowling

George Eastman House

Moses Williams playing the diddley bow: Waverly, Florida

State Library and Archives of Florida

Untitled (from the 2006 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Native Basketry program)

Smithsonian Institution

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