Early 20th century women in the workplace
In honor of International Women's Day, March 8, we take a look back at women in the workplace in the early 20th century.
For women 100 years ago, opportunities to work beyond the home and take part in political life were very limited. As the 20th century progressed, dramatic changes took place for women.
These U.S. Library of Congress photos show women's workplaces ranging from a flour mill in England to a coal mine in Belgium or Lincoln Motor Co.'s welding department in Detroit.
Women in the workplace
Women work in an office as a portrait of President Warren Harding is displayed on the mantle, circa 1921-1923.
Hard-won progress included gradually improved voting rights, while the upheaval of war pushed doors ajar as women worked outside the home as part of the war effort.
Women in the workplace
The Onofrio Cottone family finish garments in a tenement in New York City, January 1913. The three oldest children Joseph, 14, Andrew, 10, and Rosie, 7, help their mother sew garments and together they make about $2 a week when work is plenty.
Many women still worked at home for pay in the early part of the century doing piecework sewing, cigar rolling and bookbinding among other jobs.
Women in the workplace
Women work at a laundry, circa 1905.
Women in the workplace
Women work in a flour mill in England during World War I, circa 1915-1918.
Women in the workplace
Two women stand outside the Two Girls Waffle House, circa 1900-1916.
Women in the workplace
Belgian women workers pose for a photograph as they stand in line holding baskets and shovels near a coal mine, circa 1910-1915.
A rapid increase in industrialization and urbanization fueled dramatic changes. The industrial revolution changed the nature of work.
Women in the workplace
A man and women, one holding an American flag, work in an office at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in Brooklyn, New York, July 7, 1917.
As manufacturing, banking, retail and the service industry grew, opportunities opened up for women. They moved from jobs in factories or as domestic help to working in more white-collar jobs.
Women in the workplace
Women work in ordnance plants during World War I making fiber powder containers at W.C. Ritchie & Co. in Chicago, circa 1914-1918.
As men headed off to fight in World War I, and later in World War II, women found themselves increasingly entering the workforce in greater numbers.
Women in the workplace
Women wear goggles as they work in the welding department of Lincoln Motor Co., Detroit, circa 1914-1918.
Women in the workplace
Women scientists (standing) Miss Nellie A. Brown, (seated L-R) Miss Lucia McCollock, Miss Mary K. Bryan and Miss Florence Hedges work at a laboratory, circa 1910-1920.
Women in the workplace
An African American woman dusts as she works as a porter at a subway station in New York City, circa 1917.
Women in the workplace
A policewoman (right) arrests Florence Youmans (left) of Minnesota and Annie Arniel of Delaware for refusing to give up their banners while picketing for women's voting rights outside the White House in Washington D.C., June 1917.
Women in the workplace
A woman street worker sweeps a street in Germany, circa 1909-1920.
Women in the workplace
Peasants in the re-taken Somme District work in the fields in France, circa 1916- 1917.
Women in the workplace
Members of The Women's Radio Corps stand beside an army car, circa February 1919.