9 Impactful Photos of People Facing Brave Hard Times

1 - Ruby Bridges

This little girl in the photo lived in a period of extreme racial segregation in 1960 in the USA. At the time, she was 6 years old and the only black student among hundreds of white students in a New Orleans school.

To enter school, Ruby needed a police escort, and the only teacher who agreed to teach her was Barbara Henry - NONE of the other students' parents allowed their children to have classes with Ruby. Barbara taught Ruby only for two years.

2 - The London Dairy

Although this image has already been pointed out as not spontaneous, it is undeniable that it reflects the attempt of a people to “return to normal” after so much destruction caused by the Second World War. The photo is from 1940.

3 - Suffragette, November 1917

In November 1917, a group of suffragettes (the women who fought for the right to vote) organized a peaceful demonstration in front of the White House. There they were greeted with violence and torture, and November 14 was known as "The Night of Terror." The day after the massacre, the woman in this photo returned to the protest site, holding up this sign that says: "Asking women for freedom is not a crime."

4 - Kathrine Switzer

In 1967 Kathrine Switzer became the first woman to participate in the Boston Marathon, even though she knew that no woman had ever participated in the race. Since there were no rules forbidding female participation exactly, she simply decided to run.

While on the way, however, she was attacked by a police officer who tried to rip off the number of participants she was carrying and take her out of the race. Did not work. Kathrine kept running and went to the end.

5 - First Woman to be a Police Officer in Washington, 1918

It was not until the early 20th century that women began to be hired as police by the US government, but the function of most of them was just to look after female prisoners. However, in 1918 three police officers were hired to perform other duties - in the picture you see Leola N. King, the first woman to act as a traffic cop.

6 - Woman arrested for wearing “inappropriate” swimwear, 1922

Isn't it strange to think that this picture was taken less than a century ago, which in historical terms is very little time? The arrest here happened because the girl had made the "boldness" of showing her legs. Other women were arrested at the same time, also because their legs were out.

7 - Chaplain performs funeral rituals on dead soldiers in Venezuela

The photo is from June 1962, when there was a military rebellion in Venezuela. In the image, a religious blesses the bodies of countless soldiers who had been killed during the rebellion, which became known as El Porteñazo.

8 - French women make seawall to protect their children from shooting

The photo is from 1944, and the only thing known about it is that it was taken during a shooting by German gunmen in Paris. To protect their children, these women positioned themselves in front of them.

9 - Emigrant woman breastfeeds her child during the Great Depression

The social scene was lousy in 1929 in the US, and the image below, by Dorothea Lange, is part of the essay “Emigrant Mother, ” which is also a symbol of the political situation of Uncle Sam's Land at that time. The woman in the picture, Florence Thompson, breastfeeds and soothes her son, even though she has no food for herself.

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