Contemporary (1950 CE - Present)
Boys' Initiation Mask (keweke)
This mask worn by boys during initiation rituals in Papua New Guinea is made of painted bark cloth and canvas stretched over a cane frame. The long fiber fringe adds movement to the mask, which is worn during dances and other secret rituals that that comprise boyhood initiation rites.
Barbie Turns 21
Barbie—who is today the most famous doll in the world—was based on Lilli, a sexy and sassy German doll first produced in 1955.
Writing a Letter to Santa
Whether known as Saint Nicholas, Sinterklaas, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle, Babbo Natale, Christkind, Père Noël, Santa Claus ("Santa") or by many other names, this legendary gift-giver in European folklore and hagiography is well known around the world.
Operation Babylift
These photographs were taken on April 5, 1975 on one of the Pan Am passenger planes that airlifted Vietnamese orphans and Amerasian children of American servicemen and Vietnamese women for Operation Babylift.
Last Day of School, Calgary
The children of various ages shown bursting through the doorway of the stone school building in Calgary, Alberta, have just been released for their summer vacation.
Immigrant Crossing Road Sign
Interstate 5 runs from the Mexican/U.S. border crossing at San Ysidro, California, to the Peace Arch Crossing into Canada at Blaine, Washington. This official yellow warning road sign is posted along Interstate 5 near the San Ysidro crossing and north of San Diego.
Age of Menarche in Norway
This graph shows us the average year of menarche, a female's first menstrual cycle (often considered the beginning of puberty), from 1860 to 1980 reported by adult female patients at maternity clinics in Norway.
Life Histories (Chile) Table
Women all over the world may undergo life-course transitions from daugtherhood to motherhood, a great similarity that shapes their lives due to what is perhaps the biological difference that most distinguishes women from men: their childbearing capacity.
Lila-Pilipina Brochure
The Lila-Pilipina Brochure is a creation of the feminist group of Filipino “comfort women" called Lila-Pilipina, who have banded together with feminist goals/messages for peace.
Malinche Sculpture
A sculpted figure by an internationally-recognized Native American activist, writer and visual artist. The materials chosen by Jimmie Durham create an image of Malinche that seems emptied of life and perhaps not fully human. He stresses the darker underside of Malinche’s history.