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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, hard-won progress included gradually improved voting rights, while the upheaval of war pushed doors ajar as women worked as part of the war effort. U.S. Library of Congress archive 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. International Women's Day is celebrated on March 8.

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Belgian women workers pose for a photograph as they stand in line holding baskets and shovels near a coal mine, circa 1910-1915.Library of Congress/Reuters

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Peasants in the re-taken Somme District work in the fields, circa 1916- 1917.Library of Congress/Reuters

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Women work in ordnance plants during World War I making fibre powder containers at W.C. Ritchie & Co. ib Chicago, Illinois, circa 1914-1918.Library of Congress/Reuters

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Women wear goggles as they work in the welding department of Lincoln Motor Co., Detroit, Michigan, circa 1914-1918.Library of Congress/Reuters

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Two women stand outside the Two Girls Waffle House, circa 1900-1916.Library of Congress/Reuters

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Members of The Women's Radio Corps stand beside an army car, circa February 1919.Library of Congress/Reuters

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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.Library of Congress/Reuters

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A man and women, one holding an American flag, work in an office at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York, July 7, 1917.Library of Congress/Reuters

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Women work in an office as a portrait of President Warren Harding is displayed on the mantle, circa 1921-1923.Library of Congress/Reuters

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Women work in a flour mill in England during World War I, circa 1915-1918.Library of Congress/Reuters

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