Edith Bolling (married Woodrow Wilson), Portrait photo, Library of Congress

The beginning of the twentieth century was a period of dramatic change for women in the West. In the late Victorian period women were constricted by a patriarchal social structure. But the early twentieth century saw the creation of the Suffragette movement, the catalyst for the rapid social change that occurred over the rest of the century. With career options other than marriage and motherhood opening up to them, women engaged with politics, served in the two world wars, made an impact on the artistic and literary worlds and experienced social and sexual liberation. Between 1880 and 1910, the number of women employed in the United States increased from 2.6 million to 7.8 million. Women's organizations in towns and cities across the U.S. were working to promote suffrage, better schools, the regulation of child labor, women in unions, and liquor prohibition. By emphasizing traditional traits, female social reformers created new spaces for themselves in local and then national government even before they had the right to vote.

C. M. Bell Studio of photographic portraits worked in Washington DC from 1873 until 1916. Charles Milton Bell (1848-1893) was one of Washington's leading portrait photographers. His studio became known for its large collection of portraits of Washington notables, including politicians, leading businessmen and educators, embassy officials and distinguished visitors from other countries, church leaders, athletes and entertainers, and members of Washington's black middle class. The Library of Congress C. M. Bell Studio Collection comprises of over 25,000 glass plate negatives.

Charles Milton Bell was an American photographer who was noted for his portraits of Native Americans and other figures of the United States in the late 1800s. He was called "one of Washington's leading portrait photographers during the last quarter of the nineteenth century" by the Library of Congress. Bell enjoyed a congenial business relationship with the Grover Cleveland administration and made many portraits of Cleveland's bride, Frances Folsom Cleveland, after their marriage, as well as portraits at the second Cleveland inauguration.