Children stroll toward the Capitol’s east front.

In 1889 and 1893, homesteaders staked claims on land in the Cherokee Strip, Oklahoma Territory.

Suffrage Pins and Ribbons, ca. 1909–1916

Tribal leaders, including these Arapaho and Cheyenne delegates, negotiated with federal authorities in Washington, D.C.

Suffrage Parade Whirligig, ca. 1913

To encourage settlement of the West, the government opened former Indian reservation land to homesteaders

The 1898 explosion of the USS Maine in Havana, Cuba sparked the Spanish-American War.

A new wave of European immigrants, fleeing hardships and lured by America’s promise of prosperity, expanded the population