Celebrating Motherhood in Pictures

Here are some of our favorite photos recognizing moms of all kinds submitted by readers over the last nine years

Smithsonian.com readers

May 9, 2012

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My 96-year-old great aunt sitting with her two daughters
Chrissy Astbury, Albuquerque, New Mexico
June 2009 Albuquerque, New Mexico

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A Moroccan mother climbs a beautiful blue street with her daughter
Eric Guarino, Chefchaouen, Morocco
March 2010 Chefchaouen, Morocco

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A baby in a mother’s lap. Surprised.
Joydeep Mukherjee
Sonepur, Bihar, India
November 2010

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Mother and cub
Marc Abrahms, Masai Mara, Kenya
September 2009

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A mother and son in southern Sudan — (Jacqueline Moen)

Members of the Ambororo group, who have faced uncertainty since civil war interrupted their migration routes
Christopher Farber, Juba, southern Sudan
April 2007

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Mother and son
Mark Rosenbaum, Chicago, Illinois
January 2007

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A mother-to-be
Robert Tannenbaum, Baldwin, New York
January 2009

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A young farmer and his mother
Budi Prakasa, Serpong, West Java, Indonesia
May 2009

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Portrait of my great-grandmother
Henry Ascencio, Teopantlan, Mexico
December 2010

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The woman carries her child to work by carrying it in the basket
Zaw Zaw Tun, Yangon, Myanmar
October 2010

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Mother and child
Sachin Shah, Masai Mara, Kenya
October 2008

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Mother's love
Ho Sung Wee, Banting, Malaysia
May 2010

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Mother and daughter
Sydney Ledwith-Jensen, Columbia River Gorge, Oregon
August 2009

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A Turkish mother and her child
John Bice, Ankara, Turkey
August 2008

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My naughty child
Shyamal Das, West Bengal, India
July 2007

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Village women drying the clothes
Abhijit Dey, West Bengal, India
November 2009

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Bobcat kitten staying close to its mother
Tim Foltz, Irvine, California
June 2009

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woman and baby in Vietnam — (Jacqueline Moen)

A woman of the Red Dao Ethnic Minority People of Vietnam carries baby on her back in Ta Van Village, Vietnam
Stephen Bures,Ta Van Village, Vietnam
November 2011