The Third Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) was held in Seattle from November 30 to December 3, 1999. Trade ministers and other officials from the WTO's 135 member nations met in an unsuccessful attempt to plan negotiations to further deregulate free trade. Tens of thousands of activists for many causes gathered to protest what they saw as the WTO's favoring of corporate interests over social and environmental concerns.

Here, steelworkers are marching in front of a sign that says "Steelworkers Forever." Behind the steelworkers, pro-Tibet protesters walk down 5th Avenue under the monorail tracks, many carrying signs reading "China out of Tibet," and others with signs recounting injustices against Tibetans carried out by the Chinese government.

Caption information sources: "WTO Meeting and Protests in Seattle (1999) - Part 1," by Kit Oldham, HistoryLink.org Essay 9183; and "WTO Meeting and Protests in Seattle (1999) - Part 2," by Kit Oldham, HistoryLink.org Essay 9213.