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.

This photograph show three topless protesters who used their bodies as the canvas for their protest messages. The back of the woman in the foreground reads “Better Naked Than Nike,” and the woman next to her has “No BGH” written on her arm. BGH refers to bovine growth hormone, a hormone produced by cows that can be synthesized to create an artificial growth hormone commonly used in the U.S. to increase milk production in cows.

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.