In 1908 Lewis Hine picked up his camera and became the photographer for the National Child Labor Committee. It was a start of a long decade, as Lewis traveled across the country, documenting child labor, getting constant threats from factory owners as the immorality of child labor was supposed to be kept away from the public’s eye. However, Hine persisted, adopting many different disguises (such as a fire inspector or a bible salesman) to snap pictures and interview the children working at factories or in the streets.
Lewis Hine used his camera as a tool for social commentary and reform, focusing on the dangerous and appalling conditions that the children had to work in. Risking his own safety, Hine snapped thousands of photographs with one goal – to end child labor. And of course, spreading the photographs, in the form of pamphlets, newspapers, and magazines paid off as the federal government eventually had to put out stricter labor laws.
Two Of The Boys On Night Shift At The More-Jonas Glass Co., Bridgeton, New JerseyFruit Vendors, Indianapolis Market, Aug., 1908. Wit., E. N. Clopper. Indianapolis, IndianaA Young Doffer Working In Central Mills. Sylacauga, AlabamaElsie Shaw, A 6 Year Old Cartoner During The Summer. Eastport, MaineIsrael April, 9 Yr. Old Newsboy, Washington, D.C.Spinners In Melville Mfg. Co., Cherryville, North CarolinaThe “Carrying-In Boys,” Midnight At An Indiana Glass Works. IndianaNoon Hour In An Indianapolis Furniture Factory. Aug., 1908. Indianapolis, IndianaMessenger Boy Working For Mackay Telegraph Company. Said Fifteen Years Old. Waco, TexasNewberry Mills, South Carolina, Noon Hour. All Are Working Here. Witness, Sara R. Hine.Lillian Dambrinio, An Eleven-Year-Old Shrimp Picker In Peerless Oyster Co. Bay St. Louis, MississippiBoys Working In A Cannery, Indianapolis, Unloading Freight Cars Full Of New Tomato Cans.A Little “Shaver,” Indianapolis Newsboy, 41 Inches High. Said He Was 6 Years Old. Aug., 1908.Postal Telegraph Messengers, Indianapolis, (Indiana Has No Age Limit For Mes’grs.)Carrying-In Boy At The Lehr, Glass Works, Grafton, W. Va. Has Worked For Several Years. Works Nine Hours. Day Shift One Week, Night Shift Next Week. Gets $1.25 Per Day. Location: Grafton, West Virginia“Teaching The Young.” The Boss (Who Began At 10 Years Of Age, And Has Been At It For 30 Years) Showing A Beginner (Who Is Apparently 9 Or 10) Morgantown, West VirginiaTwo Little Pickers. Manuel Alvez – 12 Years, Marion Alvez, 8 Years. She Picks 19 Measures. He Picks 10 Measures. Location: Falmouth – Baker Bog, MassachusettsFruit Peddlers. Boston 1915 Exhibit. Boston, MassachusettsOldest Girl, Minnie Carpenter. Makes Fifty Cents A Day Of 10 Hours. Gastonia, North CarolinaTenjeta Calone, Philadelphia, 10 Years Old. Been Picking Cranberries 4 Years. Browns Mills, New JerseyBoys Going To Work, Merrimac Mills, Noon-Hour. Huntsville, AlabamaHyman Lapcoff, A Ten Year Old Newsie, Washington, D.C.San Antonio, Texas NewsboysMary Christmas, Nearly 4 Years Old. Picks Cranberries Sometimes. She Is Now Picking Up Berries Spilled At The Barrels By Grandfather. Falmouth, MassachusettsSalvin Nocito, 5 Years Old, Carries 2 Pecks Of Cranberries For Long Distance To The “Bushel-Man.” Browns Mills, New JerseyDave, A Young “Pusher” At Bessie Mine, Alabama.John Tidwell, Doffer In Avondale Mills. Birmingham, AlabamaGirls Working On Ice Wagon. New York10:30 P.m. At Center Market. 11 Yr. Old Celery Vendor Gus Strateges. He Sold Until 11 P.m. And Was Out Again Sunday Morning Selling Papers. Washington D.C.Young Doffers In Mollahan Mills, Newberry, South Carolina, Dec. 3, 1908.In The Alexandria Glass Factories, Negroes Work Side By Side With The White Workers. Alexandria, VirginiaAn Indianapolis, Indiana, NewsieGirls Running Warping Machines In Loray Mill, Gastonia, North CarolinaGlass Works, Night Scene. IndianaA.D.T. Messenger Boy, Indianapolis, Indiana, 10 P.m.S.D. Ison And Family. Father Works Some. Both Boys On Right Of Photo Have Been In Washington Cotton Mills, Fries, Va., For Four Years.Children Thrashing Corn During School Hours On A Farm Near Dublin, Georgia. Many Such Light Occupations Fall To The Lot Of The Georgia Child.Helper On A Dairy Wagon. Bowling Green, KentuckyYoung Boy On Warping Machine Elk Cotton Mills. Fayetteville, TennesseePicking Over Ash Barrels. Boston, Mass., Oct. 1909. Boston, MassachusettsA Midnight Scene In A N.j. Glass Works. Bridgeton, New Jersey, 1909Small Boys Work At And Around These Machines Some Of Which Are Dangerous. Baltimore, MarylandA Typical Fisher Boy At “T” Wharf. Boston, MassachusettsNoon Hour In A Furniture Factory, Indianapolis, Aug., 1908.Boy Making Melon Baskets, A Basket Factory, Evansville, IndianaBoys At Lehr, Economy Glass Works. Morgantown, West VirginiaVendor In Boston Market. Boston, Massachusetts8 P.m. Harry Laudeman, 13 Years Old. Has Sold Papers For 7 Years. Brother, Morris, 7 Years Old 46 Inches High. Hartford, Connecticut
Discover more from Yesterday Today
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
