“The dependent widower. Wanted, a backbone! This ablebodied Scotch-Irish farmer after 50 years of farm life some miles from any railroad, came to Meridian, Miss. two years ago to obtain better school advantages for his children, (so he told me), and this is the way the children utilize those advantages, one child of 11 and one of 15 work in the knitting mill. Two smaller ones go to school very irregularly. I found the fathers occuptaion during the several days I was there, and from a neighbor’s testimony, to mainly consist of loafing around the corner grocery, toting dinner to the children, lolling around the house, and occasionally visiting the old farm. Regarding the effects of closing the Meridian Mill, he said; “Most of the men got work at other factories around here, while some moved away, but the greatest hardship was on the children. Now they have to go to school.” His sanctimonious disquisition on his love for the family was nauseating. In the back ground, (where the mill children are too often kept) is one of his youngsters, deprives of his right to toil. Meridian, Miss.” 4/26/1911
From the series: National Child Labor Committee Photographs taken by Lewis Hine, ca. 1912
Lewis Hine’s sharp eye for hypocrisy spares no expense in this particularly biting assessment.
Photograph of Sam Maddox, Western Union No. 227, one of the young boys pretty close to the age limit. He was born Oct. 3, 1898, which makes him 13 years old. He has a permit to work from Juvenile Court. He has been troublesome in school., 04/10/1912
Lewis Hine, photographer
Photograph of a Broken Fire Escape after the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, 03/25/1911
One of the deadliest industrial disasters in United States history, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City left 146 workers dead in 18 minutes on March 25, 1911.
Locked doors kept the workers from escaping; there was not enough water to put out the flames, and firemen’s ladders were too short to reach the upper stories. Many of the young women and men working there leapt out the windows and fell to their deaths onto the sidewalk outside. Others were crushed in the elevator shaft or when the fire escape collapsed.
The fire led to sweeping reforms in labor laws and safety standards, providing a boost to labor unions, and was a pivotal event in the career of future labor secretary Frances Perkins.
(Last year’s post has additional photos of the fire and the victims, a few may be considered graphic.)
Mrs. Battaglia, Tessie (age - 12 years), Tony (age - 7 years), 170 Mulberry St. Rear house, 5th floor. Garment workers. Husband crippled by a fall, tends to basement. Mrs. Battaglia works in shop except Saturdays, when the children sew with her at home. Get 2 or 3 cents a pair finishing men’s pants. Said they earn $1 to $1.50 on Saturday. Father disabled and can earn very little. New York. 01/25/1908
From the series National Child Labor Committee Photographs taken by Lewis Hine
“On the tenth day of Archives an archivist brought to me:
Ten messengers playing poker
nine Metlakahlta baseball players
Eight Navy officers
seven of Mrs. Hicks’s eight children,
six tiny thorn carvings,
five sisters from Alaska,
four boys hanging out at the Fletcher aircraft school,
three happy girls at a West Virginian celebration,
two San Francisco children painting,
and one astronaut in space.”
“8 p.m.: Flashlight photo of messengers absorbed in their usual game of poker in the ‘Den of the terrible nine.’ (Waiting room for Western Union Messengers, Hartford, Connecticut.)” March 5, 1909, ARC Identifier 523167.
Newsies selling at the Hudson Tunnel Station, Jersey City. Boy on left is Patrick Drohan, 12 years old. Next to him is Stanley Fazurowski, 9 years old. Largest boy is 13 years old. Jersey City, N.J., 12/21/1909
From the series National Child Labor Committee Photographs taken by Lewis Hine
Spinners and doffers in Lancaster Cotton Mills. Dozens of them in this mill. Lancaster, S.C., 12/01/1908
Lewis Wickes Hine, photographer. From the series: National Child Labor Committee Photographs taken by Lewis Hine
Happy Birthday, Lewis Hine
Breaker boys. Smallest is Angelo Ross. Hughestown Borough Coal Co. Pittston, Pa., 01/16/1911
Born September 26, 1874, investigative photographer Lewis Wickes Hine used his camera as both a research tool and an instrument of social reform. This photograph is one of a series given to the Children’s Bureau by the National Child Labor Committee. The almost five hundred photographs represent a fraction of the approximately 5,000 photographs Hine took for the committee to document working and living conditions for children.
Hine’s efforts were nearly forgotten when he passed away in 1940, but his work has seen a resurgence in interest. What’s your favorite Lewis Hine photo?
The “Four Novelty Grahams,” acrobatic performers at the Victoria Theatre, Philadelphia, 06/10/1910
This picture shows the “Four Novelty Grahams,” acrobatic performers at the Victoria Theatre, Philadelphia. The father is 23 years old. Willie is 5 years old, Herbert is 3 years old. At 9 P.M. June 10, these children were seen performing on the stage. Four times daily they do a turn which lasts 12 to 14 minutes. Herbert, the youngest, was by the father to have commence performing on the stage as an acrobat when he was 10 1/2 months old. Willie, now 5, is said to be the youngest acrobat in the world. The attached letter head shows some of the stunts these youngsters are engaged in. The mother of these boys was formerly a school teacher, and is now performing with this trio on stage. The children are bright and strong, but have a playfulness about them which shows them to have forgotten the best years of their childhood. Philadelphia, Pa.
From the series National Child Labor Committee Photographs taken by Lewis Hine, ca. 1912
11:00 A.M. Newsies at Skeeter’s Branch. They were all smoking. St. Louis, Mo., 05/09/1910
From the series: National Child Labor Committee Photographs taken by Lewis Hine
Merilda, carrying cranberries. Rochester, Mass., 09/13/1911
From National Child Labor Committee Photographs taken by Lewis Hine
April 26 is Take your Child to Work Day, including here at the National Archives. This Lewis Hine photo was selected by junior-web-curator-in-training Eamon C., age 8. We chose this photo as a sobering reminder that bringing kids to work was not always a solely educational or infrequent experience. Of this photo he says:
“This is a good picture except that the girl is showing sadness. I think that I’m lucky that I get to go to school and not work.”
Did you bring your daughter or son to work today — or did you ever get to shadow your parents at work?
Photograph of 5 year old Willie (William Frederick Tear, 490 Louisiana Ave.) one of Washington’s youngest news-boys. He is a kind of free-lance, helps other boys out, and roams around the city on his little velocipede, with all the recklessness of extreme youth. Gets lost occasionally. He was so immature that he couldn’t talk plain, and yet he was pretty keen about striking people for nickels., 04/16/1912
Lewis Hine, Photographer. From the records of the Congressional Committee on the District of Columbia
“I allus axes em fer nickels”
Photograph of Louis Gabriel (13 years old) and brother Eddie (10 years old) and Johnnie (7 years old). The photographer found Louis and Eddie selling after midnight on April 17 with about fifty papers left on their hands. Eddie says he is often up until 9 or 12 P.M. and sometimes up at 4 A.M. Sunday. They said they make several dollars some days, “Wid de tips.” The younger ones were very voluble about tips. “I allus axes em fer nickels” Johnnie said. The two older boys, Louis and Eddie, are on probation at Juvenile Court. Family is well known to charities. Father taken into court for non-support. Has deserted. 04/10/1912
Lewis Hine, Photographer. From Papers Accompanying Specific Bills and Resolutions of the 63rd Congress Committee on the District of Columbia, 04/07/1913 - 03/03/1915
Petition from the Michigan State Federation of Women’s Clubs recommending a study of child labor, 03/16/1906
Take a look at photographer Lewis Hine’s tireless portfolio for a brief introduction to the issue of child labor in early industrial America.
All these pick shrimp at the Peerless Oyster Co. I had to take photo while bosses were at dinner as they refused to permit the children to be in photos. Out of 60 workers, 15 were apparently under 12 years old. Bay St. Louis, Miss. 3/1/1911
From the series: National Child Labor Committee Photographs taken by Lewis Hine
