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The History Place - Child Labor in America
Featuring the original photo captions by
Lewis W. Hine.
About
these Photos
Faces
of Lost Youth
  
Left
- Furman Owens, 12 years old. Can't read. Doesn't know his A,B,C's. Said,
"Yes I want to learn but can't when I work all the time." Been in
the mills 4 years, 3 years in the Olympia Mill. Columbia, S.C. Mid
- Adolescent girls from Bibb Mfg. Co. in Macon, Georgia. Right - Doffer
boys. Macon, Georgia.
The Mill
  
Left
- A general view of spinning room, Cornell Mill. Fall River, Mass. Mid
- A moments glimpse of the outer world. Said she was 11 years old. Been working
over a year. Rhodes Mfg. Co. Lincolnton, N.C. Right - Some boys and
girls were so small they had to climb up on to the spinning frame to mend
broken threads and to put back the empty bobbins. Bibb Mill No. 1. Macon,
Ga.
  
Left
- One of the spinners in Whitnel Cotton Mill. She was 51 inches high. Has
been in the mill one year. Sometimes works at night. Runs 4 sides - 48 cents
a day. When asked how old she was, she hesitated, then said, "I don't
remember," then added confidentially, "I'm not old enough to work,
but do just the same." Out of 50 employees, there were ten children about
her size. Whitnel, N.C. Mid - The overseer said apologetically, "She
just happened in." She was working steadily. The mills seem full of youngsters
who "just happened in" or "are helping sister." Newberry,
S.C. Right - Jo Bodeon, a back-roper in the mule room at Chace Cotton
Mill. Burlington, Vt.
Newsies
  
Left
- A small newsie downtown on a Saturday afternoon. St. Louis, Mo. Mid
- A group of newsies selling on Capitol steps. Tony, age 8, Dan, 9, Joseph,
10, and John, age 11. Washington, D.C. Right - Tony Casale, age 11,
been selling 4 years. Sells sometimes until 10 p.m. His paper told me the
boy had shown him the marks on his arm where his father had bitten him for
not selling more papers. He (the boy) said, "Drunken men say bad words
to us." Hartford, Conn.
  
Left - Out after
midnight selling extras. There were many young boys selling very late. Youngest
boy in the group is 9 years old. Harry, age 11, Eugene and the rest were a
little older. Washington, D.C. Mid - Michael McNelis, age 8, a newsboy
[with photographer Hine]. This boy has just recovered from his second attack
of pneumonia. Was found selling papers in a big rain storm. Philadelphia,
Pa. Right - Francis Lance, 5 years old, 41 inches high. He jumps on
and off moving trolley cars at the risk of his life. St. Louis, Mo.
Miners
  
Left - At the close
of day. Waiting for the cage to go up. The cage is entirely open on two sides
and not very well protected on the other two, and is usually crowded like
this. The small boy in front is Jo Puma. S. Pittston, Pa. Mid - View
of the Ewen Breaker of the Pa. Coal Co. The dust was so dense at times as
to obscure the view. This dust penetrated the utmost recesses of the boys'
lungs. A kind of slave-driver sometimes stands over the boys, prodding or
kicking them into obedience. S. Pittston, Pa. Right - Harley Bruce,
a young coupling-boy at Indian Mine. He appears to be 12 or 14 years old and
says he has been working there about a year. It is hard work and dangerous.
Near Jellico, Tenn.
  
Left - Breaker boys,
Hughestown Borough Pa. Coal Co. One of these is James Leonard, another is
Stanley Rasmus. Pittston, Pa. Mid - A young driver in the Brown mine.
Has been driving one year. Works 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily. Brown W. Va. Right
- Breaker boys. Smallest is Angelo Ross. Pittston, Pa.
The Factory
  
Left - View of the
Scotland Mills, showing boys who work in mill. Laurinburg, N.C. Mid
- 9 p.m. in an Indiana Glass Works. Right - Some of the young knitters
in London Hosiery Mills. London, Tenn.
  
Left - Young cigar
makers in Engelhardt & Co. Three boys looked under 14. Labor leaders told
me in busy times many small boys and girls were employed. Youngsters all smoke.
Tampa, Fla. Mid - Boys in the packing room at the Brown Mfg. Co. Evansville,
Ind. Right - Willie, a Polish boy, taking his noon rest in a doffer
box at the Quidwick Co. Mill. Anthony, R.I.
  
Left - Day scene.
Wheaton Glass Works. Boy is Howard Lee. His mother showed me the family record
in Bible which gave his birth as July 15, 1894. 15 years old now, but has
been in glass works two years and some nights. Millville, N.J. Mid
- A boy making melon baskets in a basket factory. Evansville, Ind. Right
- Rob Kidd, one of the young workers in a glass factory. Alexandria, Va.
Seafood Workers
  
Left - Oyster shuckers
working in a canning factory. All but the very smallest babies work. Began
work at 3:30 a.m. and expected to work until 5 p.m. The little girl in the
center was working. Her mother said she is "a real help to me."
Dunbar, La. Mid - Shrimp pickers, including little 8 year old Max on
the right. Biloxi, Miss. Right - Johnnie, a nine year old oyster shucker.
Man with pipe behind him is a padrone who has brought these people from Baltimore
for four years. He is the boss of the shucking shed. Dunbar, La.
  
Left - Manuel the
young shrimp picker, age 5, and a mountain of child labor oyster shells behind
him. He worked last year. Understands not a word of English. Biloxi, Miss.
Mid - Cutting fish in a sardine cannery. Large sharp knives are used
with a cutting and sometimes chopping motion. The slippery floors and benches
and careless bumping into each other increase the liability of accidents.
"The salt water gits into the cuts and they ache," said one boy.
Eastport, Me. Right - Hiram Pulk, age 9, working in a canning company.
"I ain't very fast only about 5 boxes a day. They pay about 5 cents a
box," he said. Eastport, Me.
Fruit Pickers
  
Left - A berry field
on Rock Creek. Whites and blacks, old and young, work here from 4:30 a.m.
to sunset some days. A long hot day. Rock Creek, Md. Mid - Camille
Carmo, age 7, and Justine, age 9. The older girl picks about 4 pails a day.
Rochester, Mass. Right - Norris Luvitt. Been picking 3 years in berry
fields near Baltimore.
Little Salesmen
  
Left - After 9 p.m.,
7 year old Tommie Nooman demonstrating the advantages of the Ideal Necktie
Form in a store window on Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington, D.C. His father
said, "He is the youngest demonstrator in America. Has been doing it
for several years from San Francisco, to New York. We stay a month or six
weeks in a place. He works at it off and on." Remarks from the by-standers
were not having the best effect on Tommie. Mid - Joseph Severio, peanut
vender, age 11 [seen with photographer Hine]. Been pushing a cart 2 years.
Out after midnight on May 21, 1910. Ordinarily works 6 hours per day. Works
of his own volution. All earnings go to his father. Wilmington, Del. Right
- A young candy seller in Boston, Mass.
A Variety of Jobs
  
Left - A Bowery bootblack
in New York. Mid - Bowling Alley boys. Many of them work setting pins
until past midnight. New Haven, Conn. Right - George Christopher, Postal
Telegraph, age 14. Been at it over 3 years. Does not work nights. Nashville,
Tenn.
  
Left - A boy carrying
hats in New York City. Mid - Young boys working for Hickok Lumber Co.
Burlington, Vt. Right - Three young boys with shovels standing in doorway
of a Fort Worth & Denver train car.
Struggling Families
  
Left - Mrs. Battaglia
with Tessie, age 12, and Tony, age 7. Mrs. Battaglia works in a garment shop
except on 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 City. Mid - A Jewish family
and neighbors working until late at night sewing garters. This happens several
nights a week when there is plenty of work. The youngest work until 9 p.m.
The others until 11 p.m. or later. On the left is Mary, age 7, and 10 year
old Sam, and next to the mother is a 12 year old boy. On the right are Sarah,
age 7, next is her 11 year old sister, 13 year old brother. Father is out
of work and also helps make garters. New York City. Right - Picking
nuts in dirty basement. The dirtiest imaginable children were pawing over
the nuts eating lunch on the table. Mother had a cold and blew her nose frequently
(without washing her hands) and the dirty handkerchiefs reposed comfortably
on table close to the nuts and nut meats. The father picks now. New York City.
Pastimes and Vices
  
Left - Teaching the
young rider how to start. A common scene in pool rooms. St. Louis, Mo. Mid
- Messengers absorbed in their usual game of poker in the "Den of the
terrible nine" (the waiting room for Western Union Messengers, Hartford,
Conn.). They play for money. Some lose a whole month's wages in a day and
then are afraid to go home. The boy on the right has been a messenger for
4 years. Began at 12 years of age. He works all night now. During an evening's
conversation he told me stories about his experiences with prostitutes to
whom he carries messages frequently. Hartford, Conn. Right - A.D.T.
messenger boys. They all smoke. Birmingham, Ala.
  
Left - A group of
newsies playing craps in the jail alley at 10 p.m. Albany, N.Y. Mid
- 11:00 a.m. Newsies at Skeeter's Branch. They were all smoking. St. Louis,
MO. Right - Richard Pierce, age 14, a Western Union Telegraph Co. messenger.
Nine months in service, works from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Smokes and visits houses
of prostitution. Wilmington, Del.
Group Portraits
  
Left - Getting working
papers in New York City. Mid - Children on the night shift going to
work at 6 p.m. on a cold, dark December day. They do not come out again until
6 a.m. When they went home the next morning they were all drenched by a heavy,
cold rain and had few or no wraps. Two of the smaller girls with three other
sisters work on the night shift and support a big, lazy father who complains
he is not well enough to work. He loafs around the country store. The oldest
three of these sisters have been in the mill for 7 years, and the two youngest,
two years. The latter earns 84 cents a night. Whitnel, N.C. Right -
Some of the workers in the Farrand Packing Co. Baltimore, Md.
  
Left - At 5 p.m.,
boys going home from Monougal Glass Works. One boy remarked, "De place
is lousey wid kids." Fairmont, W. Va. Mid - A few of the young
workers in the Beaumont Mill. Spartenburg, S.C. Right - Fish cutters
at a Canning Co in Maine. Ages range from 7 to 12. They live near the factory.
The 7 year old boy in front, Byron Hamilton, has a badly cut finger but helps
his brother regularly. Behind him is his brother George, age 11, who cut his
finger half off while working. Ralph, on the left, displays his knife and
also a badly cut finger. They and many youngsters said they were always cutting
themselves. George earns a $1 some days usually 75 cents. Some of the others
say they earn a $1 when they work all day. At times they start at 7 a.m. and
work all day until midnight.
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