In the early 1900s, the National Child Labor Committee worked diligently to advocate for an end to the rampant child labor practices across the United States. Many companies, and even industries, relied on a labor force of underage workers, who ages ranged anywhere from 5 to 14. They worked mines, milled cotton, picked fruit, caught shrimp, rolled cigars, sold newspapers and much more for an adult world that saw them as little more than small hands. Many of the children were immigrants or children of immigrants, hired for extremely low wages. Photographer Lewis Hine was hired by the NCLC to capture images of kids working in factories and fields across the country, and what resulted was an amazing collection of portraits – the children who helped to build America’s capitalist dream, another example of the reality behind the myth of equality for all. Today, American society is much more ethical – we don’t allow our own children to work, instead we buy products that are made by children overseas. Check out a gallery of Hine’s portraits and his original captions below.
Photos and Captions via historyplace.com
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- Adolescent girls from Bibb Mfg. Co. in Macon, Georgia.
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- Twelve-year-old Lahnert boy topping beets. The father, mother, and two boys (9 and 12 yrs.) expect to make $700 in about 2 months time in the beet work. “The boys can keep up with me all right, and all day long,” the father said. Begin at 6 a.m. and work until 6 p.m. with an hour off at noon. Fort Collins, Colorado.
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- Jo Bodeon, a back-roper in the mule room at Chace Cotton Mill. Burlington, Vermont.
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- A Bowery bootblack in New York City.
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- Bowling Alley boys. Many of them work setting pins until past midnight. New Haven, Connecticut.
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- 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. South Pittston, Pennsylvania.
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- Camille Carmo, age 7, and Justine, age 9. The older girl picks about 4 pails a day. Rochester, Massachusetts.
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- A group of newsies selling on the Capitol steps. Tony, age 8, Dan, 9, Joseph, 10, and John, age 11. Washington, D.C.
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- George Christopher, Postal Telegraph, age 14. Been at it over 3 years. Does not work nights. Nashville, Tennessee.
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- 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, Florida.
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- 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
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- A small newsie downtown on a Saturday afternoon. St. Louis, Missouri.
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- A young driver in the Brown Mine. Has been driving one year. Works 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily. Brown, West Virginia.
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- View of the Ewen Breaker of the Pennsylvania 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. South Pittston, Pennsylvania.
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- 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, Georgia.
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- Fighting is not unusual here. In the alley, 4 p.m. Rochester, New York.
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- 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, South Carolina.
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- 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, South Carolina.
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- A moment’s glimpse of the outer world. Said she was 11 years old. Been working over a year. Rhodes Mfg. Co. Lincolnton, North Carolina
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- A boy carrying hats in New York City.
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- Young boys working for Hickok Lumber Co. Burlington, Vermont.
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- 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, New Jersey.
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- Breaker boys. Smallest is Angelo Ross. Pittston, Pennsylvania.
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- Breaker boys, Hughestown Borough, Pennsylvania Coal Co. One of these is James Leonard, another is Stanley Rasmus. Pittston, Pennsylvania.
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- Where the newsboy’s money goes (an ice cream vendor). Wilmington, Delaware.
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- 9 p.m. in an Indiana Glass Works.
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- Francis Lance, 5 years old, 41 inches high. He jumps on and off moving trolley cars at the risk of his life. St. Louis, Missouri.
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- Rob Kidd, one of the young workers in a glass factory. Alexandria, Virginia.
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- Some of the young knitters in London Hosiery Mills. London, Tennessee.
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- Doffer boys. Macon, Georgia.
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- A boy making melon baskets in a basket factory. Evansville, Indiana.
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- 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, Mississippi.
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- 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, Pennsylvania.
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- Norris Luvitt. Been picking 3 years in berry fields near Baltimore.
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- Boys in the packing room at the Brown Mfg. Co. Evansville, Indiana.
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- View of the Scotland Mills, showing boys who work in the mill. Laurinburg, North Carolina.
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- 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.
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- Three young boys with shovels standing in the doorway of a Fort Worth & Denver train car.
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- Newsboy asleep on stairs with papers. Jersey City, New Jersey.
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- 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, Maine.
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- Three boys, one of 13 yrs., two of 14 yrs., picking shade-grown tobacco on Hackett Farm. The “first picking” necessitates a sitting posture. Buckland, Connecticut.
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- A general view of spinning room, Cornell Mill. Fall River, Massachusetts.
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- 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, North Carolina.
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- Willie, a Polish boy, taking his noon rest in a doffer box at the Quidwick Co. Mill. Anthony, Rhode Island.
