Lewis Hine
(1874 – 1940)
Wisconsin-born photographer,
photojournalist,
and social reformer
Featuring the original photo captions
by Lewis W. Hine
http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/
childlabor/index.html
Faces of Lost Youth
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.
Adolescent girls from Bibb Mfg. Co. in Macon, Georgia.
Doffer boys. Macon, Georgia.
The Mills
A general view of spinning room, Cornell Mill. Fall River, Mass.
A moments glimpse of the outer world. Said she was 11 years old. Been
working over a year. Rhodes Mfg. Co. Lincolnton, N.C.
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.
Newsies
A small newsie downtown on a Saturday afternoon. St. Louis, Mo.
A group of newsies selling on Capitol steps. Tony, age 8, Dan, 9,
Joseph, 10, and John, age 11. Washington, D.C.
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.
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
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.
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.
Breaker boys. Smallest is Angelo Ross. Pittston, Pa.
The Factory
View of the Scotland Mills, showing boys who work in mill. Laurinburg, N.C.
9 p.m. in an Indiana Glass Works.
Some of the young knitters in London Hosiery Mills. London, Tenn.
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.
Boys in the packing room at the Brown Mfg. Co. Evansville, Ind.
Seafood Workers
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Fruit Pickers
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.
Camille Carmo, age 7, and Justine, age 9. The older girl picks about 4
pails a day. Rochester, Mass.
Little Salesmen
A young candy seller in Boston, Mass.
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.
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.
Struggling Families
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.
Jacob Riis
(1849 - 1914)
Danish-American
photographer, journalist,
and social reformer
http://www.pbs.org/
wgbh/amex/wilson/sf
eature/sf_riisphoto.ht
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Jacob Riis
How the Other Half Lives:
Studies Among the
Tenements of New York
(Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1890)
“Long ago it was said that 'one half
of the world does not know how
the other half lives.' That was
true then. It did not know
because it did not care. The half
that was on top cared little for
the struggles, and less for the
fate, of those who were
underneath, so long as it was
able to hold them there and keep
its own seat.“
~ from Riis’s Introduction
Mulberry Bend, New York
Bandit's Roost
Dens of Death
A Seven-Cent
Lodging House,
Pell Street
Mulberry Street
Police Station,
Waiting for the
Lodging to Open
1892
One of four pedlars who slept in the cellar of 11 Ludlow Street
Ready for Sabbath Eve in a Coal Cellar
1889
Five Cents Lodging, Bayard Street
In Poverty Gap, an English Coal-Heaver's Home
In a Sweat Shop
It Costs a Dollar a Month to Sleep in These Sheds
Women's Lodging Room in the West 47th Street Station - 1892
Playground in Poverty Gap
Children
Sleeping on
Mulberry Street