Child Labor
As Seen Through the Photographs of Louis Wikes Hine
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, South
Carolina.
Adolescent girls from Bibb Mfg. Co. in Macon, Georgia.
Doffer boys, Macon, Georgia.
The Mill
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, North Carolina.
Small boys and girls climbed up onto the spinning frame to mend broken
threads and to put back the empty bobbins. Bibb Mill No. 1. Macon, Georgia.
 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.
The overseer said apologetically, "She just happened in." The mills seem full of
youngsters who "just happened in" or "are helping sister." Newberry, S.C.
Jo Bodeon, a back-roper in the mule room at Chace Cotton Mill. Burlington, VT.
Newsies
A small newsie downtown on a Saturday afternoon. St. Louis, Mo.
A group of newsies on Capitol steps. Tony, age 8, Dan, 9,
Joseph, 10, and John, age 11. Washington, D.C.
 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.
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.
Michael McNelis,
age 8. 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 the
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.
 Ewen Breaker, Penn.
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, Penn.
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.
Breaker boys, Hughestown Borough Pa. Coal Co. One of these is
James Leonard, another is Stanley Rasmus. 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 West Virginia.
More breaker boys, smallest is Angelo Ross. Pittston, Penn.
The Factory
Scotland Mills showing boys who work in mill. Laurinburg, NC
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. who look under 14. Labor leaders said in busy
times many small boys and girls were employed. Youngsters all smoke. Tampa, Fla.
Boys in the packing room at the Brown Mfg. Co. Evansville, Ind.
Willie, a Polish boy, taking his noon rest in a doffer
box at the Quidwick Co. Mill. Anthony, R.I.
Day scene. Wheaton Glass Works. Boy is Howard Lee, 15 years old.
Has been in glass works two years and some nights. Millville, N.J.
A boy making melon baskets in a basket factory. Evansville, Ind.
Rob Kidd, one of the young workers in a glass factory. Alexandria, Va.
Seafood Workers
Oyster shuckers working in Dunbar, LA, canning factory from 3:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. All but the
very smallest work, including girl in center. Her mother said she is "a real help to me."
Shrimp pickers, including little 8 year old Max on the right. Biloxi, Miss.
Johnnie, a 9 year old oyster shucker. The man behind him is a padrone who
has brought these people from Baltimore for 4 years. He is their boss. Dunbar, LA.
Manuel the young shrimp picker, age 5, with 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 chopping
motion. Slippery floors & benches & careless bumping increase the possibility of accidents.
"The salt water gits into the cuts and they ache," said one boy. Eastport, ME.
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
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.
Norris Luvitt. Been picking 3 years in berry fields near Baltimore.
Little Salesmen
 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. Been pushing a
cart 2 years. Out after
midnight on May 21,
1910. Ordinarily works
6 hours per day. Works
of his own volition. All
earnings go to his
father. Wilmington,
Delaware.
A Variety of Jobs
A Bowery
bootblack in
New York.
Bowling Alley boys. Many of them work setting pins until past midnight. New Haven, Conn.
George Christopher, Postal Telegraph, age 14. Been at it over 3 years.
Does not work nights. Nashville, Tenn.
A boy carrying hats in New York City.
Young boys
working for Hickok
Lumber Co.
Burlington,
Vermont.
Three young boys with shovels standing in doorway of a Fort Worth & Denver train car.
Struggling Families
Mrs. Battaglia (pictured with Tessie, 12, and Tony, 7) works in a garment shop except on
Saturdays, when the children sew with her at home for 2 or 3 cents a pair finishing men's
pants. They earn $1-1.50 on Saturday. Father disabled and can earn very little. NY City.
Jewish family & neighbors working until late at night sewing garters. The youngest work
until 9 p.m., the others until 11 p.m. or later. Out of work father helps make garters. NY City.
Picking nuts in dirty basement. The dirtiest imaginable children were pawing over the nuts 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. NY City.
Pastimes and Vices
Teaching the young rider how to start. A common scene in pool rooms. St. Louis, Mo.
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.
A.D.T. messenger boys. They all smoke. Birmingham, Alabama.
A group of newsies playing craps in the jail alley at 10 p.m. Albany, N.Y.
11:00 a.m. Newsies at Skeeter's Branch. They were all smoking. St. Louis, MO.
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
Getting working papers in New York City.
 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.
Some of the workers in the Farrand Packing Co. Baltimore, Md.
At 5 p.m., boys going home from Monougal Glass Works.
One boy remarked, "De place is lousey wid kids." Fairmont, W. Va.
A few of the young workers in the Beaumont Mill. Spartenburg, S.C.
 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.
Bibliography
Adapted from:
 The History Place
http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/childlabor
/index.html