This album was created by a member of the TPS Teachers Network, a professional social media network for educators, funded by a grant from the Library of Congress. For more information, visit tpsteachersnetwork.org.

Child Labor in the Early 1900s (Primary Source Learning Activity)

Album Description

This learning activity uses photographs from  to look at child labor in the early 1900s. It asks students to think about how children worked through illness and injury as well as how the jobs themselves were disabling. This album takes a broad view of disability, including everything from permanent physical disabilities to temporary injuries to both acute and chronic illnesses. This is a purposefully large album to include a wide variety of experiences. Teachers can pick out one or two photos to analyze or they can split their class into groups to tackle the full set. 

*Note: Before starting this exercise, discuss respectful language and historical terms (like crippled) which are considered offensive today.

Consider starting with the Observe, Reflect, Question approach to analyze the photographs.

For background information, I suggest looking at the National Child Labor Committee collection. There are also two lesson plans about child labor on the LOC website (Child Labor in America & Child Labor and the Building of America), but neither of them confronts the role disability played in these children's lives like this album does. 

----

Potential Discussion Questions

  1. What were some of the dangers children encountered while working? (In what ways were these workplaces disabling?) Be specific.
  2. How did disability, injury, and illness shape children’s work lives in the early 1900s? Choose specific examples from the photographs and captions to support your answer.
  3. What are the differences between what happens when these children got sick or injured versus what happens in your life?
  4. What do you think these children were feeling? What can you infer from their facial expressions and body language?
  5. How did these photos (and captions) help reformers efforts for protective child labor laws?

Discussion questions on health examinations

  1. Why did child labor activists advocate for state laws that required health examination for child workers?
  2. How did the photos of child workers help support these reform efforts?
  3. What might have been some of the unintended negative consequences of such examinations?

Board of Health examination of applicant for working papers to see that he is physically able to work.

Teaching Notes

This photo pairs with an excerpt from Compulsory School Attendance and Child Labor (1921 book).

Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2018675794/

Reference note

Date Created/Published: [1913?]
Call Number: LOT 7483, v. 2, no. 3515-A [P&P] LC-H5- 3515A
Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
Notes: Title from NCLC caption card. In album: Miscellaneous. Hine no. 3515-A. No date or location recorded on caption card; 1913 estimate based on captions for photos with neighboring numbers. Non-Hine photographer. Credit line: National Child Labor Committee collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. General information about the National Child Labor Committee collection is available at: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.nclc Forms part of: National Child Labor Committee collection.
Subjects: Boys. Adults. Nurses. Physicians. Health. United States.

Excerpt from Compulsory School Attendance & Child Labor (1921; image 251).png

Teaching Notes

Pair with photo of Board of Health examination.

To cut down the source, just use the last sentence: 

"the modern state provided that no minor should enter upon dangerous employment and that no child under sixteen should leave school to engage in any sort of labor exclusive of home duties and farming, without first submitting to a thorough medical examination and securing a physician’s written assurance of physical fitness for the specific tasks proposed."

Background info: before first federal child labor law passed in 1938, states had their own child labor laws

Reference link: https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcmassbookdig.compulsoryschool00ensi/?sp=251&r=-0.047,0.04,1.184,0.803,0

Reference note

Image 251 (page 237 of the book)

Alt Text

Compulsory health provisions

In enacting the first compulsory education law in America the General Court of Massachusetts bay clearly had in mind the moral as well as the intellectual and economic welfare of children. Two hundred years later, when the descendants of these Puritan law-makers were fighting for compulsory school attendance and child labor laws in Massachusetts and Connecticut, their strongest argument was that children were growing up without proper opportunity to develop their moral natures and under conditions prejudicial to health. Relatively early, the more progressive states began to exclude children from occupations regarded as physically or morally dangerous. Later factory inspectors were given authority to remove children from such employment as seemed unsuited to their strength; and finally the modern state provided that no minor should enter upon dangerous employment and that no child under sixteen should leave school to engage in any sort of labor exclusive of home duties and farming, without first submitting to a thorough medical examination and securing a physician’s written assurance of physical fitness for the specific tasks proposed.

Contributor Names: Ensign, Forest C. (Forest Chester), 1867-1961.
Created / Published: Iowa City, Iowa, The Athens press [1921]
Subject Headings: -  Education, Compulsory--United States
-  Educational law and legislation--United States
-  Child labor--United States
-  School attendance--United States
Notes: -  Also available in digital form.

National Child Labor Committee No. 954. 1-legged boy. Neil Gallagher, Wilkes Barre, Pa. Born January 14, 1891. Went to work at about 9 years. Worked about two years in breaker. Went inside at about 11 years. "Tripper," tending door. 83 cents [a] day. Injured May 2, 1904. Leg crushed between cars. Amputated at Mercy Hospital, Wilkes Barre. "Baltimore Tunnell" - "Black Diamond" D. & H. Co. Thomas Lewellin Superintendent (inside boys); Samuel Morgan, Superintendent. In Hospital 9 weeks. Amputated twice. No charge. Received nothing from company. "Was riding between cars and we aren't supposed to ride between them." No written rules, but they tell you not to. Mule driver (who was on for first day) had taken his lamp and he tried to reach across car to get it. Slipped between bumpers. Been working in breakers since. Same place $1.10 a day. Work only about 1/2 time. Work about 6 hour day. Left 3 months ago. Been in N.Y. - no work. Trying to get work in Poolroom. Applicant at Bureau for Handicapped, 105 E. 22nd Stree

Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/2018674428/

Reference note

Contributor Names: Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940, photographer
Created / Published: 1909 November.
Subject Headings: -  Boys
-  Coal miners
-  Amputees
-  Wounds & injuries
-  United States--Pennsylvania--Wilkes Barre
Genre: Photographic prints
Glass negatives
Notes: -  Title from NCLC caption card.
-  Attribution to Hine based on provenance.
-  In album: Miscellaneous.
-  Hine no. 954.
-  Credit line: National Child Labor Committee collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
-  General information about the National Child Labor Committee collection is available at: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.nclc
-  Forms part of: National Child Labor Committee collection.
Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
Digital Id: nclc 04573 https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/nclc.04573
nclc 05436 https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/nclc.05436

Jennie De Farsee[? on #2950 appears to be "De Farzen"], 33 Horace Street, Somerville, Mass. An immense ring-worm on her face and another on her hand, but still she continued to work on the underwear. See also Home Work report. Location: Somerville, Massachusetts.

Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/2018676432/

Reference note

Contributor Names: Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940, photographer
Created / Published: 1912 August.
Subject Headings: -  Girls
-  Child laborers
-  Clothing industry
-  Crocheting
-  Sick children
-  United States--Massachusetts--Somerville
Genre: Photographic prints
Notes: -  Title from NCLC caption card.
-  Attribution to Hine based on provenance.
-  In album: Tenement homework.
-  Hine no. 2956-A.
-  Credit line: National Child Labor Committee collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
-  General information about the National Child Labor Committee collection is available at: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.nclc
-  Forms part of: National Child Labor Committee collection.
Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
Digital Id: nclc 04226 https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/nclc.04226
cph 3a27628 https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3a27628

309 W. 146th Street. [...] and her seven year old daughter, Lorenza, embroidering ladies waists in their dirty kitchen-living room. Lorenza makes the stems of the flowers. Her mother said, "See how smart she is. I show her how and right away she makes them." "She is so little because she's been sick so much.["] She works after school. Father is out of a job. "They pay too cheap for lace." Said they make about $2.00 a week. Location: New York, New York (State)

Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/2018674702/

Reference note

Contributor Names: Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940, photographer
Created / Published: 1912 January.
Subject Headings: -  Children & adults
-  Families
-  Laborers
-  Home labor
-  Clothing industry
-  Embroidery
-  Sick children
-  Unemployed
-  Tenement houses
-  United States--New York (State)--New York
Genre: Photographic prints
Glass negatives
Notes: -  Title from NCLC caption card.
-  Attribution to Hine based on provenance.
-  In album: Tenement homework.
-  Hine no. 2812.
-  First part of caption appears to have been crossed out; name "De Levo"[?] barely visible.
-  Credit line: National Child Labor Committee collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
-  General information about the National Child Labor Committee collection is available at: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.nclc
-  Forms part of: National Child Labor Committee collection.
Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
Digital Id: nclc 04135 https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/nclc.04135
nclc 05487 https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/nclc.05487

Katie Kuritzko, 7-year-old oyster shucker. Has mumps now. Her 8-year-old brother also shucks. Location: Dunbar, Louisiana.

Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/2018674160/

Reference note

Contributor Names: Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940, photographer
Created / Published: 1911 March.
Subject Headings: -  Girls
-  Cannery workers
-  Oyster industry
-  Sick children
-  United States--Louisiana--Dunbar
Genre: Photographic prints
Notes: -  Title from NCLC caption card.
-  Attribution to Hine based on provenance.
-  In album: Canneries.
-  Hine no. 2067.
-  Reproduction no. LC-USZ6-1208.
-  Credit line: National Child Labor Committee collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
-  General information about the National Child Labor Committee collection is available at: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.nclc
-  Forms part of: National Child Labor Committee collection.
Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
Digital Id: nclc 00926 https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/nclc.00926
cph 3a26039 https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3a26039
cph 3a01117 https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3a01117

John Velcich, ten years old, picks shrimp at Peerless Oyster Co. This is his third year at the work. Earns 55 cents a day. His hands were all sore and swelled up from the acid in the shrimp. Brother Tony, eight years old, picks some too, but is sick now. Location: Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.

Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/2018676347/

Reference note

Contributor Names: Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940, photographer
Created / Published: 1911 March.
Subject Headings: -  Boys
-  Cannery workers
-  Shrimp industry
-  Wages
-  Wounds & injuries
-  United States--Mississippi--Bay St. Louis
Genre: Photographic prints
Notes: -  Title from NCLC caption card.
-  Attribution to Hine based on provenance.
-  In album: Canneries.
-  Hine no. 2042.
-  Credit line: National Child Labor Committee collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
-  General information about the National Child Labor Committee collection is available at: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.nclc
-  Forms part of: National Child Labor Committee collection.
Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
Digital Id: nclc 00901 https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/nclc.00901

A Product of the 4 H. Club. Gradie Walton, 17 yrs. old, - is very deficient in most school branches (except in mathematics where he shines). He is much handicapped physically, - lost one eye in an accident and the other is weak. This year he raised 135 bushels of corn on one acre (his father raised about one half as much and complained that the boy's land was better). The secret was that the boy worked hard on the plot, - fertilizing and cultivating, even bringing soil in from the woods. He got the First Prize for two years. Location: Pocahontas County, West Virginia / Photo by Lewis W. Hine.

Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/2018678163/

Reference note

Contributor Names: Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940, photographer
Created / Published: 1921 October 6.
Subject Headings: -  Boys
-  4-H clubs
-  Corn
-  Farming
-  Vision disorders
-  United States--West Virginia--Pocahontas County
Genre: Photographic prints
Notes: -  Title from NCLC caption card.
-  In album: Children in West Virginia.
-  Hine no. 5060.
-  Number typed in upper left corner of caption card: 40.
-  Credit line: National Child Labor Committee collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
-  General information about the National Child Labor Committee collection is available at: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.nclc
-  Forms part of: National Child Labor Committee collection.
Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
Digital Id: nclc 04377 https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/nclc.04377

Rural Accident. Clipping from Pittsfield paper describing accident to Clinton Stewart, July 14, 1915. See Hine Report, August 1915. Location: [Massachusetts?].

Teaching Notes

This article pairs with two photos from one month after the accident (one of Clinton farming and one of Clinton on a tractor).

Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/2018677453/

Reference note

Alt Text

Pittsfield, Mass. The Berkshire County Eagle, Wednesday, July 14, 1915. Hand Cut Off. Clinton Stewart, aged 12, son of William Stewart of South Stephentown, N.Y., is at the House of Mercy hospital as the result of an accident he met with last Tuesday. He was operating his father's mowing machine when the machine struck a stone and he was thrown in front of the knives of the mower, which cut his left hand off. He was brought to the hospital and his condition is very satisfactory.

Contributor Names: Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940, photographer
Created / Published: 1915 August.
Subject Headings: -  Clippings
-  Wounds & injuries
-  Dismemberment
-  Accidents
-  United States--Massachusetts
Genre: Photographic prints
Notes: -  Title from NCLC caption card.
-  Attribution to Hine based on provenance.
-  In album: Agriculture.
-  Hine no. 3995-A.
-  No location recorded on caption card. "Bennington?" and "Mass." pencilled on caption card by P&P staff members. Likely refers to Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
-  Credit line: National Child Labor Committee collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
-  General information about the National Child Labor Committee collection is available at: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.nclc
-  Forms part of: National Child Labor Committee collection.
Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
Digital Id: nclc 00314 https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/nclc.00314

Rural Accident. Four weeks after the accident Clinton was using his remaining hand to help in the farm work as best he could. His mother said:

Teaching Notes

This photo pairs with a photo of Clinton on a tractor and a news article about the accident.

Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/2018677446/

Reference note

Contributor Names: Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940, photographer
Created / Published: 1915 August.
Subject Headings: -  Boys
-  Agricultural laborers
-  Croplands
-  Wounds & injuries
-  Dismemberment
-  United States
Genre: Photographic prints
Notes: -  Title from NCLC caption card.
-  Attribution to Hine based on provenance.
-  In album: Agriculture.
-  Hine no. 3989.
-  No location recorded on caption card. The word "educate" is underlined on the caption card.
-  Credit line: National Child Labor Committee collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
-  General information about the National Child Labor Committee collection is available at: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.nclc
-  Forms part of: National Child Labor Committee collection.
Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
Digital Id: nclc 00307 https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/nclc.00307

Rural Accident. Twelve-year old Clinton Stewart and his mowing machine which cut off his hand. See Hine Report, August 1915.

Teaching Notes

This photo pairs with a photo of Clinton farming and a news article about the accident.

Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2018677444/

Reference note

Creator(s): Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940, photographer
Date Created/Published: 1915 August.
Call Number: LOT 7475, v. 2, no. 3987 [P&P]
Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
Notes: Title from NCLC caption card. Attribution to Hine based on provenance. In album: Agriculture. Hine no. 3987. No location recorded on caption card. Credit line: National Child Labor Committee collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. General information about the National Child Labor Committee collection is available at: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.nclc Forms part of: National Child Labor Committee collection.
Subjects: Boys. Agricultural laborers. Mowing machines. Wounds & injuries. Dismemberment. United States.

Accident to young mill worker. Giles Edmund Newsom (Photo October 23rd, 1912) while working in Sanders Spinning Mille [i.e., Mill], Bessemer City, N.C., August 21st, 1912, a piece of the machine fell on to his foot mashing his toe. This caused him to fall on to a spinning machine and his hand went into unprotected gearing, crushing and tearing out two fingers. He told the Attorney he was 11 years old when it happened. His parents are now trying to make him 13 years old. The school census taken at the time of the accident makes him12 years old (parents' statement) and school records say the same. His school teacher thinks he is 12. His brother (see photo 3071) is not yet 11 years old. Both of the boys worked in the mill several months before the accident. His father, (R.L. Newsom) tried to compromise with the Company when he found the boy would receive the money and not the parents. The mother tried to blame the boys for getting jobs on their own hook, but she let them work several months. The aunt said "Now h

Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2018677308/

Reference note

Creator(s): Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940, photographer
Date Created/Published: 1912 October 23.
Call Number: LOT 7479, v. 5, no. 3112 [P&P]
Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
Notes: Title from NCLC caption card. Attribution to Hine based on provenance. In album: Mills. Hine no. 3112. In phrase "when he found the boy," the word boy is underlined on the caption card. Credit line: National Child Labor Committee collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. General information about the National Child Labor Committee collection is available at: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.nclc Forms part of: National Child Labor Committee collection.
Subjects: Boys. Textile mill workers. Wounds & injuries. Accidents. United States--North Carolina--Bessemer City.

Holding the door open while a trip[?] goes through. Willie Bryden, a nipper, 164 Center St. A lonely job. Waiting all alone in the dark for a trip to come through. It was so damp that Willie said he had to be doctoring all the time for his cough. A short distance from here, the gas was pouring into the mine so rapidly that it made a great torch when the foreman lit it. Willie had been working here for four months, 500 feet down the shaft, and a quarter of a mile underground from there. (Shaft #6 Pennsylvania Coal Co.) Walls have been whitewashed to make it lighter. January 16th, I found Willie at home sick, His mother admitted that he is only 13 yrs old; will be 14 next July. Said that 4 mos. ago the mine boss told the father to take Willie to work, and that they obtained the certificate from Squire Barrett. (The only thing the Squire could do was to make Willie out to be 16 yrs old.) Willie's father and brother are miners and the home is that of a frugal German family. Location: Pittston, Pennsylvania.

Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/2018676206/

Reference note

Contributor Names: Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940, photographer
Created / Published: 1911 January.
Subject Headings: -  Boys
-  Coal miners
-  Mules
-  Muleteers
-  Coal mining
-  United States--Pennsylvania--Pittston
Genre: Photographic prints
Notes: -  Title from NCLC caption card.
-  Attribution to Hine based on provenance.
-  In album: Coal mines.
-  Hine no. 1922.
-  Reproduction no. LC-USZ6-1212.
-  Credit line: National Child Labor Committee collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
-  General information about the National Child Labor Committee collection is available at: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.nclc
-  Forms part of: National Child Labor Committee collection.
Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
Digital Id: nclc 01111 https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/nclc.01111
cph 3a24708 https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3a24708
cph 3a01121 https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3a01121

Monongah, W. Va. Nola McKinney, Secretary, 1910, West Virginia Child Labor Committee. Frank P......., whose legs were cut off by a motor car in a coal mine in West Virginia when he was 14 years 10 months of age. Location: Monongah, West Virginia.

Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/2018675569/

Reference note

Contributor Names: Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940, photographer
Created / Published: 1910 March.
Subject Headings: -  Boys
-  Coal miners
-  Mine accidents
-  Amputees
-  United States--West Virginia--Monongah
Genre: Photographic prints
Notes: -  Title from NCLC caption card.
-  Attribution to Hine based on provenance.
-  In album: Coal mines.
-  Hine no. 1324 and 1497-A.
-  "March" appears to be crossed off in the date area of the caption card.
-  Credit line: National Child Labor Committee collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
-  General information about the National Child Labor Committee collection is available at: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.nclc
-  Forms part of: National Child Labor Committee collection.
Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
Digital Id: nclc 01086 https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/nclc.01086
nclc 05458 https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/nclc.05458
cph 3a24703 https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3a24703

Human Junk. A product of the mill (See #2963)

Teaching Notes

Additional discussion question:

-Why are the phrases “Human Junk” and “He was truely ‘scrap[p]ed’ and of little use to himself or the world” included in the caption? What do those phrases imply about the photo’s subject? What might be some of the consequences of this type of thinking?

Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/2018677104/

Reference note

Contributor Names: Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940, photographer
Created / Published: 1912 May.
Subject Headings: -  Boys
-  Smoking
-  Sick persons
-  United States--South Carolina--Spartanburg
Genre: Photographic prints
Notes: -  Title from NCLC caption card.
-  Attribution to Hine based on provenance.
-  In album: Mills.
-  Hine no. 2962.
-  City recorded on caption card as "Spartanberg."
-  Credit line: National Child Labor Committee collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
-  General information about the National Child Labor Committee collection is available at: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.nclc
-  Forms part of: National Child Labor Committee collection.
Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
Digital Id: nclc 02548 https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/nclc.02548

Charlie Lott a thirteen year old doffer in cotton mill at West. His Family Record says born March 12, 1900. Has been working for a year in the mill at Laurel, Miss. Came here recently and was put to work at once although he was in bad shape physically. Maybe malaria, maybe hookworm. Location: West, Texas.

Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/2018677660/

Reference note

Contributor Names: Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940, photographer
Created / Published: 1913 November.
Subject Headings: -  Boys
-  Textile mill workers
-  Sick children
-  Cotton industry
-  United States--Texas--West
Genre: Photographic prints
Notes: -  Title from NCLC caption card.
-  Attribution to Hine based on provenance.
-  In album: Mills.
-  Hine no. 3656.
-  Credit line: National Child Labor Committee collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
-  General information about the National Child Labor Committee collection is available at: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.nclc
-  Forms part of: National Child Labor Committee collection.
Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
Digital Id: nclc 02875 https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/nclc.02875
cph 3b21320 https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3b21320

Union Hospital case - Manuel Costa Maiata, 301 Ferry St. Sweeper in Fall River Iron Works five weeks - 17 years old. Broke wrist while sweeping. Slipped on a banana skin. Location: Fall River, Massachusetts / Lewis W. Hine.

Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/2018678251/

Reference note

Contributor Names: Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940, photographer
Created / Published: 1916 June 20.
Subject Headings: -  Boys
-  Iron & steel workers
-  Wounds & injuries
-  United States--Massachusetts--Fall River
Genre: Photographic prints
Notes: -  Title from NCLC caption card.
-  In album: Miscellaneous.
-  Hine no. 4300.
-  Credit line: National Child Labor Committee collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
-  General information about the National Child Labor Committee collection is available at: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.nclc
-  Forms part of: National Child Labor Committee collection.
Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
Digital Id: nclc 05072 https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/nclc.05072

Wilfred Levoie - 15 years - 120 Diman St. - Weaver, American Linen Co. Cut leg June 20, 1916. (See Mr. Wagner's schedule.) Was pushing and pulling basket along floor; basket caught a loose board and threw him against loom cutting his leg. Location: Fall River, Massachusetts / Lewis W. Hine.

Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/2018677872/

Reference note

Contributor Names: Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940, photographer
Created / Published: 1916 June 22.
Subject Headings: -  Boys
-  Textile mill workers
-  Wounds & injuries
-  United States--Massachusetts--Fall River
Genre: Photographic prints
Notes: -  Title from NCLC caption card.
-  In album: Miscellaneous.
-  Hine no. 4318.
-  Credit line: National Child Labor Committee collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
-  General information about the National Child Labor Committee collection is available at: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.nclc
-  Forms part of: National Child Labor Committee collection.
Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
Digital Id: nclc 05076 https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/nclc.05076

Sanford Cotton Mill. Accident case. Carl Thornburg a 12 year old boy who went to work at 11. A few weeks ago he caught his arm in the

Teaching Notes

Additional discussion questions:

-What role did parents' disabilities play in child labor?

-According to the caption, what did the cotton mill do after Carl injured himself working there?

Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/2018677776/

Reference note

Contributor Names: Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940, photographer
Created / Published: 1914 November.
Subject Headings: -  Boys
-  Textile mill workers
-  Cotton industry
-  Accidents
-  Wounds & injuries
-  United States--North Carolina--Sanford
Genre: Photographic prints
Notes: -  Title from NCLC caption card.
-  Attribution to Hine based on provenance.
-  In album: Mills.
-  Hine no. 3887.
-  Phrase "real chance" is underlined on the caption card.
-  Credit line: National Child Labor Committee collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
-  General information about the National Child Labor Committee collection is available at: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.nclc
-  Forms part of: National Child Labor Committee collection.
Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
Digital Id: nclc 02979 https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/nclc.02979

A menace to Society. The Padgett family. The entire family including the mother totally illiterate. No one could read or write. The mother does mill work some. Alice, 17 years has steady job. Makes from $5 to $6 a week. Alfred, 13 years now, worked here when he was 12, and in other mills before that. Makes $4 a week. Recently crippled by getting his hand caught in the cogs of a spinning machine. Richard just reached 11. Been working here 1 year; began when he was 10. Makes $2.40 a week. "The work runs him down too." William, 6 years old, nearly blind. Lizzie, 5 years old. Home in utter neglect; filthy and bare. When investigator called the mother had been gone about an hour, leaving a roomer's 3 months old baby in the cradle before an open fire on the hearth, and only two children 5 and 6 years old - one nearly blind, playing around. She came back and fed them a lot of cheap candy. What will Society reap from its neglect of this family? Shaw Cotton Mills. Location: South Weldon, North Carolina.

Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/2018677753/

Reference note

Contributor Names: Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940, photographer
Created / Published: 1914 November.
Subject Headings: -  Boys
-  Girls
-  Women
-  Families
-  Textile mill workers
-  Cotton industry
-  United States--North Carolina--South Weldon
Genre: Photographic prints
Notes: -  Title from NCLC caption card.
-  Attribution to Hine based on provenance.
-  In album: Mills.
-  Hine no. 3851.
-  Credit line: National Child Labor Committee collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
-  General information about the National Child Labor Committee collection is available at: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.nclc
-  Forms part of: National Child Labor Committee collection.
Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
Digital Id: nclc 02947 https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/nclc.02947

Willie Crocker, (barefoot) Wylie Mill, Chester, S.C. 13 years old-- "worked since I was 6 years old." Lost part of finger in gear of machinery. Fred Crocker--11 years old. 1 year in mill. Location: Chester, South Carolina.

Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/2018674379/

Reference note

Contributor Names: Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940, photographer
Created / Published: 1908 November.
Subject Headings: -  Boys
-  Textile mill workers
-  Wounds & injuries
-  United States--South Carolina--Chester
Genre: Photographic prints
Notes: -  Title from NCLC caption card.
-  Attribution to Hine based on provenance.
-  In album: Mills.
-  Hine no. 324.
-  Credit line: National Child Labor Committee collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
-  General information about the National Child Labor Committee collection is available at: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.nclc
-  Forms part of: National Child Labor Committee collection.
Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
Digital Id: nclc 01417 https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/nclc.01417