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    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. 

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    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?
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    Ellie - Such powerful stories! 

    I would add a version of my ever recurring question: Who is responsible to protect and care for children? Clearly Hine had a perspective on that question. Changing ideas about the answer show much about how American society adapted to industrialization and urbanization. Answers continue to change today. 

    That's a great question! And one I hadn't thought about before, but it's so relevant.

    These images and the newspaper clips are so powerful.  What a great and thorough album.  I think that the visuals will really help young learners understand how dangerous child labor was/is and the importance of child labor laws.  There will be some important reflections and realizations about how many children spend their free time today vs. in the past.  Mother Jones and Her Army of Mill Children is a 2020 nonfiction picture book about child labor that would fit nicely with this album/lesson.   

    Oh wow, what a cool book! Thanks for sharing

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