CHILD labour reached new extremes in America during the Industrial Revolution, with children often being forced to work long hours under dangerous conditions for very little money.
The reasons for using young workers were many - kids were able into to fit into small spaces where adults couldn't go, they were easier to manage and, most importantly, they could be paid less.
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Photographer Lewis Hine's notes: 1908 August, The "Manly art of self-defense" Newsboys' Protective Association. Location: Cincinnati, OhioCredit: Exclusivepix Media
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Photo shows: 1911 Jan, Group of Breaker Boys in \0439 Breaker, Hughestown Borough, Pennsylvania Coal Co. Location: Pittston, PennsylvaniaCredit: Exclusivepix Media
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Photo shows: 1916 June, Street gang smoking - corner Margaret & Water Streets - 4:30 P.M. Location: Springfield, MassachusettsCredit: Exclusivepix Media
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Photo shows: 1911 Feb, Manuel, the young shrimp-picker, five years old, and a mountain of child-labour oyster shells behind him. He worked last year. Understands not a word of English. Dunbar, Lopez, Dukate Company. Location: Biloxi, MississippiCredit: Exclusivepix Media
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Photo shows: 1908 October, Lunch Time, Economy Glass Works, Morgantown, W. Va. Plenty more like this, inside. Location: Morgantown, West VirginiaCredit: Exclusivepix Media
In the late 19th and early 20th century, hundreds of thousand of kids were forced to leave school and take to the factories.
By 1900, 18 per cent of ALL American workers were under the age of 16. In 1870, there were 750,000 child workers.
Although some people fought for better working conditions, it wasn't fears about their safety which brought an end to child labour.
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Photo shows: 1913 April, Eagle and Phoenix Mill. "Dinner-toters" waiting for the gate to open. This is carried on more in Columbus than in any other city I know, and by smaller children. Many of them are paid by the week for doing it, and carry, sometimes ten or more a day. They go around in the mill, often help tend to the machines, which often run at noon, and so learn the work. A teacher told me the mothers expect the children to learn this way, long before they are of proper age. Location: Columbus, GeorgiaCredit: Exclusivepix Media
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Lewis wrote: 1914 October, Brown McDowell a 12-year-old usher in Princess Theatre. Works from 10 A.M. to 10 P.M. Can barely read; has reached the second grade in school only. Investigator reports little actual need for earnings. Location: Birmingham, AlabamaCredit: Exclusivepix Media
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Photo shows: 1908 August, Marie Costa, Basket Seller, 605 Elm St., Sixth St. Market, Cincinnati. 9 P.M. Had been there since 10 A.M. Sister and friend help her. Location: Cincinnati, OhioCredit: Exclusivepix Media
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Photo shows: 1908 August, A Little "Shaver," Indianapolis Newsboy, 41 inches high. Said he was 6 years old. Aug., 1908. Wit., E. N. Clopper. Location: Indianapolis, IndianaCredit: Exclusivepix Media
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Photo shows: 1915 October, The 8 and 10 yr. old children here are working beets on a farm near Sterling, Colo, from 5:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M. on rush days. Father said, "We have to get done.". Location: Sterling vicinity, ColoradoCredit: Exclusivepix Media
hoto shows: 1911 Feb, Josie, six year old, Bertha, six years old, Sophie, 10 years old, all shuck regularly. Maggioni Canning Co. Location: Port Royal, South CarolinaCredit: Exclusivepix Media
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Lewis' notes: 1911 May, The "Kinleygarten" (the mill Policeman called it) at Lynchburg (Va.) Cotton MillsCredit: Exclusivepix Media
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Photo shows: Photo shows: 1913 December, August, Charlie Foster has a steady job in the Merrimack Mills. School Record says he is now ten years old. His father told me that he could not read, and still he is putting him into the mill. Location: Huntsville, AlabamaCredit: Exclusivepix Media
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Photo shows: September 1913 , Messenger boy working for Mackay Telegraph Company. Said fifteen years old. Exposed to Red Light dangers. Location: Waco, TexasCredit: Exclusivepix Media
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Photo shows: 1911 March, Four-year-old Mary, who shucks two pots of oysters a day at Dunbar. Tends the baby when not working. The boss said that next year Mary will work steady as the rest of them. The mother is the fastest shucker in the place. Earns $1.50 a day. Works part of the time with her sick baby in her arms. Father works on the dock. Location: Dunbar, LouisianaCredit: Exclusivepix Media
No, it was the Great Depression - and the fact that American adults now wanted the jobs for themselves.
Child labour had always been a part of colonial American culture, primarily on the farms, and was not a controversial subject at the time.
One man who was dedicated to changing public opinion was New York teacher Lewis Hine - who quit his job to become a full-time photographer, and advocate for social change.
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Photo shows: 1910 May, 5:00 A.M. Sunday May 8th, 1910. Starting out with papers from McIntyres Branch. Chestnut & 16th Sts.,. Location: St. Louis, MissouriCredit: Exclusivepix Media
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Photo shows: 1910 Feb, Albernesi Family, 126 W. Eagle St. Left to right: Frank Albernesi, 5 years old. Libori Albernesi, 15 years old, Joseph Albernesi, 13 years old. Family goes to country in summer to pick fruit. Location: Buffalo, New YorkCredit: Exclusivepix Media
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Photo shows: 1910 May, 2 newsgirls. Location: Wilmington, DelawareCredit: Exclusivepix Media
Photo shows: 1912 August, A 9 year old boy, Jo Cafarella, 39 Warren Street, Somerville, Mass. His sister Lena, 10 years, and Mary Lazzaro, 13 years old, his cousin, lives at 17 South Street. This is typical of their work. Very few boys work on crochet, but he has for 2 years. Location: Somerville, MassachusettsCredit: Exclusivepix Media
In 1908, he left this teaching post for a life behind the lens with the National Child Labor Committee.
Between then and 1924, he travelled the country, taking more than 5,100 pictures for the NCLC.
Among these striking images are some of his most famous photos, as well as dozens of others taken between 1874 and 1940.
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Photo shows: 28th September 1910, Tenjeta Calone, Philadelphia, 10 years old. Been picking cranberries 4 years. White's Bog, Browns Mills, N.J. This is the fourth week of school and the people here except to remain two weeks more. Location: Brown Mills, New JerseyCredit: Exclusivepix Media
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Photo shows: 1910 November, Little Fannie, 7 years old, 48 inches high, helps sister in Elk Mills. Her sister (in photo) said, "Yes, she he'ps me right smart. Not all day but all she can. Yes, she started with me at six this mornin'." These two belong to a family of 19 children. Location: Fayetteville, TennesseeCredit: Exclusivepix Media
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Photo shows: 1908 September - Vance, a Trapper Boy, 15 years old. Has trapped for several years in a West Va. Coal mine. $.75 a day for 10 hours work. All he does is to open and shut this door: most of the time he sits here idle, waiting for the cars to come. On account of the intense darkness in the mine, the hieroglyphics on the door were not visible until plate was developed. Location: West VirginiaCredit: Exclusivepix Media
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Photo shows: 1908 November, Rhodes Mfg. Co., Lincolnton, N.C. Spinner. A moments glimpse of the outer world Said she was 10 years old. Been working over a year. Location: Lincolnton, North CarolinaCredit: Exclusivepix Media
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Photo shows: 1916 August, Amos is 6 and Horace 4 years old. Their father, John Neal is a renter and raises tobacco. He said (and the owner of the land confirmed it) that both these boys work day after day from "sun-up to sun-down" worming and suckering, and that they are as steady as a grown-up. Location: Warren County--Albaton, KentuckyCredit: Exclusivepix Media
“Often hiding his camera and tricking his way past bosses, Hine even learned to write with his hand inside his pocket in order to get accurate captions without giving himself away,” it says on the .
“His work — famously never touched up for effect — depicting children labouring in sweatshops, coal mines, textile mills, and on farms outraged the public and shamed the government into acting.
“His photographs provided the NCLC with the leverage it needed to advance the enactment of state and federal laws to protect the rights of children in the workplace, including the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which was the first major federal child labour law ever enacted.”
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Photo shows: 1911 August, Nan de Gallant, 4 Clark St., Eastport, Maine, 9 year old cartoner, Seacoast Canning Co., Factory \0432. Packs some with her mother. Mother and two sisters work in factory. One sister has made $7 in one day. During the rush season, the women begin work at 7 a.m., and at times work until midnight. Brother works on boats. The family comes from Perry, Me., just for the summer months. Work is very irregular. Nan is already a spoiled child. Location: Eastport, MaineCredit: Exclusivepix Media
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Photo shows: 1909 Jan, Young Cigarmakers in Englahardt & Co., Tampa, Fla. There boys looked under 14. Work was slack and youngsters were not being employed much. Labor told me in busy times many small boys and girls are employed. Youngsters all smoke. Witness Sara R. Hine. Location: Tampa, FloridaCredit: Exclusivepix Media
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Photo shows: 1916 October, Jewel and Harold Walker, 6 and 5 years old, pick 20 to 25 pounds of cotton a day. Father said: "I promised em a little wagon if they'd pick steady, and now they have half a bagful in just a little while." Location: Comanche County, OklahomaCredit: Exclusivepix Media
