Unthinkable photographs of the 1900s, showing the hard working days of children
The Industrial Revolution brought not only new job opportunities, but also new workers: children. By 1900, 18 percent of all American workers were under the age of 16.
For employers of the era, children were seen as attractive workers because they could be hired for jobs that did not require special skills for lower wages than an adult. Their smaller size also allowed them to do certain jobs that adults could not do, and they were thought to be easy to control.
In 1904, the National Committee on Child Labour was established in the hope of ending the horrors of child labour. Teams of investigators were dispatched to gather evidence of the harsh conditions under which the children worked. One such person was photographer Lewis Hine, who traveled the country meeting and photographing children working in various industries.
Lewis Hine quit his job as a schoolteacher in New York City to join the National Committee on Child Labor. Its purpose was to open the eyes of the public to the exploitative nature of child employment and to help bring about changes in the law to end this cruel practice. While the effect wasn’t immediate, the horrific scenes he captured with his camera were able to draw attention to the plight of children in the workforce.
Giles Edmund Newsom, age 11, Bessemer City, North Carolina
Hine, Lewis Wickes
The accident with the young worker at the mill occurred when he was only 11 years old.
7-year-old Rosie Bluffton, South Carolina
Hine, Lewis Wickes
Oyster cleaner. She’s been doing this for two years. Illiterate. Works all day. Fills only pots per day. Varn & Platt canning company.
7-year-old Ferris. Mobile, Alabama
Hine, Lewis Wickes
A little newspaper deliveryman. In the big cities there were many such young newspaper carriers.
Callie Campbell, 11, Potawotami County, Oklahoma
Hine, Lewis Wickes
Harvests 34 kg to 56 kg of cotton per day and gets 50 pounds for a full bag. She says she doesn’t like this job at all.
Vance, Doorman, 15, West Virginia
Hine, Lewis Wickes
He works as a doorman in a coal mine in West Virginia. $0.75 per day for 10 hours of work. All it does is open and close that door.
Macon, GA
Hine, Lewis Wickes
Some of the boys were so small that they had to climb onto a spinning frame to mend broken threads and put empty spools back in place.
7-year-old Katie Kuritsko. Dunbar, Louisiana
Hine, Lewis Wickes
Katie cleans oysters. She has mumps.
5-year-old Harold Walker. Comanche County, Oklahoma
Hine, Lewis Wickes
Trenton, New Jersey
Hine, Lewis Wickes
Photo of boys working in a bowling alley. The photo was taken late at night. Boys work until midnight and later.
Eight-year-old Jenny Camillo. Pemberton, New Jersey
Hine, Lewis Wickes
This summer, she was picking cranberries.
Augusta, GA
Hine, Lewis Wickes
A small spinner at the Globe cotton factory. The caretaker admitted that she worked on a regular basis
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Antoinette Siminger, 12 years old. Cincinnati, Ohio
Hine, Lewis WickesHine, Lewis Wickes
“Baskets! Five cents each!” It was 10 p.m. The girl had been selling since early morning.
Two young workers from Loudoun, Tennessee
Hine, Lewis Wickes
One of these young ladies separates the fibers and threads, and the other inserts the thread into the loop at the Loudon hosiery factory.
A 10-year-old forager at Gildersleeve Tobacco Farm. Gildersleeve, Connecticut
Hine, Lewis Wickes
A young miner. Brown, West Virginia
Hine, Lewis Wickes
I’ve been driving for one year. Drives from 7:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily.
A young spinner. Whitnell, North Carolina
Hine, Lewis Wickes
One of the spinners at Whitnel Cotton Mfg. Co. N.c. She was 130 cm tall and worked at the mill for 1 year, sometimes at night. Earns 48 cents a day. When asked how old she was, she hesitated and then replied, “I don’t remember.” Then confidentially: “I’m not old enough to work, but I do what everyone else does.”
Sonny and Pete. San Antonio, TX
Hine, Lewis Wickes
A greaser in a coal mine. Bessie Mine, Alabama
Hine, Lewis Wickes
A widow and children roll up paper for cigarettes. New York
Hine, Lewis Wickes
Maud Daly, 5 years old. Grade Daly, 3 years old. St. Louis Bay, Mississippi
Hine, Lewis Wickes
Each collects about one can of shrimp per day for the Incomparable Oyster Company.
Typical messenger from Birmingham, Alabama
Hine, Lewis Wickes