CHILD LABOR IN AMERICA

- Parin Udani

Through the 1800s and early 1900s, nearly 2 million American children were employed in all manner of unsafe jobs

The National Child Labor Committee hired an investigative photographer to document these horrid working conditions in places such as…

Textile Mills

Canneries

Scene in canning factory showing a 7-year old girl who shucks 3 pots of oysters a day, and works regularly, and her 6-year old brother who helps some. Also a 11-year old boy who does six pots a day. Several others here under 12 years, but there were more last month. Mostly negro workers. The boss said "We keep only enough whites so we can control the negroes and keep them agoing."

Coal Mines

…and Glass Factories

"Carrying-in" boy in Alexandria Glass Factory, Alexandria, Va. Works on day shift one week and night shift next week.

Often, children had to help their parents in order to earn wages and help makes ends meet.

Here we see a widow receiving help from her children at her job rolling cigarettes.

However the wages

they earned

were miniscule.

Children were seen more as “Young Adults”, and were not offered the luxuries of a modern day “Childhood”

Here we see a group of children playing poker together

and it was common for children to get injured

Carl Thornburg a 12 year old boy who went to work at 11. A few weeks ago he caught his arm in the "lapper" machine, and broke it in 2 places. He said: "I sure didn't mean to. Was jus goin through the lapper room an fust thing I knew everything went black." The family is hard-up. Father is a paralytic. Here is a real chance for a mill to do a benevolent deed by making some recompense to this crippled boy and his paralytic father. They think it's charity to give a boy work under legal age, but when he is injured they forget that side of it. No suggestion of any kind of recompense has been heard. Jim Browning said he was 12 years old, but that is doubtful. Has worked 6 months here; gets 50 cents a day. Is in the 2nd grade at school.

Frank Wiegel was injured after working 18 hours a day. Age 15 years. Employed by the Henry Bosch Paper Co., makers of wallpaper sample books. On Saturday morning at 1:55, Frank must have fallen asleep and in some way he knocked against the controlling pedal, and the next thing he knew his hand was caught in the machine.

Harry McShane, 16 yrs. of age on June 29, 1908. Had his left arm pulled off near shoulder, and right leg broken through kneecap, by being caught on belt of a machine in Spring factory in May 1908. Had been working in factory more than 2 yrs. Was on his feet for first time after the accident, the day this photo was taken. No attention was paid by employers to the boy either at hospital or home according to statement of boy's father. No com- pensation.