Gruesome Pictures From The 1900s Showing The Struggles Of Working Children Before Child Labor Was Abolished

In 1908 Lewis Hine picked up his camera and became the photographer for the National Child Labor Committee. It was a start of a long decade, as Lewis traveled across the country, documenting child labor, getting constant threats from factory owners as the immorality of employment laws was supposed to be kept away from the public’s eye. However, Hine persisted, adopting many different disguises (such as a fire inspector or a bible salesman) to snap these old photos of the labor laws violations and interview the children working at factories or in the streets.

Lewis Hine used his camera as a tool for social commentary and reform, focusing on the dangerous and appalling conditions that the children had to work in. Risking his own safety, Hine snapped thousands of photographs with one goal – change child labor laws terminally. And of course, spreading the vintage photos, in the form of pamphlets, newspapers, and magazines paid off as the federal government eventually had to put out stricter labor laws. Scroll down below to see a selection of Hine’s vintage photography and don’t forget to tell us what you think.

More info: National Child Labor Committee Collection

#1 Accident To Young Mill Worker. Giles Edmund Newsom. While Working In Sanders Spinning Mille, 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. Location: Bessemer City, North Carolina

Gruesome Pictures From The 1900s Showing The Struggles Of Working Children Before Child Labor Was Abolished

Gruesome Pictures From The 1900s Showing The Struggles Of Working Children Before Child Labor Was Abolished

#2 7-Year Old Rosie. Regular Oyster Shucker. Her Second Year At It. Illiterate. Works All Day. Shucks Only A Few Pots A Day. Varn & Platt Canning Co. Location: Bluffton, South Carolina

#3 7 Year Old Ferris. Tiny Newsie Who Did Not Know Enough To Make Change For Investigator. There Are Still Too Many Of These Little Ones In The Larger Cities. Location: Mobile, Alabama

#4 Newsboy Asleep On Stairs With Papers. Location: Jersey City, New Jersey

#5 Callie Campbell, 11 Years Old, Picks 75 To 125 Pounds Of Cotton A Day, And Totes 50 Pounds Of It When Sack Gets Full. “No, I Don’t Like It Very Much.” Location: Potawotamie County, Oklahoma

#6 Four-Year-Old Mary, Who Shucks Two Pots Of Oysters A Day At Dunbar. Tends The Baby When Not Working. Location: Dunbar, Louisiana

#7 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. Location: West Virginia

#8 Breaker Boys In #9 Breaker, Hughestown Borough, Pa. Coal Co. Smallest Boy Is Angelo Ross. Location: Pittston, Pennsylvania

#9 Rose Biodo, 1216 Annan St., Philadelphia. 10 Years Old. Working 3 Summers. Minds Baby And Carries Berries, Two Pecks At A Time. Location: Browns Mills, New Jersey

#10 Arnao Family, Whole Family Works. Jo Is 3 Years Old. Boy Is 6 Years Old, Girl Is 9 Years Old. May 28th 1910, Before School Closed. Location: Browns Mills, New Jersey

#11 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

#12 Some Boys Were So Small They Had To Climb Up On The Spinning Frame To Mend The Broken Threads And Put Back The Empty Bobbins. Location: Macon, Georgia

#13 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 Carolina

#14 5-Year Old Harold Walker. Location: Comanche County–[geronimo], Oklahoma

#15 Maud Daly, Five Years Old. Grade Daly, Three Years Old. Each Picks About One Pot Of Shrimp A Day For The Peerless Oyster Co. Location: Bay St. Louis, Mississippi

#16 Tipple Boy, Turkey Knob Mine, Macdonald, W. Va. Witness E.n. Clopper. Location: Macdonald, West Virginia

#17 Noon Hour In The Ewen Breaker, Pennsylvania Coal Co. Location: South Pittston, Pennsylvania

#18 Some Of Newark’s Small Newsboys. Afternoon. Location: Newark, New Jersey

#19 Photo Of Boys Working In Arcade Bowling Alley, Trenton, N.j. Photo Taken Late At Night. The Boys Work Until Midnight And Later. Location: Trenton, New Jersey

#20 Eight-Year-Old, Jennie Camillo, Lives In West Maniyunk, Pa. For This Summer She Has Picked Cranberries. Location: Pemberton, New Jersey

#21 A Little Spinner In Globe Cotton Mill. Augusta, Ga. The Overseer Admitted She Was Regularly Employed. Location: Augusta, Georgia

#22 “Basket ! Five Cents Each!” Antoinette Siminger, 12 Years Old, 4219 Glenway Ave., Price Hill, Sixth St., Market, Cincinnati. 10 P.m. Had Been Selling Since Morning. Location: Cincinnati, Ohio

#23 Two Of The Tiny Workers, A Raveler And A Looper In Loudon Hosiery Mills. Location: Loudon, Tennessee

#24 10 Yr. Old Picker On Gildersleeve Tobacco Farm. Location: Gildersleeve, Connecticut

#26 Young Driver In Mine: Had Been Driving One Year. (7 A.m. To 5:30 P.m. Daily) Brown Mine, Brown , W. Va. Location: Brown, West Virginia

#27 Drivers In A Coal Mine Co. Plenty Boys Driving And On Tipple. No Trappers Used, As Mine Is Ventilated By Another System. Location: West Virginia

#28 Greel’s Shoe-Shining Parlor, Indianapolis, Ind. Said He Was 15 Years Old. Works Some Nights Until 11. Taken At 10 P.m. Location: Indianapolis, Indiana

#29 Lunch Time, Economy Glass Works, Morgantown, W. Va. Plenty More Like This, Inside. Location: Morgantown, West Virginia

#31 Louis Birch, Newsboy, 12 Years Of Age. Just Started Selling. Made 10 Cents One Day. Father Dead. While Not Under Any Compulsion To Sell Papers, Louis, Of His Own Accord, Took It Up In Order To Help Support His Widowed Mother. Location: Wilmington, Delaware

#32 “Radishes! Penny A Bunch!” Sixth St. Market, Cincinnati. 10 P.m. Saturday. Boys And Girls Sell All Day, And Until 11 P.m. Aug.22, 1908. Location: Cincinnati, Ohio

#33 11:00 A. M . Monday, May 9th, 1910. Newsies At Skeeter’s Branch, Jefferson Near Franklin. They Were All Smoking. Location: St. Louis, Missouri

#34 Little Fannie, 7 Years Old, 48 Inches High, Helps Sister In Elk Mills. Location: Fayetteville, Tennessee

#35 A Greaser In A Coal Mine. See 1835. Location: Bessie Mine, Alabama

#36 Sonny And Pete Newsboys. One Is Six Years Old. They Began At 6:00 A.m. Location: San Antonio, Texas

#37 Widow & Boy Rolling Papers For Cigarettes In A Dirty N.y. Tenement. Location: New York, New York

#38 Working Girls Learning Dressmaking In The Free Evening School. Location: Boston, Massachusetts

#39 Bertha, One Of The Six-Year Old Shuckers. Began Work At 4 A.m. Maggioni Canning Co. Location: Port Royal, South Carolina

#40 “Fire- Fire – I Want To Make The Fire.” An Italian Boy On Salem Street Saturday Morning, Offering To Make Fires For Jewish People. Location: Boston, Massachusetts

#41 A Typical Birmingham Messenger. Location: Birmingham, Alabama

#42 Maple Mills, Dillon, S.c. Soarbar Seris, Has Worked Off And On In The Mill For 5 Years. Winds. Gets 70 Cents And Up. “Recon I’m About 14.” Didn’t Look It. Has Worked More Nights Than Day Time. Location: Dillon, South Carolina

#43 One Of The Small Boys In J. S. Farrand P[ac]king Co. And A Heavy Load. J. W. Magruder, Witness. Location: Baltimore, Maryland

#44 Francis Lance 5 Years Old, 41 Inches High. Sells Regularly On Grand Avenue. Location: St. Louis, Missouri

#45 Katie Kuritzko, 7-Year-Old Oyster Shucker. Has Mumps Now. Her 8-Year-Old Brother Also Shucks. Location: Dunbar, Louisiana

#46 One Of The Young Spinners In The Quidwick Co. Mill. Anthony, R. I. (A Polish Boy Willie) Who Was Taking His Noon Rest In A Doffer-Box. Location: Anthony, Rhode Island

#47 Ethel Shumate. Has Been Rolling Cigarettes In Danville (Va.) Factory For Six Months. Said She Was Thirteen Years Old, But It Is Doubtful. Location: Danville, Virginia

#48 A Few Of The Messengers Western Union, Hartford, Conn. They Are On Duty, Alternate Nights, Until 10 P.m. Location: Hartford, Connecticut

#49 Daisy Langford, 8 Yrs. Old Works In Ross’ Canneries. She Helps At The Capping Machine, But Is Not Able To “Keep Up.” She Places Caps On The Cans At The Rate Of About 40 Per Minute Working Full Time. Location: Seaford, Delaware

#50 6 Yr. Old Earle Holt (Or Hope), 712 H St., S.w., Washington, D.c., Sells Papers For A Neighbor Boy. When I Met Him, Within An Hour He Had Forgotten That I Had Photographed Him, But He Didn’t Forget To Shortchange Me When I Bought The Paper. Location: Washington (D.c.)

#51 Two Of The Boys On Night Shift In The More-Jonas Glass Co., Bridgeton, N.j. Location: Bridgeton, New Jersey

#52 Fruit Vendors, Indianapolis Market, Aug., 1908. Wit., E. N. Clopper. Location: Indianapolis, Indiana

#53 A Young Doffer Working In Central Mills. Location: Sylacauga, Alabama

#54 Elsie Shaw, A 6 Year Old Cartoner During The Summer. [her Father] Asked Me To Take Some Photos Of Her, As He Has Her Do A Singing Act In Vaudeville In The Winter, “And She’s Old Enough Now To Go Through The Audience And Sell Her Own Photos.” Location: Eastport, Maine

#55 Israel April, 9 Yr. Old Newsboy With No Badge. Been Selling For Several Years. I Found Him Selling After Midnight April 17th And 18th. Quite A Pugnacious Little Chap. He And His Brother Are Said To Have A Large Clientele Among Ambassadors And Senators. Location: Washington (D.c.)

#56 Spinners In Melville Mfg. Co., Cherryville, N.c. Location: Cherryville, North Carolina

#57 The “Carrying-In Boys,” Midnight At An Indiana Glass Works. Location: Indiana

#58 Noon Hour In An Indianapolis Furniture Factory. Aug., 1908. Wit., E. N. Clopper. Location: Indianapolis, Indiana

#59 Messenger Boy Working For Mackay Telegraph Company. Said Fifteen Years Old. Exposed To Red Light Dangers. Location: Waco, Texas

#60 Newberry Mills (S.c.) Noon Hour. All Are Working Here. Witness, Sara R. Hine. Location: Newberry, South Carolina

#61 Lillian Dambrinio, An Eleven-Year-Old Shrimp Picker In Peerless Oyster Co. She Is An American And Lives Here. Says Picking Makes Her Hands Sore. Location: Bay St. Louis, Mississippi

#62 Boys Working In A Cannery, Indianapolis, Unloading Freight Cars Full Of New Tomato Cans. Location: Indianapolis, Indiana

#63 A Little “Shaver,” Indianapolis Newsboy, 41 Inches High. Said He Was 6 Years Old. Aug., 1908. Location: Indianapolis, Indiana

#64 Postal Telegraph Messengers, Indianapolis, (Indiana Has No Age Limit For Mes’grs.) Location: Indianapolis, Indiana

#65 Carrying-In Boy At The Lehr, (15 Years Old) Glass Works, Grafton, W. Va. Has Worked For Several Years. Works Nine Hours. Day Shift One Week, Night Shift Next Week. Gets $1.25 Per Day. Location: Grafton, West Virginia

#66 “Teaching The Young Idea.” The Boss (Who Began At 10 Years Of Age, And Has Been At It For 30 Years) Showing A Beginner (Who Is Apparently 9 Or 10) See 169. Location: Morgantown, West Virginia

#67 In Front Of Shacks At Noon, Florence Colony, Whites Bog, Browns Mills, N.j. This Is The Fourth Week Of School And The People Expect To Remain Two Weeks More. Location: Browns Mills, New Jersey

#68 Two Little Pickers. Manuel Alvez – 12 Years, Marion Alvez, 8 Years. She Picks 19 Measures. He Picks 10 Measures. Location: Falmouth – Baker Bog, Massachusetts

#69 Fruit Peddlers. Boston 1915 Exhibit. Location: Boston, Massachusetts

#70 Oldest Girl, Minnie Carpenter. Makes Fifty Cents A Day Of 10 Hours. Works Four Sides. Younger Girl Works Irregularly. Location: Gastonia, North Carolina

#71 Tenjeta Calone, Philadelphia, 10 Years Old. Been Picking Cranberries 4 Years. Location: Browns Mills, New Jersey

#72 Boys Going To Work, Merrimac Mills, Noon-Hour. Location: Huntsville, Alabama

#73 Hyman Lapcoff, 1526 Fourteenth St., N.w., Washington, D.c., A Ten Year Old Newsie From A Good Family, Carrying A Heavy Load Of Newspapers Quite A Distance. This Is A Common Occurrence And Is Bad For The Little Fellows. Location: Washington (D.c.)

#75 Children Thrashing Corn During School Hours On A Farm Near Dublin. Many Such Light Occupations Fall To The Lot Of The Georgia Child. Location: Dublin, Georgia

#76 Mary Christmas, Nearly 4 Years Old. Picks Cranberries Sometimes. She Is Now Picking Up Berries Spilled At The Barrels By Grandfather. Location: Falmouth – Week’s Bog, Massachusetts

#77 Salvin Nocito, 5 Years Old, Carries 2 Pecks Of Cranberries For Long Distance To The “Bushel-Man.” Location: Browns Mills, New Jersey

#78 Dave, A Young “Pusher” At Bessie Mine, Alabama. Location: Bessie Mine, Alabama

#79 John Tidwell, A Cotton Mill Product. Doffer In Avondale Mills. Many Of These Youngsters Smoke. Location: Birmingham, Alabama

#80 Girls Working On Ice Wagon. Location: New York, New York

#81 10:30 P.m. At Center Market. 11 Yr. Old Celery Vendor Gus Strateges, 212 Jackson Hall Alley. He Sold Until 11 P.m. And Was Out Again Sunday Morning Selling Papers. Location: Washington (D.c.)

#82 Young Doffers In Mollahan Mills, Newberry, S.c. Dec. 3/08. Witness, Sara R. Hine. Location: Newberry, South Carolina

#83 In The Alexandria Glass Factories, Negroes Work Side By Side With The White Workers. Location: Alexandria, Virginia