some Alabaman mill boys

These photos come from the collections of the Prints and Photographs Division in the Library of Congress. They were all taken by Lewis Hine about whose work I've written before. Hine took them in 1910 at clothing mills in Huntsville, Alabama. I find them fascinating & have put at bottom some enlarged detail images showing subjects that particularly interest me. As usual, click images to view full size. The captions are Hine's own.

Group of young workers in Merrimack Mill (not the youngest).

Group of boys, Merrimac Mills, noon-hour. They would not tell me the truth about their ages.

Closing hour, Saturday noon, at Dallas Mill. Every child in photos, so far as I was able to ascertain, works in that mill. When I questioned some of the youngest boys, they said they were 12, and then other boys said they were lying. (Which sentiment I agreed with.)

Closing hour, Saturday noon, at Dallas Mill. Every child in photos, so far as I was able to ascertain, works in that mill. When I questioned some of the youngest boys as to their ages, they said they were 12, and then other boys said they were lying. (Which sentiment I agreed with.)

Closing hour, Saturday noon, at Dallas Mill. Every child in photos, so far as I was able to ascertain, works in that mill. When I questioned some of the youngest boys as to their ages, they said they were 12, and then other boys said they were lying. (Which sentiment I agreed with.)

Group of workers. Boy on left refused to pose. Merrimac Mills. Location: Huntsville, Alabama. November 1910

Young girls going to work noon-hour Merrimac Mills.

Young Girls going to work noon-hour Merrimac Mills.

Two of the workers in Merrimack Mills. See Hine report.

Gracie Clark, 268 A Street (with a white dress) has been a spinner in the filling room of Merrimack Mill for three years. Her Life Insurance Policy gives her age thirteen years now, so she began working at ten years.

The collection note P&P's curator says:

Working as an investigative photographer for the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC), Lewis Hine (1874-1940) documented working and living conditions of children in the United States between 1908 and 1924. The NCLC photos are useful for the study of labor, reform movements, children, working class families, education, public health, urban and rural housing conditions, industrial and agricultural sites, and other aspects of urban and rural life in America in the early twentieth century.

The collection consists of more than 5,100 photographic prints and 355 glass negatives, given to the Library of Congress, along with the NCLC records, in 1954 by Mrs. Gertrude Folks Zimand, acting for the NCLC in her capacity as chief executive.

P&P ONLINE CATALOG - NATIONAL CHILD LABOR COMMITTEE COLLECTION