Lewis Hine, the Progressive Movement and child-labor reform

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Lewis Hine’s documentary photographs of child workers played a vital role in influencing changes to the nation’s labor laws, but he was part of a much larger Progressive Reform Movement that stretched back to the early 19th century, according to Robert Macieski. A history professor at the University of New Hampshire, Macieski gave a slide lecture at the Bennington Museum in conjunction its the current exhibition “Before Their Time: The Child Labor Photographs of Lewis Hine,” of 56 photographic prints capturing child-laborers in New England between 1909 and 1912. Macieski, whose scholarship focuses on the Progressive movement, is currently working on a book about Hine. The exhibit, on display through May 15 and assembled by the New Hampshire Historical Society, is of local interest because it includes shots of young textile mill workers in Bennington and Pownal, Vt. “Of course, child labor existed long before industrialization,” Macieski told audience members Saturday afternoon. Indeed, children had always been expected to earn their keep around the house, on the farm, watching younger siblings or apprenticing a trade from parents. But the industrial revolution spawned a new type of work, the nature of which was particularly inhumane to young bodies and minds. For children, work had traditionally consisted of performing various, intermittent tasks around the homestead — often in direct preparation for their adult life. Industrial jobs, in stark contrast, were monotonous, repetitive and irrelevant. “Now, work was dictated by the factory bell,” he said. Work might consist of nothing more than monitoring, feeding and repairing a large, continuously spinning machine for 10, 12, or more hours each day. In the industrial age, children were the perfect workers: many machines were specifically designed to be operated only by their tiny hands. The surge of industry increased demand for an unskilled work force. Immigrants, from Canada and Europe, created a hungry and desperate labor pool — and one unlikely to stand up against management. Working conditions were dangerous and little, if any, compensation was given for work-related injury. Working alongside adults, children developed the habits of adults: smoking, swearing, gambling. Perhaps the novelty in such perceived “freedom” excited these young workers early on, but most found later that they had sacrificed youth for earnings. “These were dead-end jobs, because you didn’t earn a trade,” said Macieski. “By the time you became an adult and were too old to run the machines, you had made some money, but what do you do now?” Macieski shared findings he has made while researching his forthcoming book. He sees some perhaps unexpected tendencies: for instance, many families that sent their children to work each day were not suffering from destitute poverty. It may have been, in some cases, that “Dad dropped off son at the factory and then headed over to the saloon.” And immigrant groups seemed to differ somewhat: statistically, the large French-Canadian families “seemed more willing to send the children off” to the mill, while Italian families tended to keep their kids at home. And some of the most egregious examples of child labor may have occurred in the home: often, companies would give ‘home work’ to young mothers, who would set up shop with their young daughters for the fabrication of collars, chain-loop bags, and other products that didn’t require a large facility. Concern about these conditions had arisen long before Hine’s time. The first child-labor laws were passed in Connecticut in the early 1840s. Many other states followed suit, but enforcement was lax. For instance, in 1846 the New Hampshire legislature passed a “10-hour law,” which was intended to forbid children from working any more than 10 hours a day. But that law contained a clause that allowed children to work more hours if “it was agreed upon by the employer and employee.” So children were given a choice: agree to work more than 10 hours or find another job. The Progressives take a stand While all this is happening in the American labor force, other changes are taking place. New ideas and theories of child development, education and political philosophy are being cultivated by the likes of Jane Addams, John Dewey and Eugene Debs. In 1877, the first national labor strikes are led by railroad workers — “a violent, industrial warfare” in which workers fight openly for better working conditions. Socialism, anarchy, a psychological theory of the mind, are all affecting how people view and interpret their social, political and economic system. And not least of all, the photograph was changing — and expanding — how people viewed the world. Born in Wisconsin in 1874, Lewis Hine attended the University of Chicago, then a center of the Progressive Movement. He worked under John Dewey, whose philosophies underscored the importance of education in developing life skills. In 1901, he moved to New York City to teach at the Ethical Culture Institute. For reasons unknown, he was given a camera, and by 1903 had taken hundreds of photographs of immigrants awaiting their fortune at Ellis Island — photos for which he is best known, along with his documentation of workmen building the Empire State Building. Macieski singled out Florence Kelly as one of the most important precursors to Hine. Kelly began her career teaching evening courses for child workers living in Jane Addams’ settlement houses in Chicago. Struck by the plight of these children, the college-educated Kelly sought an appointment as the first factory inspector for the state of Illinois. She traveled from mill to mill asking the young workers about their ages, wages, daily routines and hours. She reported on details about injuries suffered on the job. Kelly’s is regarded as the first systematic social survey done, which led to the establishment of social science as a formal study and social work as a profession, according to Macieski. In much the same way, Hine’s photographs can be thought of as a gathering of graphical information, using what was then a new technology. In the prewar years, reformers were at their height of influence. Particular emphasis was given toward drastic labor reforms in the South; the 1900 U.S. Census had found that 40 percent of the South’s work force was under age 14. Northern reformers — most of them educated, middle-class white people — became enchanted by the pathetic faces of an industry from which they had been sheltered. Hine’s photos of coal-mine workers in the South were particularly powerful: nine-year-olds who didn’t see the light of day. The photos were captioned with inflammatory statements, often giving names and ages of the subjects. Hine’s work was distributed through organizations such as the American Red Cross and the National Child Labor Committee. The Progressives’ work was not considered finished until the Wagner Act of 1935, which established our modern child labor laws. Macieski noted that child labor was largely a symptom of the same economic model that persists to this day: using the cheapest labor possible to get the cheapest product. And in other countries, child labor today is the norm. He said while there are many photographers documenting child labor in the “sweatshops” of Southeast Asia, China and elsewhere, they seem to have less of an impact on changing the minds of today’s viewers. “We are inundated with horrible images all the time,” he said. Hine’s photos carried a weight in part because they were new and unique: they showed a way of life altogether foreign to the middle-class person reading a magazine or Progressive newsletter. Today, the majority of Hine’s prints and negatives can be found in three main institutions: the George Eastman House in Rochester, N.Y., the University of Maryland at Baltimore, and in the Library of Congress. For those seeking a smaller, closer-to-home sample, the Bennington Museum is open six days a week: call (802) 447-1571.
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McCann Recognizes Superintendent Award Recipient

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff

Landon LeClair and Superintendent James Brosnan with Landon's parents Eric and Susan LeClair, who is a teacher at McCann. 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Superintendent's Award has been presented to Landon LeClair, a senior in McCann Technical School's advanced manufacturing course. 
 
The presentation was made last Thursday by Superintendent Jame Brosnan after Principal Justin Kratz read from teachers' letters extolling LeClair's school work, leadership and dedication. 
 
"He's become somewhat legendary at the Fall State Leadership Conference for trying to be a leader at his dinner table, getting an entire plate of cookies for him and all his friends," read Kratz to chuckles from the School Committee. "Landon was always a dedicated student and a quiet leader who cared about mastering the content."
 
LeClair was also recognized for his participation on the school's golf team and for mentoring younger teammates. 
 
"Landon jumped in tutoring the student so thoroughly that the freshman was able to demonstrate proficiency on an assessment despite the missed class time for golf matches," read Kratz.
 
The principal noted that the school also received feedback from LeClair's co-op employer, who rated him with all fours.
 
"This week, we sent Landon to our other machine shop to help load and run parts in the CNC mill," his employer wrote to the school. LeClair was so competent the supervisor advised the central shop might not get him back. 
 
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