The Photos That Shocked America:
The Horrors of Child Labor Exposed by Lewis Hine
Origins of Child Labor
Child labor has been a part of American history since colonial times. The Puritans valued hard work over idleness. That meant children would work on family farms or as indentured servants, and boys between the ages of 10 and 14 would become apprentices to learn a trade.
Old Knickerbocker family around the tea-table, 1886, Northwind Picture Archives.
"It is hoped that those citizens having a knowledge of families, having children destitute of employment, will do an act of public benefit by directing them to the institution [cotton mill]."
- Baltimore Federal Gazette advertisement, 1802
Header Photo Credit: Ten Year Old Spinner in N. Carolina Cotton Mill, 1908, National Child Labor Committee collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division