Working in conditions that were deafening, dangerous, and mind-numbing, children, a source of cheap labor then as now, powered a large number of textile factories and sweatshops around the world throughout the early twentieth century. On behalf of the National Child Labor Committee, an organization established in 1904 to eradicate such exploitation, Hine combined his skills as a photographer and sociologist to record the working lives of children like Sadie Pfeiffer, respecting them as individuals rather than treating them as anonymous operatives.

Gallery label from

2019

Medium Gelatin silver print
Dimensions 10 1/2 × 13 1/2" (26.7 × 34.3 cm)
Credit Purchase
Object number 195.1944
Department Photography

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