“Seize the Day”

The Real Story of the Newsboys of NYC

When / Where?

1884-1899 …. New York City

At this time in America’s history, there was no law againstchild labor (children working)

If a family was poor, they sent their children to workto help with the finances.

Children & Teens worked in factories

They worked on farms

And in New York City, there were thousandsof children working as NEWSBOYS

As you can see… they “grew up” very early in life…

A Newsboy’s job was picking up a heavy stack of newspapers, yelling out the big story of the day tomake customers buy their papers.

They were paid by William R. Hurst.

He was the publisher ofthe U.S. most popularnewspaper.

He also paid the newsboys barelyenough to live.

For some boys, Hurst allowed them to stay togetherin dormitory-style housing. But it wasn’t for free –

Hurst charged the boys and took part of their smallearnings.

Other newsboys were homeless andlived outside.

They lived and worked together like brothers – helping takecare of each other.

Small groups of newsboys started to gather together to voicetheir frustration about not being paid properly.

For years, the groups grew larger and larger.

Finally, in 1899, the newsboys decided to GOON STRIKE. They refused to sell any more papers until they were properly paid.

Their strike was working. They reduced paper salesfrom 325,000 to only 125,000

Finally, the demands were met, and they were paid a higher wage for their work.

More boys were also offered housing.

Disney made a musical about this event in history. The movie was so popular, it was turned into a live Broadway play.