What was a Breaker Boy?“A Breaker Boy was a young coal mining worker whose job was to detach impurities (substances thatmake something less pure) from coal. They would separate slate, rocks, and other debris from coal byhand. These boys were usually between the ages of 8 to 12, but sometimes were as young as 5 or 6.In 1885, Pennsylvania State law required a coal breaker to be at least 12 years old.

The Breaker Boys were forced to work without gloves so they could better handle slick materials andfor better agility. The slate they were trying to remove was very sharp, so the boys would often leavewith their fingers cut and bleeding. If they were caught wearing gloves, the boss would beat them.

Sometimes the Breaker Boys would have their fingers amputated by the fast moving belts. NewBreaker Boys would develop blood finger tips, which could be described as ‘red fingertips’. Thesenew workers would develop this condition because of their soft finger tips scraping over the top ofcoal and rock.”

Shuck and Shuckers?Shuck: the outer covering such as a husk, pod or shell eg oysters, corn,Shucker: a person that removes the shuck.

What was a ‘Trapper Boy’?Trapper Boys had to open the trap door to let the mining cars through. This job had to be done veryfast and in a minimal amount of time due to the ventilation and lack of air supply underground.These boys were putting their lives at risk--if they did not do their job quickly enough they could havebeen run over or parts of their bodies could have been mangled.

“All but the very smallest babies work. Begin work at 3.30am and expected to work until 5.00pm.” (Hines)

Oyster ShuckingOyster shucking and packing houses were a common fixture on coastal towns along Virginia,Maryland and Louisiana, and up along the Eastern Seaboard to New York and beyond. Children –often those of poor immigrants – worked alongside their parents and newly-freed slaves. They wereoften hired in favour of older workers because of their cost efficiency. They were also easier tomanage. Some children went to the factory to work both before and after school, but theunfortunate ones were unable to get any education. In photographs, these children are often filthy,wearing tattered clothes, and on the brink of exhaustion. Factory work was difficult business.

The oysters were often steamed and were passed on to workers to open – or ‘shuck’ – the bivalves,thus expediting (quickening) the canning process. Children were expected to wield sharp knives andshuck oysters from before dawn to well after dusk, with only cheap shoes between them and thedocks. According to figures, women and children were paid only $US0.60 cents to $US1.25 per day,though the oyster industry made millions.

Lewis Wickes Hine was born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, on September 26,1874, to Douglas Hull Hine and Sarah Hayes Hine. In 1900, he enrolledat the University of Chicago, where he studied sociology and childhoodeducation. A year later, he was hired as a teacher at the Ethical CultureSchool in New York City, a progressive elementary school founded bysocial reformer Felix Adler (Ethical Culture Movement). At the sametime, Hine continued his studies at New York University and ColumbiaUniversity. He married Sara Ann Rich in 1904.

In 1908, he took a job as an investigator and photographer for theNational Child Labour Committee, a private organization founded inNew York City in 1904. Hine traveled the country for 10 years and tookover 5,000 pictures of child labourers, and in most cases, recorded thenames and ages of the children. His work contributed immeasurably tothe growing movement to establish effective laws to limit child labour.

In the course of several decades, Mr Hines,

armed with a camera and a sense of

compassion, documented the harsh conditions

of child labourers, snapping shot after shot of

child miners, factory workers, and seamstresses.

He covered around 50,000 miles a year,

photographing children from Chicago to Florida

working in coal mines and factories. All of his

work at the time was for the National Child

Labour Committee; he began the project in 1908.

Working as an investigative photographer for the

National Child Labor Committee, sociologist

Lewis Hine documented working and living

conditions of children in the United States

between 1908 and 1924.

The advent of industrialisation at the turn of the

20th century meant an exploitation of child

labour, as factory workers often saw children as

a cheaper, more manageable alternative to older

workers.

Another Era:Sociologist Lewis Hine photographed young children working long hours as part of an investigation by

the National Child Labour Committee.This girl, Rosie, is pictured in 1913.

Hine used photography during the project with the National Child Labor Committee to highlight the stark poverty and conditions children were being made to work in. The three girl farmhands, left, were no more than six-years-old, while 'dinner-toters', like the tiny boy right, would illegally help in the mills

in appalling conditions.

Plight of the poor:

Often entire families were set to work; women and children were responsible for lighter tasks while the fathers were assigned manual labour.

Long hours: 'Carrie, a seven year old oyster shucker at Pass Packing Co., going home at 5:00pmafter a day beginning at 4:00am, and spent shucking oysters and tending the baby.

A common practice among these too young to work all the time. LOCATION: Pass Christian, Mississippi

How the other half lives:

These youths - often the sons and daughters of immigrants - were forced to live in shanty towns, which were often owned by the oyster companies.

Forgotten faces: Factory workers often saw children as a cheaper, more manageable alternative to older workers.

Most children were illiterate, living in shanty towns, and subjected to 12-hour work days.Many children were set to work as soon as they could walk.

Hard knock life:

Children were expected to work well before dawn and stay until after sunset. Hours were even longer in the winter.

Working poor: Hine wrote: 'Henry, 10 year old oyster shucker who does five pots of oyster [sic] a day. Works before

school, after school, and Saturdays. Been working three years. Maggioni Canning Co. LOCATION: Port Royal, South Carolina.' Right, a young girl looks close to tears while shucking an oyster.

Industrial revolution:

Children stand among millions of oyster shells; the removal of the bivalve's shells allowed for easier canning.

Girl with no age: 'Group of oyster shuckers.

Even little Tenny on the left shucks. She did not know how old she was. LOCATION: Pass Christian, Mississippi'

Title: Gate 12: Trapper Boy in Turkey Knob Mine in West Virginia, October 1908

Boy had to stoop on account of low roof, photo taken more than a mile inside the mine.SOURCE: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

Newsies at Skeeter’s Branch, Jefferson near Franklin, 11:00am Monday, May 9th, 1910 They were all smoking. This casual portrait of a trio of newspaper sellers, or newsies, shows the young

boys awkwardly assuming the roles and mannerisms of manhood. LOCATION: St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Boy Carrying HatsFebruary, 1912

Bequest of Edwin De T. Bechtel, by exchange, 1970LOCATION: Blee(c)ker Street, New York, USA

Portrait of a young spinner in a cotton mill - 1909A spinner's job was to continually walk along the aisles of spinning machines, cleaning accumulated lint, repairing broken threads, and empty spools, typically for 10 to 12 hour shifts, six days a week.

LOCATION: Augusta, Georgia, USA

Portrait of young Harley Bruce a coupler (coupling-boy) Proctor Coal Company - 1908He appears to be 12 or 14 years old. It is hard work and dangerous. [Coupler: One who couples or

connects, by means of the coupling chains, the tubs of coal in order to form a set or train.]LOCATION: Tipple of Indian Mountain Mine, Near Jellico, Tennessee, USA

Portrait of young boy in J.S. Farrand Packing Co. - 1909One of the small boys working in the Company with a heavy load.

J.W. Magruder, witnessLOCATION: Baltimore, Mayland, USA

In the USA:The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals® (ASPCA®)was THE FIRST HUMANE SOCIETY to be established in North America and is,today, one of the largest in the world. It was established in 1866.

In 1904, The National Child Labour Committee was organized by sociallyconcerned citizens and politicians, and was chartered by Congress in 1907.

In Australia:The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was established in 1824;which was 67 years before The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty toChildren, which was established in 1890.

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children:Child protection in the late 19th century in Australia followed a similar path to the United States and the United Kingdom.The New South Wales Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSWSPCC) was established in 1890, the VictorianSociety for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (VSPCC) in 1894, and the Western Australian Children's ProtectionSociety in 1906 (CPSWA) (Liddell, 1993; Scott & Swain, 2002). …. these groups were responsible for investigating andreporting child abuse and neglect, a mandate that continued well into the 20th century (Children's Protection Society,2003; Jeffreys & Stevenson, 1996; Scott & Swain, 2002). The development of such agencies strengthened the role of thenon-government sector in carrying out early forms of child protection work (Tomison, 2001). By the end of the 19thcentury most states in Australia had also established Children's Courts and developed legislation to protect children fromthe more "obvious" forms of child maltreatment, such as severe physical abuse (Tomison, 2001). "Boarding out" toapproved families became a preferred option over institutional care for children abandoned or abused (Liddell, 1993).Although the Commonwealth of Australia was established in 1901, the provision of child protection services remained astate responsibility, which ensured that each state and territory had its own unique child protection response. Thecontinuation of state responsibility for child protection has meant that legislation and practice has differed somewhatbetween each state and territory throughout the 20th century and today.

History of child protection services

The National Child Labour Committee:The National Child Labor Committee (NCLC) is a private, non-profit organization founded in 1904 and incorporated by anAct of Congress in 1907 with the mission of promoting the rights, dignity, well-being and education of children and youthas they relate to work and working. Despite years of enlightened laws and public scrutiny, the work of NCLC's foundingvisionaries is still relevant and necessary today.

The National Child Labour Committee Website

Ethical Culture Movement – Brief History:“Now the daring thought that we had, in the beginning of the Ethical Movement, was to unite in one group, in one bond,those who had this religious feeling and those who simply cared for the moral betterment…. In the broader sense religionmeans zealousness and devotion to something supreme, in the special sense it means cosmic outreaching. Now I myselfhave always been a religious person in the second sense, and never a mere moralist. But I founded this Society with theexpress purpose and intent that it should not consist only of those who stood as I did, who had the same religious feelingand needs, but that it should be open to all those who believed in moral betterment, because that is the point on which weall agree. Our ethical religion has its basis in the effort to improve the world and ourselves morally.” — Felix Adler.

In 1876, Felix Adler founded the Ethical Culture Movement which proclaimed a vision of humanity united in commonconcern for ethical values. Our Ethical Societies are fellowships of people who seek a clarification of the values of life and afaith to live by. We cherish freedom of the mind and freedom of conscience. We assert the autonomy of ethics while wetolerate a plurality of philosophies. We affirm and promote the following principles which are integral to our EthicalMovement:

• Every person has inherent worth; each person is unique.• It is our responsibility to improve the quality of life for ourselves and others.• Ethics are derived from human experience.• Life is sacred, interrelated and interdependent.

Life is a great, mysterious gift. We affirm our respect for the interdependent web of existence, of which we are all a part. Itis our commitment to the goal of a world community with peace, liberty, justice or all.”

A Brief History of the Ethical Culture Movement

A Brief History of the Ethical Culture Movement

Child Labor in America 1908-1912 - Photographs of Lewis W. Hine

Lewis Hine’s Photography and The End of Child Labor in the United States

Lewis Hine Project

The Faces of Lost Youth

The Work of a Breaker Boy