U.S. Child Labor, Dorsey Dixon, Babies In The Mill, Newport

[raghavahuja99]

gud 1 great help for our tableau

[dayspeace]

this is a very nice video and song.

[rebennington]

Thank you for posting and sharing this beautifully sad folk song that is a part of OUR history we seem to forget...Love

[Appleriver3]

Thank you

[palmpedal]

Thanks for posting this. I knew of the history of "Wreck on the highway" but this was very interesting to a natural tar heel (living in TN).

[Sohave]

today our great mills here in Europe and the Us has all been closed down ( just as conditions improved) but the the same thing is happening in the countries they have outsourced to. Great and higly political tune!

[farmer63980]

great song Amen

[farmer63980]

great song

[farmer63980]

great songs Amen

[mashtones]

The Gastonia Gallop: Cotton Mills Songs & Hillbilly Blues- available on Amazon- is a collection of other songs by similar artists reflecting on life in the piedmont textile mills.

Linthead Stomp- The Creation Of Country Music In The Piedmont South is a book by Patrick Huber explores the relationship of the mills and the old time music. Wonderful video and post thanks.

[greanteawoman]

Thanks to you mashtones, I finally got around to ordering Linthead Stomp yesterday. It should be here in a week. I am very excited about getting the book. There is also a series of vids here on YT of a symposium Patrick Huber did at UNC talking about writing Linthead Stomp as part of his dissertation for a PhD in history. He plays some of the songs during his presentation. Great viewing and thank you so much for telling me about the book and CD. I am also going to order The Gastonia Gallop.

[purtykitty4u2]

this is jimmy knight great grandson of dorsey dixion billy dixion is my grandpa lola dixion grand ma debra dixion is my mom if anyone kin can contact me

[greanteawoman]

Thomas - the reason I disable embedding is for copyright issues. I have no control on whether or not a site a vid of mine may be embedded, could be generating revenue for that website owner, thus taking away revenue for the rightful copyright owner. My YT channel makes no revenue for me, disabling embed's may be the reason most of my vids haven't been pulled, (4 have!). If you wish to share a vid, you may do so by posting the link to the vid on the site where you'd like to share or by email.

[wkruk1979]

if republicans had their way this would be da norm

[paljim24]

Fantastic thanx for posting. I am a teacher in the UK and will use this to help my students understand child labour. Excellent sound track; love this guy!!

[JennaBandDaniel]

greanteawoman, I want to thank you on behalf of the Dixon family for putting the truth out there. Being a Dixon I often heard about this coming up but never did any research on it. My grandpa(Larry T. Dixon Sr.) is Howard Dixon's son. I watch and hear my great uncle( Hayden Dixon) play the guitar in church and think of the deep roots behind the picking. I always wanted to hear, The wreck on the highway, and it touched me. Thank you and GOD bless.

[scotishjohn]

well just came back for some music

and learned some history i never knew

thank s

i looked up lewis hine

[shangrila3]

brilliant piece of work, wish all videos on youtube had this much information. thank you, greantawoman

[criticalgal]

Three generations of my family toiled their lives away in Aragon Mill. My father took the gi bill and got a college education and never went back to live. We visited often. I love the town and wish it would stay the same. Last year they got a walmart. Oh well.

[BSNFabricating]

That's a shame. Wal*mart has ruined more than one small town...

[YeshuaKingsKid]

Thank you for your TLC of the truth of Dorsey

Dixon, greanteawoman! I appreciate your deep

insight into the man and his heart, what a

powerhouse of inspiration he was!

[scotishjohn]

not a black face

i thaught the blacks were the slaves in

US of A

just goes to show

[Germanicus666]

Blacks in the South worked mostly in agriculture or as housekeepers. The mill children as I understand were from hillbilly families that had moved out of the mountains because of excess population there.

[greanteawoman]

Tks gc! Folks working the mills of NC & SC were the children of immigrants from all over Europe. Many ppl never passed through the Appalachian Mountains, which was required to classify a person as a hillbilly. On Mom's side, they were German's who settled in PA & migrated to York/Lancaster, SC. On Dad's side they were Scottish and settled in Scotland Co. NC. 3 family generations who worked the mills enabled me to go to college. Lots of people migrated from the App hills to work the mills though.

[fordtruxdad]

There were, indeed, black hands in mills in areas of the country where there were blacks. Our local spinning mill had a large number, and of course they were segregated. The black hands did the heaviest and dirtiest work like unloading bales and carding.

[taggline]

"Come out of bed little sleepy heads..." This work answers a whole raft of questions for me. As a dad and child rights advocate, this tune and the incredible photographic essay, speak volumes...In our contemporary "world" economy...the work is done by those same kids...offshore. Beautiful piece.

[greanteawoman]

Just played this for my 84 year-old uncle who knew Dorsey and Howard well. As the video played, he shouted the names of many of the mills. When the photo of the whistle came up, he said "I hated that damn whistle". He called the children, "Poor little lint heads". When Hine's photo of the two little boys standing up on the 'cotton machine' came up, he said, "It looks just like daddy told me!". "Daddy", was my grandpa. Blew me away. Both of my grandpa's lost a finger working in those mills. Tks!

[chaveneau]

Il y a encore de nos jours des pays qui obligent les enfants à travailler, ou qui les enrôlent comme soldats. Ces pays n'ont pas à donner de leçons aux USA à propos de l'esclavage du siècle passé.

[greanteawoman]

Oui, affaires et les gens aux Etats-Unis une fois que les enfants obligatoires à travailler, mais c'étaient il y a longtemps. Remerciez la qualité que nous avons des lois de travail des enfants maintenant. Merci de votre commentaire.

[57silverhawk]

Sorry that ratings are disabled for this video, as I would give it five stars if I could! Thank you for putting this out there, and for keeping Dorsey Dixon's music, and his wisdom, alive.

[ginmillsinger]

It's truly a sad story, but not just in East Coast, (where I am), factories, but in farm's and family businesses. We've come a long way, but, there are greedy, and dark souls, who would endorse slave, and children labor, today. If our economy gets much worse, the 'working class' will be reduced to 'debt slaves,' as it is. The American Dream...for the wealthy few, who are robbing the many! Wake up America!

GinMillBill

[oldcountrytunes]

A fantastic video. The pictures and the song are made for one another and I know for a fact that to collect enough pictures to record a video is not all that easy. Thank you for your wonderful production.

[broncose1]

This is very good!A good song and a great video. Thank you for posting and thank you

J.T. for sending me the video. Shirley

[jtls8]

Thank you for sharing this! 5*****

[redsoxgs]

I'm a Lawrence native. My grandparents were not mill-workers, but they did support them and fed hundreds in the Textile Strike of 1912. It wasn't about "Bread and Roses", it was about human rights.  And child labor violates human rights.

[greanteawoman]

And Lewis Hine risked his life to document these photos, so that these children's stories will never be able to be 'written out' out of the history books. Thank you for the comment.

[rmstudio]

Yes the documentry was very interesting that he was the first person to use the medium of photography to actually make social change.. To document history the way he did. He was just a normal teacher that starting taking photos. He started with the italian immigrants at Ellis Island.

[rmstudio]

It was kinda of said though.. As Lewis Hinde as greatly direspected for his capturing of the indecent treatment of children at the time it was looked at differently.. He struggled for many of his years to make enough money in his life time to provide for his family. He was also the one that did the famous photos of the Empire State building. The poor guy died destitute and lonely.. without his family.. The book publishers wanted new blood in the photos and they left him behind. Sad..

[greanteawoman]

Many great artists are not respected or paid well for their work during their lifetime. That is a shame. Hine documented something that can never be forgotton or denied. He took snapshots in time that are now preserved forever. It is fitting that his work is displayed in one of the greatest museums in the world - The Smithsonian. Hine surely deserved this recognition. He was an activist who helped bring about social change through his art. That is something to truly be admired and honored.

[rmstudio]

I just got through seeing the Lewis Hine documentry on the Documentry channel. It showed all these photos along with the story why and how he was able to photograph the child workers.. Even though he was chased away from the Mill Owners and factory owners.. Very good film..

[greanteawoman]

I sure wish I had the documentary channel. That must have been a fabulous film. Lucky you rm. :-)

[ANTIQUARIATOSCIPPA]

un bel video!

[greanteawoman]

Grazie!

[ANTIQUARIATOSCIPPA]

prego, di niente.

[woodbelly2]

g-woman,

It's me again. I wonder if you are familiar with Blind Alfred Reed. He recorded from 1927 to 1929. I learned of him via Ry Cooder's cover of "Always Lift Him Up and Never Let Him Down". His music is reminiscent of Dorseys's. A lot of religious material but a lot of music with a genuine non-judgemental social conscience. I find it interesting to see how the social issues in religious circles has changed from the '20's and '30's.

Peace,

Woodbelly

[greanteawoman]

Woodbelly, I hadn't heard of Blind Alfred Reed. I googled him and was able to listen to an open source of How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live. What a talent! Thank you so much for turning me on to him. I just love his fiddle playing and singing. Now I'm gonna have to find more of his stuff. Thank you so much!

[woodbelly2]

There is a very nice video here on Youtube. Search his name. The video was from a special tribute to him in his home state of West Virginia.  He and Dorsey would make quite a duo.

WB

[greanteawoman]

Love that video WB! Many thanks to WV Public Broadcasting! Been searching the net for Alfred's recordings and I see Document Records has his complete works. The Dixon Brothers recordings were also first released on the Document label. Everyone is out of stock right now. As soon as it's available - it's mine. I appreciate you telling me about this amazing artist songwriter WB! Anything else to recommend? I'm all eyes - LOL!

[woodbelly2]

Thank you for the beautifully written tribute.

[greanteawoman]

You are welcome woodbelly!

[RedCeltic]

Sadly, child labor is not just a thing of the past, but continues in many poor nations. There are 218 Million children working illegally in violation of international treaties. (2004 estimate). 126 million working in hazardous conditions such as mines or handling chemicals. Not including "light work" or "beneficial work." 20 countries refuse to recognize the UN organization "International Labour Organization" and it's position against child labor. (most notably India and Nepal.)

[greanteawoman]

Red, I abhor the conditions you describe (clearly know they exist) and wonder what we can do about robbing children of their childhood. Poverty and greed are what perpetuates child labor.

I am sick of hearing of famous brands in the US suddenly finding out that children are crafting their clothing/products. Huge fines should be levied on these companies.

... continued below

[greanteawoman]

If India and Nepal are the main offenders, I believe we should stop imports from those countries effective immediately. We may not be able to stop the practice, but we can stop the consumption of their good in the US.

... to be continued

[greanteawoman]

However, the US has outsourced so many thousands of customer service and IT jobs to India, it has taken a huge toll on US jobs.

I would think if parents have taken our jobs in India, that many of the children would not be forced to work. Oh I forgot, their parents are probably not being paid a living wage.

[RedCeltic]

"Oh I forgot, their parents are probably not being paid a living wage."

You hit the nail on the head there. It's the great race to the bottom where everyone comes out losers. (except if you own Wall-Mart.)

[greanteawoman]

Red, what you wrote is the truth. There is both pro and con sentiment in the US about Wal-Mart.

Some people feel that without Wal-Mart, they wouldn't be able to afford the goods they need (Wal-Mart's mantra).

Wal-Mart in truth has hit American in its heart and destroyed many a large and small business. This has caused huge job loses for Americans and made Wal-Mart (a privately held company) the winner.

[Syndicalistgirl]

From an Irish in this life time: Great powerful video. I like this song version!

[greanteawoman]

Syn, this is the original version of the song - I always love to get to the source of any song - the songwriter's version, rather than covers by other artists.

Thank you for your comment!

[rmstudio]

May I ask you a question? Dorsey Dixon is the singer correct? I vaguely remember him for some reason. Were do you find the photos for the videos? My great father used to work the silver mines in Virginia City Nevada.. reminds me of that old man with the worn out felt black hat. He would hand roll his own cigarettes with his little bag of tabacco. I used to love that..

[greanteawoman]

RM, Dorsey Dixon is the singer, guitarist and songwriter. If you read the full text of my description, I have info. on Dorsey. Google him, it might jog your memory. I find photos from books, net, newspapers, magazines and old photos I collect. I try to use photos taken about the exact subject of my videos, but that's not always possible. Cool about your grandpa. And didn't that tobacco smell great?! I'm thinking of doing a video about diamond mining in South Africa. Thanks for stopping by RM!

[rmstudio]

Thank you for answering I googled him and found his stuff. I actually do remember him! and his brother. I remember their rendition of "The circle Must not be broken" I like it better than the Carter version. If you look at my favorites list it pretty obvious I love this music and this time. "Oh Brother were art thou" Yes that sack of tabacky as my great grand pa would call it... It smelled good! He always intriqued me as a kid..

[greanteawoman]

I was a music publisher in Nashville in the '90s (my video 'Cowboy Thinker' was one of the songs in my catalog that never got cut). One of my good friends in college (Denise Stiff) is Alison Kraus' & Tan Tyminski's manager. Denise was the Executive Producer of Music for "Oh Brother Where Art Thou". She has also produced a lot of other CD's you probably love! Google her! Denise managed Gillian Welch when Gillian first got her record deal.

[rmstudio]

Holly COw! I know who she is I have the DVD "Down from the Mountain Top!" Man that is honestly my all time favorite DVD's It is a kinda hard DVD to find. I love it so much. Did you know that Gillian Welch is from where I live in the Mountains of Santa Cruz California! She even sings about the Santa Cruz Garden Mall.

[rmstudio]

I know its not a big deal from you all out in Memphis were country greats walk around like acorns on the ground.. To me in california all this type of music is long gone and burried. ITs so so sad.. I had a very bad father and it made look at the things of right and wrong.. He hated me liking this music. He would take it away from me. But it stuck and I will never forget it!

[usafdefensorfortis]

gotta agree with my friend rmstudio...reminds me of my deployment to south eastern turkey in 1991...had a guard a storage warehouse, which happened to have a small rug making shop. little girls as young as 8 years old worked all day looming those rugs so tourist could buy them cheap...so glad our nation woke up and allowed children to be children. great images on your slideshow and the music is so fitting! good job!

[greanteawoman]

Thanks USA! I appreciate you sharing your memories of your deployment to Turkey. It really bothers me that I may own something a child crafted in a dirty sweatshop somewhere. How long will this dispicable practice be allowed in some parts of the world? How long will the US allow imports from countries known to use child labor? I don't have the answer to that question, but I hope that someday soon, all children of the world will be able to be - just children. Thank you for serving our country!

[rmstudio]

Wow you really make good videos of times and things long forgotten.. I love this music so much.. I know its so politically uncorrect for a latin italian boy to like this music but I did all the way growing up... I swear I was irish in a past life.. This is the heart and soul of what made our country... I love children and cant wait till I have my own. Once again Thank you.

[greanteawoman]

rm, there's nothing in the world wrong with you loving the music of Americana! Maybe you were Irish in a past life - LOL! :-) Thank you so much for your appreciation of my videos, it means a lot to me.