Beyond Their Years

The is a slideshow featuring photographs taken by Lewis Hine during the first decade of the 20th century. Mr. Hine was an activist fighting for reform of child labor laws in the US. He photographed children working in the most horible conditions imaginable. For more wonderful high-def images visit http://www.shorpy.com

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Entertainment

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• Lewis
• Hine
• coal
• mine
• cold
• mountain
• child
• labor
• history
• victorian
• edwardian
• steampunk

[zenbrenzz]

Let me rephrase that comment I made..Everyone in the US who watches TV or went to public (govt controlled) schools is EXPOSED to the brainwashing that the corporate controlled govt has inundated us with to make us believe that communism/socialism is the BIG sin. Those with a social conscience and character and a strong mind will see that our society is only as great as the least among us.

[reluctantpaladin]

I understand what you're saying. There is obviously anti-socialist and anti-communist bias in our pub. schools & government. No argument there. The US has opposed communisim and for much of its history. The presence of bias does not affect the independent success/failure of the two systems.

Example: I don't want you to move to Houston.Because of that, I only tell you bad things about Houston. That doesn't mean Houston is a great place to live.

Trust me, Houston sucks :)

(continued)...

[reluctantpaladin]

(Part 2)...

Dispasionate evaluation of the two systems in actual practice (as opposed to some lofty academic fantasy argument) is the only way to judge them.

As for the other.. I would be more impressed by communism/socialism if they concentrated more on raising up the little guy, instead of knocking down the big guy in their quest to make everything "fair".

I agree completely about "the least among us". I just see it as yours & my job to lift up the little guy. Not the government's.

[themightyleafe]

better than victorian child labour in England.Still awful though

[TheSeer101]

Conversation bewteen a 12 year old boy and his mother, one in 1911 another in 2011. In 1911: After a bad case of pneumonia, son says "Mom, I am sorry I had pneumonia. I will work twice as hard to make up for it." Mother says "Please son do not go out in the rain and sell papers." Son walks out the door and says "I love you mom." In 2011: While playing a computer game, son says, "Mom why didn't you cut the crust off my bread? Mother says "I am sorry" Son replies "Damn you!!"

[RandyOm]

Thank you for taking the time to create and post these pictures and music.

[logan1776]

Respond to this video... Industrialization got kids out of the workforce and into schools because it made us a wealth enough nation .The great equalizer for the working poor has ALWAYS been capitalism that is the only system whereby the little guy can get ahead. The current socialst policies of the the US and world prove this by our current economic meltdown

[logan1776]

@counterstriving have you ever worked on a farm? particularly did you ever work on a farm in the early 20th century? obviously a rhetorical question but those farms were hard dangerous places and while I am sure the parents tried to look out for the kids at first at some point CHILDREN were expected to do chores on thier own. this modern notion that children are unique was not around back then .

[shocktower70]

My father always told of working at the Hoosatonic (sp) Silk mill in Patterson NJ. I guess he would have been 10 or 12 in 1920....

He was driven from home at 12 and was doing odd jobs to support himself until his older sister and her husband took him in ...

I never thought about what his story's meant, what the condititions were ....

Another post indicated that child labor didn't end until 1938 , thanks to the much maligned FDR ...

[Laughingblades]

These are the working conditions Ron Paul wants to bring back to America.

[counterstriving]

@dragonseyeangie Some people say "well children had always worked hard on the farm anyway," and that's true, but the factories and mines of that era were a different story, long hours, bad ventilation, minimal pay, and the workers' living conditions were lousy. There really is such a thing as exploitation.

Unfortunately the answer to your excellent question about middle ground is NO, and that's an understatement.

[counterstriving]

@logan1776 Yes children have always worked, etc. But there's a difference between (1) working hard on the family farm, and (2) working in a badly ventilated factory for 12-14 hours to help bring in enough money to barely survive in shitty living conditions, as long as nobody got sick. Ask yourself why the employers didn't pay them more.

[TheSeer101]

@counterstriving I agree, point well put. Although the baby boomers where often spoiled and lead to believe they were the smartest and greatest of all. Now my generation was super spoiled and lead to believe we were absolutely amazing. The new generation just can't figure out why they havent been discovered by some reality show lol

[counterstriving]

@TheSeer101 Let's not forget that the "greatest generation," after going through the depression and the war, were often anxious, bitter, and angry, in many cases psychologically damaged from having grown up in poverty, or from serving in the war. Then during the post-war prosperity these people's kids (the "baby-boomers") got confused by the fact that so much was available and so much was happening, yet people's parents seemed so "up-tight" and stern. Young people like to feel happy.

[counterstriving]

This was in the good old days when there was no government regulation.