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.

“Nattily dressed in a suit, tie, and hat,Hine the gentleman, actor and mimicassumed a variety of personas —including Bible salesman, postcardsalesman, and industrial photographermaking a record of factory machinery— to gain entrance to the workplace.

When unable to deflect (divert) hisconfrontations with management, hesimply waited outside the canneries,mines, factories, farms, and sweatshopswith his fifty pounds of photographicequipment and photographed childrenas they entered and exited theworkplace.”

Photo historian: Daile Kaplan

Breaker Boys – January 1911“Smallest is Angelo Ross.”

LOCATION: Hughestown Borough Coal Co. Pittston, Pennsylvania, USA

“Vance, a TRAPPER BOY, 15 years old. Has trapped for several years in a coal mine.$US0.75 a day for 10 hours work; opens and shuts this door and waits for the cars to come. Due to the

intense darkness in the mine, the writing on the door was not visible until the plate was developed.”LOCATION: West Virginia, USA

“Young Cigarmakers in Englahardt & Co.. There boys looked under 14. Work was slack and youngsters were not employed much. Labour told me in busy times many small boys and girls are employed.

Youngsters all smoke.”LOCATION: Tampa, Florida, USA

Interior of tobacco shed, Hawthorn Farm.“Girls are 8, 9 and 10 years old. The 10 year old makes 50 cents a day.

12 workers on this farm and 8 to 14 years old and about 15 are over 15 years old.”LOCATION: Hazardville, Connecticut, USA

Rhodes Mfg. Co., Lincolnton, N.C. Spinner“A moment’s glimpse of the outer world. Said she was 10 years old. Been working over a year.”

LOCATION: Lincolnton, North Carolina, USA

Nan de Gallant, 9 year old cartoner, Seacoast Canning Co., Factory #2“Packs some with her mother. Mother and two sisters work in factory. One sister’s made $US7.00 in one

day. During the rush season, the women begin work at 7am, and at times work until midnight.” LOCATION: 4 Clark St., Eastport, Maine, USA

“Amos is 6 and Horace 4 years old. Their father, John Neal is a renter and raises tobacco. He said (and the owner of the land confirmed it) that both these boys work day after day from “sun-up to sun-down”

worming and suckering, and that they are as steady as grown-ups.“LOCATION: Warren County – Albaton, Kentucky, USA

Step up in the world: 1908: “A little girl needs a box to reach the machine for her job as a knitter at a factory.”

LOCATION: Loudon, Tennessee, USA

“Jewel and Harold Walker, six and five years old, pick 20 to 25 pounds of cotton a day. Father said: “I promised ‘em a little wagon if they’d pick steady, and now they have half a bagful in just

a little while.” “LOCATION: Comanche County, Oklahoma, USA

Hard graft (Hard work): 1916: “Morris Levine, 11, sells papers every day - and did so since he was six years old.

He was pictured on the freezing street of Burlington, Vermont.”LOCATION: Burlington Vermont, USA

Looking at pictures: 1911:“Brown McDowell working as an usher in the Princess Theatre.

He worked 12-hour days but could barely read in Birmingham, Alabama.”LOCATION: Birmingham, Alabama, USA

Set to work: 1911: “Manuel, a young shrimp-picker, aged five and unable to speak English on the beach in Biloxi,

Mississippi.”LOCATION: Biloxi, on the beach, Mississippi, USA

Capturing history: 1908: John Howell, an Indianapolis newsboy, made $US0.75 on good days selling newspapers from 6am. The shadow appears to be that of Lewis Hine, the photographer whose job it was to document child labour.

LOCATION: Indianapolis, USA

A view of the Pennsylvania Breaker: 1911:“The dust was so dense at times as to obscure the view. This dust penetrates the utmost recess of the

boy’s lungs.”LOCATION: South Pittston, Pennsylvania, USA

Shuckers in the Varn & Platt Canning Company“This 4 year old in the foreground was helping some. Six of the shuckers were 10 years and up to 12.”

LOCATION: Yonges Island, South Carolina, USA

Breakers: 1911:Noon hour in the Ewen Breaker, Pennsylvania Coal Company.

LOCATION: South Pittston, Pennsylvania, 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 Work of a Breaker Boy