Cotton Mill Girl: Behind Lewis Hine's Photograph & Child Labor Series | 100 Photos | TIME

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Lewis Hine’s photograph of a girl at work in a cotton mill, part of his monumental series on child labor, forced Americans to reckon with their economic exploitation of youth.
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Cotton Mill Girl: Behind Lewis Hine’s Photograph & Child Labor Series | 100 Photos | TIME

33 Comments
  1. Steven-donald Stanard says

    That wasn't 100 photos, I counted 🙂

  2. insainbro says

    what a sad topic i wish i could of been there so i could slap some sense into those people who would do this to a kid it made me cry untill i fell asleep i am using voice type becase i cryed too much on my keyboard so it is broked why would they do this tp a kid it makes me sick i just want to watch thisso manny times so i can maby start to understand what is going on i cry too had over the video so i only get about 1 miniut in and have to re watch it i just hope that thoes kids got free time as well to play there video games like they will get bullied at school because they will have no wins on fortnite.what a sad topic i wish i could of been there so i could slap some sense into those people who would do this to a kid it made me cry untill i fell asleep i am using voice type becase i cryed too much on my keyboard so it is broked why would they do this tp a kid it makes me sick i just want to watch thisso manny times so i can maby start to understand what is going on i cry too had over the video so i only get about 1 miniut in and have to re watch it i just hope that thoes kids got free time as well to play there video games like they will get bullied at school because they will have no wins on fortnite.what a sad topic i wish i could of been there so i could slap some sense into those people who would do this to a kid it made me cry untill i fell asleep i am using voice type becase i cryed too much on my keyboard so it is broked why would they do this tp a kid it makes me sick i just want to watch thisso manny times so i can maby start to understand what is going on i cry too had over the video so i only get about 1 miniut in and have to re watch it i just hope that thoes kids got free time as well to play there video games like they will get bullied at school because they will have no wins on fortnite.

  3. insainbro says

    what a sad topic i wish i could of been there so i could slap some sense into those people who would do this to a kid it made me cry untill i fell asleep i am using voice type becase i cryed too much on my keyboard so it is broked why would they do this tp a kid it makes me sick i just want to watch thisso manny times so i can maby start to understand what is going on i cry too had over the video so i only get about 1 miniut in and have to re watch it i just hope that thoes kids got free time as well to play there video games like they will get bullied at school because they will have no wins on fortnite.what a sad topic i wish i could of been there so i could slap some sense into those people who would do this to a kid it made me cry untill i fell asleep i am using voice type becase i cryed too much on my keyboard so it is broked why would they do this tp a kid it makes me sick i just want to watch thisso manny times so i can maby start to understand what is going on i cry too had over the video so i only get about 1 miniut in and have to re watch it i just hope that thoes kids got free time as well to play there video games like they will get bullied at school because they will have no wins on fortnite.what a sad topic i wish i could of been there so i could slap some sense into those people who would do this to a kid it made me cry untill i fell asleep i am using voice type becase i cryed too much on my keyboard so it is broked why would they do this tp a kid it makes me sick i just want to watch thisso manny times so i can maby start to understand what is going on i cry too had over the video so i only get about 1 miniut in and have to re watch it i just hope that thoes kids got free time as well to play there video games like they will get bullied at school because they will have no wins on fortnite.

  4. insainbro says

    what a sad topic i wish i could of been there so i could slap some sense into those people who would do this to a kid it made me cry untill i fell asleep i am using voice type becase i cryed too much on my keyboard so it is broked why would they do this tp a kid it makes me sick i just want to watch thisso manny times so i can maby start to understand what is going on i cry too had over the video so i only get about 1 miniut in and have to re watch it i just hope that thoes kids got free time as well to play there video games like they will get bullied at school because they will have no wins on fortnite.

  5. insainbro says

    what a sad topic i wish i could of been there so i could slap some sense into those people who would do this to a kid it made me cry untill i fell asleep i am using voice type becase i cryed too much on my keyboard so it is broked why would they do this tp a kid it makes me sick i just want to watch thisso manny times so i can maby start to understand what is going on i cry too had over the video so i only get about 1 miniut in and have to re watch it i just hope that thoes kids got free time as well to play there video games like they will get bullied at school because they will have no wins on fortnite.what a sad topic i wish i could of been there so i could slap some sense into those people who would do this to a kid it made me cry untill i fell asleep i am using voice type becase i cryed too much on my keyboard so it is broked why would they do this tp a kid it makes me sick i just want to watch thisso manny times so i can maby start to understand what is going on i cry too had over the video so i only get about 1 miniut in and have to re watch it i just hope that thoes kids got free time as well to play there video games like they will get bullied at school because they will have no wins on fortnite.what a sad topic i wish i could of been there so i could slap some sense into those people who would do this to a kid it made me cry untill i fell asleep i am using voice type becase i cryed too much on my keyboard so it is broked why would they do this tp a kid it makes me sick i just want to watch thisso manny times so i can maby start to understand what is going on i cry too had over the video so i only get about 1 miniut in and have to re watch it i just hope that thoes kids got free time as well to play there video games like they will get bullied at school because they will have no wins on fortnite.

  6. lonely wolf says

    this is true very true it break my hreat when i heard it im sooooo sorry kids

  7. Alvin Leong says

    Kids nowadays are lucky… they dun know how hard lives were for their forefathers!

  8. Carl Mazur says

    I noticed the newspaper said "1 cent" for the cost of it. I can't imagine they were paid hardly a scrap for doing what they did.

  9. Jing Xuan Zhao says

    lyddie!

  10. Douglas Fox says

    Work makes a strong ,working, Independent money maker…I was born in a Dirt Poor family..my mom had to raise 4 boys by herself…I Loved doing anything to make a quarter, dollar, or more from a little boy…It builds character Fast and makes one appreciate everything he or she can buy with their hard earnings…My brothers and I always had stuff, cause we worked hard for it..Stop the Propaganda, Safe Space , BS..Kids today are Pathetically pampered and Sissyfied…Kids today are Lazy, Disrespectful, Brainwashed…But Liberals are so Happy to make victims of everyone and anything..

  11. Mr. Phunky says

    Wow. So sad and very beautiful photos at the same time.

  12. Leighash 30 says

    Still looks better than chattel slavery to me🤔

  13. Daytona Sixty-Eight says

    Back in these days children quickly matured into adults through hard work and today children never become adults through lack of work. Hard to say what is better, should have gone for a middle ground.

  14. TheAmphicyon says

    Invariably people will type " what about" to talk about other countries but this is an example for other countries to inspire them to end child labor. If we ended it in the early 20th century they can end it now.

  15. M. M. says

    I suppose this proves kids are just as capable as adults even if what they are doing is extremely dangerous, there’s kids still working jobs not suitable for them in third world countries because that’s the way it is. They know nothing other than working to get food on the table or to care for their parents, these photos are sad but it’s still a reality for millions of kids around the world.

  16. Glory Grace K. says

    Back then it wasn't that all the parents wanted to make their children work, it was that the pay was so terrible they had no choice. Even having their children work, sometimes the parents had to give up there children in hopes they would have a better life. The factory owners (not all but alot) back then treated every one bad adults and children. A very hard time back then! And people are always whining and protesting now days over things that are not really that bad now. I think people just like to complain now.

  17. Brandom Castor says

    Things haven’t changed in places

  18. Brizzy Muñoz says

    And millennials think they have it bad.

  19. M Soda says

    Sadly in today’s world these would be called fake news.

  20. teatimewithtee says

    In them days they had no choice. So what about children growing up in poverty and their parents are to strung out to take care of them.

  21. Wanda Borowy says

    Children were not "children" in those days not even "teenager" existed.

  22. Kittyin Indy says

    This was the norm.

  23. B R E E says

    Wow. I’m from Lancaster & never knew this. Crazy. I’ve lived on a mill hill all of my life & can only imagine some of the stories

  24. cardigansarecool says

    Oh so this is what libertarians dream about

  25. Jack Morris says

    0:24 bottom right lads crosseyed!

  26. helmfer says

    Too sad Lewis Hine had to live on welfare in his last days. His photos saved many a child from slavery.

  27. KingCo says

    Heartbreaking

  28. Michael Park says

    There is nothing wrong with child labor. It is not immoral or wrong.

  29. Queen Bulova says

    This still happens today and it leads to trafficking and child slavery. 😦

  30. edley roberts says

    Sorry Pal, But the picture of this so called Sadie Pfeifer in Lancaster, SC @ 1:54 is not a picture of a little girl in front of a large loom in a hall. You are mistaken. I've worked in a cotton mill as well as most of my family, and I question the integrity of this whole video.

  31. Addison Brooke says

    And my kid lays on the ground screaming if ask him to clean his room.

  32. Dinh Ngoc Nguyen says

    6260210697266

  33. Remember Bancroft says

    and now they're free to watch TV, play video games, get fat, join gangs, get high. ain't progress wonderful?

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