Primary Sources:
Child Labor
Photographs of Lewis Hine: Documentation of Child Labor
Lewis Hine was a teacher turned photo journalist who was passionate about ending what became regarded as "child slavery." His phtographs depict what it was like around the turn of the century for children who worked in various industries and jobs. He recognized the sometimes abhorent conditions and what the real cost was to the children caught in the circumstance of working instead of going to school. His photos and accompanying lesson plans can be found in the National Archives and reached by clicking the link above.
I often have discussions with students about child labor laws and how there are strict regulations governing the employment of young people. I would use the photographs of Lewis Hine to open the eyes of students to the conditions which led to the laws that protect them today. A bit of context might put things in perspective for today's teens.
The Law that students must remain in school until age 16 has its roots in the child labor movement. Here is a wartime flyer published through DocsTeach from the National Archive,explaining the standard.
I think the history of the topic of why students are required to stay in school until 16, would be an interesting discussion with students, in the light of graduation rates, and career exploration. I wonder what kind of flyer students would design today to keep students in school. Click the link above to get to the document.
Child Labor Reform Letter
After years of working to address the problem of child labor, the US government began to take action. This letter in the National Archives documents the legal process to stop the employment of children. The effort required many years of work to institutionalize the protection of children.I think it would be helpful for students to see that the problem of child labor practices did not go away quickly. I would ask if students see any parallel topics today.
This was the first child labor bill passed. Activists had been protesting, writing letters, publishing articles for over 25 years.
After reading the actual bill, I would ask students what strategies legislators might use today, if the problem were still prevelent. We would also explore the exceptions made to this law and discuss those exceptions are still needed or if new ones are warranted.
While child labor has nearly been eliminated from this country, it remains a huge problem globally. UNICEF UK published a report on the issue in Britain and world wide. Students can read the report and look at photographs of children who, at this time, are subject to labor abuse. While the facts and figures and the pictures are not "primary source" in the historical sense, they are the real images and words that represent the problem today. In 50 years, these will be primary source documents.
