Child labor is a thing of the past in modern American society and has become just another skeleton in our closet, hidden away as workplace regulations have become stricter and social reformations take place. However, just because child labor is in America’s past does not mean one can simply forget about the pain those children suffered and the tasks they had to perform. Their suffering, albeit undue, helped create the comfortable society in which millions of Americanswork and reside in today. The children of the industrial revolution are heroes who are often overlooked, as they had no voice of their own. These heroes needed a voice, and photojournalism was the cure to that ailment; it brought them a voice that could not be unheard. To revisit the issue of child labor, take a look at some pictures taken by Lewis Hine, one in specific. The picture being focused on is titled “Newsboy asleep on steps” and was shot in 1912. “Newsboy asleep on steps” is a powerful picture that sets the scene for everything that follows this sentence. The black and white photo depicts a young boy fast asleep on what appears to be a riveted metal ten step staircase. His head rests on a stack of unsold newspapers, and is clothed in tall worn boots, baggy pants and a small jacket.
The clothes appear to be made of wool and look quite itchy and uncomfortable. He also is dressed in the iconic newsboy hat that one would typically see in movies and television shows set in this time period. An almost elegant wooden banister and set of windows is on the building behind the boy. Every detail in the photograph is quite important and speaks to the condition the American society was in at that time. The sort of elegant features of the structure he is sleeping next to make me feel like he has travelled to an upper class neighborhood to sell his newspapers. The wall is very clean and has a stylish molding that would not be found in the lower class areas. The banister is composed of a polished wood mounted on textured metal posts. The window has a similarly polished wooden frame with textured and stylized window panes. The details of the photograph paints a rich vs. poor overtone which can be seen quite extensively in the early 1900’s and is only strengthened over time. The clothing the child has on appears to be oversized and seems to be made of wool. If it is indeed wool, this speaks to his socio-economic status. This photo was taken at the height of the industrial revolution and wool was increasingly easier to spin and therefore cheaper. The members of the lower class society benefited massively from the mass production and price drop in wool, enabling them to purchase warmer clothes at a lower cost. This puts even more strength into the rich vs. poor theme. The child’sbaggy wool clothing gives the impression that the photo was taken in the winter, in which it would be very cold. For the newsboy to be able to sell newspapers in the winter, the wool clothing was his only protection from the elements.
In a way, the wool outfit was the silent heroes’ uniform. The newsboy was so fatigued that he fell asleep in the winter on metal riveted steps. Cold generally causes people to stay awake because of the discomfort, and yet he was so tired that his body ignored that and he went to sleep. The cold from the environment and the metal would be biting through his clothes and cause discomfort, and yet the child still slept there. The conditions in which the boy was sleeping point to dedication, and that sort of dedication stems from need. This again gives the implication that the boy was poor and came from a poor family that needed the money from that newspaper vendor employment to survive. This child brought his family what it needed to get by, and in that light, is a hero. Again, this speaks to the condition of American society and the way laborers were treated in the early 1900’s. This builds even more on the rich vs. poor theme mentioned above. Taking all of the above into perspective, if the industrial revolution and rise of child labor had not taken place in the time period in which it did, society might be forced to handle it today.
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The children of the industrial revolution suffered through pain and fatigue because it was all that they knew. The children that endured the long hours in brutal conditions are the sort of silent heroes that one typically overlooks. The photojournalists brought attention to the predicament, but if it were not for those children, society could be in a worse place. Even though society has developed much since the time “Newsboy asleep on steps” was taken, there is still quite the journey ahead. For example, while one would not typically find a young newsboy asleep on the street, newspaper vendors still endure the elements. These vendors employ the use of wooden or metal structures that are very much open, lack adequate insulation and leave the occupants very much exposed. This photograph contains a social and political message from Lewis Hine and much of society at the time. As mentioned above, the child had to be very sleepy to fall asleep in the position, condition and location he is pictured in. That is no situation a child should ever have to endure and is, to be short, unfair and needed to be changed. Photography and photojournalism was quite new when this photo was taken, and that speaks even more to the importance of the issues at hand.
People such as Hine realized that there was a problem, and normal journalism was not effective at drawing enough attention to rectify those issues. For a society to be motivated enough to create innovative methods of communication and expression, the circumstances had to be dire. Lewis Hine led a ‘Crusade against Child Labor’ as a photojournalist and sociologist in the early 1900’s. Fifty-four photographs that Hine took were put into a collection by George Eastman House, titled Let Children Be Children: Lewis Wickes Hine’s Crusade Against Child Labor. “Newsboy asleep on steps” is in that collection. This photograph was taken for a reason, and that reason was to spread a message. The message was one that the silent heroes, the laboring children, could not deliver themselves. That message was about the problematic social and economic conditions in which many individuals in society, especially children, had to endure. Photojournalism made those issues real and brought that message to the forefront. The practice attracted more attention to this issue than standard journalism and writing ever could. There is no doubt that this photograph along with many others from Lewis Hine and people like him helped to reform society and push America along the path to become what it is today.
