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Before the enforcement of child labor laws in the United States. Photos from the Library of Congress with captions included. Click on the photos for a larger image:
There’s tons of this stuff at shorpy.com. Shorpy started when they managed to get access to some of the glass plate negatives the Library of Congress had “conserved” by tossing them into a basement to be flooded and stepped on. There’s some outright amazing stuff there, including high-resolution photographs taken during the Civil War, WWI, etc.
Thank heaven for the labor laws enacted since these photos were taken. I don’t think people appreciate how much these laws and regulations protect workers, and what the lives of working people would be like without them.
In 1930, 1.6% of boys 1-15 in the U.S. were employed in non-agricultural jobs. Another 4.8% had farm jobs. (Those numbers are <1% and 2% for girls). That's 20% less than boys 10-15 worked in 1900, which was less than in 1880. In 1938, after child labor had virtually vanished, Congress finally passed the first national law against hiring children for non-farm/non-family jobs as part of depression-era labor laws. (See https://eh.net/encyclopedia/child-labor-in-the-united-states/ for a reference.)
Generally speaking, labor practices in the United States change first, and only afterwards does a law about it get passed. When a good chunk of industry is doing something, then a law isn't passed. It's only after the "problem" goes away that the law changes. These laws end up pretty much being politicians looking for a way to look good, but don't actually change much.
Thank you for this whole Labor Day series!
It’s very much appreciated.
There’s tons of this stuff at shorpy.com. Shorpy started when they managed to get access to some of the glass plate negatives the Library of Congress had “conserved” by tossing them into a basement to be flooded and stepped on. There’s some outright amazing stuff there, including high-resolution photographs taken during the Civil War, WWI, etc.
Thank heaven for the labor laws enacted since these photos were taken. I don’t think people appreciate how much these laws and regulations protect workers, and what the lives of working people would be like without them.
In 1930, 1.6% of boys 1-15 in the U.S. were employed in non-agricultural jobs. Another 4.8% had farm jobs. (Those numbers are <1% and 2% for girls). That's 20% less than boys 10-15 worked in 1900, which was less than in 1880. In 1938, after child labor had virtually vanished, Congress finally passed the first national law against hiring children for non-farm/non-family jobs as part of depression-era labor laws. (See https://eh.net/encyclopedia/child-labor-in-the-united-states/ for a reference.)
Generally speaking, labor practices in the United States change first, and only afterwards does a law about it get passed. When a good chunk of industry is doing something, then a law isn't passed. It's only after the "problem" goes away that the law changes. These laws end up pretty much being politicians looking for a way to look good, but don't actually change much.
Thank you for this whole Labor Day series!
It’s very much appreciated.
You’re welcome, Annie.