Introduction | The Photos | The Photo\r\nCaptions | Collection\r\nStrengths
\r\n\r\nFounded in 1904, the National Child Labor Committee set\r\nout on a mission of \"promoting the rights, awareness,\r\ndignity, well-being and education of children and youth as\r\nthey relate to work and working.\" Starting in 1908, the\r\nCommittee hired Lewis W. Hine (1874-1940), first on a\r\ntemporary and then on a permanent basis, to carry out\r\ninvestigative and photographic work for the organization.\r\nThe more than 5,100 photographic prints and 355 glass\r\nnegatives in the Prints and Photographs Division's\r\nholdings, together with the often extensive captions that\r\ndescribe the photo subjects, reflect the results of this\r\nearly documentary effort, offering a detailed depiction of\r\nworking and living conditions of many children--and\r\nadults--in the United States between 1908 and 1924.
\r\n\r\nHine later referred to his photographic work for the\r\nNCLC as \"detective work.\" Photo historian Daile Kaplan\r\noffers this picture of how Hine conducted his work, which\r\nwas frequently regarded with suspicion by business owners,\r\nsupervisors, and workers:
\r\n\r\nNattily dressed in a suit, tie, and hat, Hine the\r\n gentleman actor and mimic assumed a variety of\r\n personas--including Bible salesman, postcard salesman,\r\n and industrial photographer making a record of factory\r\n machinery--to gain entrance to the workplace. When\r\n unable to deflect his confrontations with management,\r\n he simply waited outside the canneries, mines,\r\n factories, farms, and sweatshops with his fifty pounds\r\n of photographic equipment and photographed children as\r\n they entered and exited the workplace. (Photo Story:\r\n Selected Letters and Photographs of Lewis W. Hine. Ed.\r\n by Daile Kaplan. Washington: Smithsonian Institution\r\n Press, 1992).
\r\n\r\nThe NCLC distributed the photographs as part of its\r\npublicity and educational efforts.
\r\n\r\nMrs. Gertrude Folks Zimand, acting for the NCLC in her\r\ncapacity as chief executive, gave the records of the NCLC\r\nto the Library of Congress Manuscript Division in 1954, in\r\ncelebration of the NCLC's fiftieth anniversary. The\r\nManuscript Division then transferred to the Prints and\r\nPhotographs Division the photographs (arranged in 21\r\nalbums), negatives, and caption cards. (The NCLC apparently\r\nalso offered the Library of Congress a file of nitrate\r\nnegatives, which the Library did not accept. Some original\r\nnegatives can be found at the University of Maryland,\r\nBaltimore County and the International Museum of\r\nPhotography and Film at George Eastman House. For further\r\ninformation, see \"Related\r\nResources.\")
\r\n\r\nMany of the photo captions explicitly identify Hine as\r\nthe photographer who made the image. A few captions cite\r\nother photographers or photo studios. Many captions lack\r\nany photographer attribution.
\r\n\r\nThe photographic prints found in the NCLC records are on\r\nsingle weight paper. Most range in size from 3.5 x 3.5\r\ninches to 5 x 7 inches and are probably contact prints from\r\n4 x 6 inch and 5 x 7 inch negatives; both of those sizes\r\nare represented in the glass negatives in the collection.\r\nHine apparently did not enjoy darkroom work and employed\r\nassistants to print his photographs whenever possible. Some\r\nof the prints show the effects of inadequate photographic\r\nprocessing and, quite possibly, wear and tear from their\r\noriginal use and housing.
\r\n\r\nHine, or someone at the NCLC, numbered the photographs 1\r\n- 5126, with some letter suffixes (e.g., 1A) to make the\r\nnumbers unique. By convention, the Prints and Photographs\r\nDivision has come to refer to these as \"Hine numbers.\"
\r\n\r\nThe NCLC delivered the collection to the Library of\r\nCongress in albums organized by type of industry and,\r\nwithin that, by Hine number. In 1968, Library staff\r\nremounted the photographs in new albums and subsequently\r\nmicrofilmed the collection, to reduce its handling. The\r\nLibrary contracted with JJT, Inc., to digitize the entire\r\ncollection in 2003.
\r\n\r\nThe online catalog records include title, location, and\r\ndate information transcribed from the original 3 x 5 inch\r\ncaptions cards that came with the collection (for more\r\ninformation regarding transcription practices, see Cataloging the Collection).
\r\n\r\nThe caption cards include a mixture of typed and\r\nhandwritten information that is sometimes difficult to\r\ndecipher. It appears that the NCLC had a system for\r\nreproducing the captions on strips of paper, because many\r\nof the caption cards consist of a label strip affixed to\r\nthe card with added annotations above and below. Some\r\nstrips were cut in such a way as to cut off information or\r\nattributions. Over the years, Library of Congress staff\r\nhave added annotations to indicate the availability of\r\ncorresponding negatives (an LC-H5 or LC-H51 stamp on a card\r\nsignalled the availability of a corresponding glass\r\nnegative that came with the collection) and, occasionally,\r\nto correct or amplify identification information given on\r\nthe cards.
\r\n\r\nWe do not know precisely who compiled the caption cards\r\nor how, although it seems logical to assume that Hine\r\nrecorded the information they contain. Information on many\r\ncards echoes statements Hine made in his reports. Daile\r\nKaplan, in editing Hine's letters, attributes the captions\r\nto Hine and notes that he later referred to the process of\r\n\"synchronizing\" the information with the photographs\r\n(Kaplan, p. xx). Having trained in stenography, Hine was no\r\ndoubt in a good position to make rapid and detailed notes\r\nabout the scenes and people he photographed.
\r\n\r\nIn a few cases, it is apparent that the caption writer\r\nwas working considerably after the taking of the\r\nphotograph, because the caption refers to later revisiting\r\nof the same subject or indicates that information should be\r\nfilled in at a later point if the correct identification\r\ncan be found. Many captions cite the name of a witness\r\n(including other NCLC staff members or, sometimes, Hine's\r\nwife, Sara), as well as the name of the photographer. Some\r\ncaptions make reference to associated reports, many of\r\nwhich can be found in the Library of Congress Manuscript\r\nDivision (see \"Reporting on\r\nLabor Conditions\").
\r\n\r\nAlthough the accuracy of the information in the captions\r\ncannot easily be verified, the captions often supply highly\r\ndetailed and evocative information about the conditions\r\nbeing photographed and the photography enterprise\r\nitself.
\r\n\r\nThe NCLC photographs, together with the captions,\r\nprovide insight on the lives of working class families,\r\nwith a particular focus on children and women. (For a\r\ncontents summary, see Arrangement and Access.)
\r\n\r\nAlthough the ethnicity of the photo subjects is not\r\nconsistently identified in the captions, Hine photographed\r\nmembers of several immigrant groups, as well as African\r\nAmericans in the work, home and school settings he\r\ncovered.
\r\n\r\nBecause of the detail the captions provide regarding\r\nlocations and names of individuals and businesses, the\r\ncollection can be a rich source for those conducting local\r\nand, possibly, family history (keeping in mind that the\r\ncaptions, which are not always easy to decipher, may\r\ncontain inaccuracies and misspellings).
\r\n\r\nSome photos and captions comment by offering a\r\nbefore-and-after view of a particular set of workers [
Collectively, the material provides documentation useful\r\nfor the study of many early twentieth century circumstances\r\nand developments:
\r\n\r\nText prepared by: Barbara Orbach Natanson, Reference\r\nSpecialist, Prints & Photographs Division
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