Alcide Gauthier, Winchendon, Massachusetts

Lewis Hine caption: Erenne La Prise, on left, apparently 13 years old, a doffer at Spring Village Mill, said he had been working a year and a half. Als de Gauthier, apparently under 14 (next Erenne) also a doffer at Spring Village Mill. Location: Winchendon, Massachusetts, … [Read more...]

Florine Fuqua, South Boston, Virginia

Lewis Hine caption: Ebb-tide in the industry. Family of Mrs. Wm. Fuqua. On account of slack work in the cotton mill, her husband recently got work up-town. He is the only wage earner. Six in the family. The oldest girl is 14 years old now. She worked last year, but the lint … [Read more...]

Minnie Thomas, Eastport, Maine

Lewis Hine caption: Minnie Thomas, 9 years old, showing average size of sardine knife used in cutting. Some of the children used a knife as large as this. Minnie works regularly in Seacoast Canning Co., Factory #7, mostly in the packing room, and when very busy works nights. Cuts … [Read more...]

NORTH ADAMS TOURS AND PRESENTATIONS

Since 1998, I have been conducting tours of North Adams, and making formal and informal presentations about the city. My tours and presentations are somewhat different from the traditional ones where guides or lecturers just point out a few historical buildings, or talk about … [Read more...]

Springfield, Vermont

Springfield, Vermont is a town of about 9,000 people. It's just a few miles off Route 91, and was built along the Black River. Up until recently, it was well known for its machine tool and telescope industries. Springfield has been struggling to improve its economy, with mixed … [Read more...]

Vermont Scenes

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Exhibits & Presentations

"Thank you so much for your presentation about the Lewis Hine mill children. The stories you tell and the photos you share are captivating, and bring history, genealogy and family to life. The work you are doing is so important and valuable not only to the families you touch, but … [Read more...]

George Cox, Institute, West Virginia

Lewis Hine caption: George Cox, 13 year old colored boy, has just joined the 4 H Club and is raising a pig. His father is a "renter" in this poor home near the W. Va. Collegiate Institute (Near Charleston) the State colored agricultural college. Mr. A.W. Curtis, Agri. Agent, is … [Read more...]

Dignifying The Lives Of Ordinary People (2007)

Since last Christmas, my wife and I have been totally absorbed in the series of films often referred to as the "Up" movies. The seven films, all but the first produced and directed by Michael Apted, document the lives of 14 British boys and girls, all born in 1956, who are from a … [Read more...]

The Internet Archive Time Machine (2007)

As I have noted in several articles on this site, I grew up in the Washington, DC area. I was born in 1941, just several weeks before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. My father was in the US Army, and in 1944, he was sent to the Pacific Islands. My mother and I moved in with my … [Read more...]

Stories From The Dowlin Block (December 2013)

CHAPTER ONE The year this photograph was taken (1911), Jason Braman and his wife Theresa moved into apartment 616, on the top floor of the Dowlin Block, a six-story building which has now been a fixture in North Adams since 1902. About 37 at the time, Jason was working as … [Read more...]

Furman Owens, Augusta, Georgia

Lewis Hine caption: Fursen[?] Owens 12 years old. Can't read. Don't know A, B, C's. "Yes I want to learn but I can't when I work all the time." Been in mills 4 years, 3 years in Olympia Mill, Columbia, S.C. and 1 year here. Location: Augusta, Georgia, January 1909. I fell in … [Read more...]

The Baldwin family, Klamath Falls, Oregon

Dorothea Lange caption: Young mother, twenty five, says “Next year we'll be painted and have a lawn and flowers.” Rural shacktown, near Klamath Falls, Oregon, September 1939. General caption number 47. “Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it … [Read more...]

Stories From Hope Cemetery (2010)

"And she became the sad Carlotta. Alone in the great house...walking the streets alone...her clothes becoming old and patched and dirty. The mad Carlotta...stopping people in the streets to ask: ‘Where is my child? Have you seen my child?' Poor thing. And then she died...by her … [Read more...]

Carmina Caruso, Somerville, Massachusetts

Lewis Hine caption: A typical view of Carmina Caruso, a ten year old Home Worker as she walks around crocheting as she goes. See also other photos of her and Home Work report. Location: Somerville, Massachusetts, August 1912. "In Italy, I think she got as far as the second … [Read more...]

Guido Centola, Rochester, New York

Lewis Hine caption: Newsie selling before school, 7 A.M. Quito Scentola, 13 years old, 20 Pennsylvania Avenue, been selling papers four years. Location: Rochester, New York (State), February, 1910. "He was in a family of 16, ten boys and four girls. They came through Ellis … [Read more...]

Otto Shelton, Macon, Georgia

Lewis Hine caption: Boys working in Bibb Cotton Mill No. 1, Macon, Ga. Smallest boy--Otto Sheldo--2 yrs. in mill. Next, Jack Bowman--4 yrs. in mill. Next, Clement Olford--5 years in mill gets .75 a day. Next, Lawnie Williams--8 years in mill, gets .65 a day. Next, Henny Potter--2 … [Read more...]

One More Ride Up St. Leonard Hill (2009)

It used to snow when we were kids, all day, waist deep, pure white. It would start with a few flakes here and there and grow into a windy swirl. When I saw you for the first time in forty years, I remembered the snow. You waiting at the top of the hill, my eyes … [Read more...]

Remembering Radio (2004)

Legendary radio personality Eddie Gallaher died recently at the age of 89. For nearly 60 years, he practically owned the morning airwaves in the Washington, DC area. My mother told me about Gallaher’s death during my visit with her in Easton, Maryland over the Christmas … [Read more...]

Poems Inspired By North Adams, Massachusetts, Page Two

Kitchen Helper was inspired by a conversation I had with a woman in North Adams who was waiting for a bus. Things That Aren't There was inspired by a number of conversations I had with people who told me personal stories about the effects of a huge urban renewal project in North … [Read more...]