History Of White Brothers Mills

All images provided by Eric White, unless otherwise noted. The following is a copy of a history of the White Brothers mills, written by the White family in 1942. Lewis Hine caption: Group of sweepers and doffers in the filling … [Read more...]

Dumb Ideas

I call this section Dumb Ideas for a reason that will become immediately obvious. I often think of these things during my wacky weekly breakfast conversations with my best friend in North Adams. Salad bars in funeral homes "While you're waiting, help yourself to our … [Read more...]

Elbert & Ruby Hollingsworth, Denison, Texas

Lewis Hine caption: Elbert Hollingsworth, ten year old cotton picker. Picks 125 pounds a day. Also Ruby Hollingsworth, seven year old cotton picker. Works all day, early and late, in the hot sun. Picks about thirty-five pounds a day. Father, mother, and several brothers and … [Read more...]

Henry Smith, Winchendon, Massachusetts

Lewis Hine caption: Group of sweepers and doffers in the filling spinning room of Glenallen Mill. The boys were smuggled out of back window during hours by second hand. All work. Smallest boy is Francis Pagnette. Also Henry Smith, Maple Street. Location: Winchendon, … [Read more...]

Unidentified Newsboy, St. Louis, Missouri

Lewis Hine caption: Truants selling papers at Jefferson & Washington 11 A.M. Monday May 9th, 1910. Smallest boy is Marvin Adams, 2637 Wahington Ave. Said he got his papers "off'n de other feller." Other boy is Owen McCormack, 2651 Washington Avenue. Location: St. Louis, … [Read more...]

James McCutcheon, Eastport, Maine

Lewis Hine caption: Fulsom McCutcheon, 11 years old, has been working at the covering machines in Eastport canning factory, also cutting some. In the background is a typical sardine factory. Location: Eastport, Maine, August 1911. When James Philson McCutcheon posed for Lewis … [Read more...]

William & Nellie Oppel, Winton, Minnesota

Russell Lee caption: Storekeeper and his wife in front of their store at section 30. "Bust" iron mining town near Winton, Minnesota, August 1937. Section 30 was a community formed by an iron ore mine. According to information on the website of the Minnesota Humanities … [Read more...]

Grayson Forsyth, Eastport, Maine

Lewis Hine caption: Three cutters in Factory #7, Seacoast Canning Co., Eastport, Me. They work regularly whenever there are fish. (Note the knives they use.) Back of them and under foot is refuse. On the right hand is Grayson Forsythe, 7 years old. Middle is George Goodell, 9 … [Read more...]

Guillette Family, Winchendon, Massachusetts

Lewis Hine caption: Group of workers in Glenallen Mill. Smallest girl helps her sister Dora Roberts in mill. Lives at 13 Woodlawn St., there are 13 in the family, five or six working. Apparently prosperous. In this group is also Corinne Cuillette. Location: Winchendon, … [Read more...]

Wilfrid Tow family, Laredo, Montana

Marion Post Wolcott caption: FSA (Farm Security Administration) borrower and two of his children. Laredo, Montana, August, 1941. On June 23, 1938, according to National Weather Service records: “More than five inches of rain fell in the Gravelly Coulee watershed in one hour, … [Read more...]

Catherine Young & Family, Chapter Three: Child Labor In Georgia

The following is from The Survey, 1906 The New Child Labor Law in Georgia: Samuel McCune Lindsay, Secretary of the National Child Labor Committee Georgia is the industrial leader of the new industrial South. At least one quarter of all the children under fourteen … [Read more...]

Toll Taker 47, Hog Heaven, & Jack And Jill: The Final Chapter

Toll Taker 47 was inspired by a glorious moment of serendipity experienced by one of my daughters. Hog Heaven was inspired by a radio conversation about eating. Jack And Jill: The Final Chapter came to me from out of nowhere while I was riding on the New York … [Read more...]

Interview with Minerva (Sharman) Gray

The following is edited from a 1976 interview with Minerva (Sharman) Gray, who worked in the summers from about 1912 to 1914, in her teenage years, at the Sea Coast Packing Company in Robbinston, a town about 20 miles north of Eastport. Phoebe Thomas (see her story) worked for … [Read more...]

When Baseball Was Just A Game (2002)

"I remember my Grandpa, his hat in his hand/The 'Star Spangled Banner' being played by the band/The roar of the crowd as the pitcher took aim/When baseball was just a game." I grew up in Maryland in the ‘40s and ‘50s. My paternal grandparents lived in Beltsville, a small town … [Read more...]

Maxine Woods And Her Twin Boys, Wichita, Kansas

In the fall of 2014, 77 years after this picture was taken, and in a town 1574 miles from Wichita, I stumbled upon a box of old Associated Press photographs in a store that sells industrial artifacts, handmade goods and various curiosities. The photo caught my attention … [Read more...]

Nellie Weeks, Williamsburg, Massachusetts

Lewis Hine caption: Stringing wooden buttons (button moulds) in a crowded home, Williamsburg, Mass. Mrs. Weeks and her children 13 years, 11 years, 7 years and her grand children 7 years, 5 years and 4 years old, all working after school, holidays, etc., stringing these button … [Read more...]

Glenallan Mill Gallery

The building known as the Glenallan Mill was built in the 1860s, with some additional buildings added, or some demolished as the company expanded or changed ownership. The White family bought the mill in 1886 and named it the Glenallan Mill. Until they sold it in 1929, the White … [Read more...]

Catherine Young & Family, Chapter Two: Tifton Cotton Mills

In order to understand the plight of the Young family, it is important to learn more about Tifton Cotton Mills and the child labor situation at the time. According to the New Georgia Encyclopedia, Henry Harding Tift was born in Mystic, Connecticut, on March 16, 1841. After … [Read more...]

Children of Nathaniel Dial, Washington, DC

When I saw this photo, I didn't know who Nathaniel Dial was, but it didn't take long to find out. The National Photo Company appeared to take a lot of pictures of privileged families in Washington, and the Dial family was no exception. But it makes them no less interesting, and I … [Read more...]

Albert Duquette, North Adams, Massachusetts

Lewis Hine caption: Arthur Chalifoux, 3 Rand St. (4th boy from left). Works in Eclipse Mills, No. Adams. Location: North Adams, Massachusetts, August 1911. "Eddie Leonard of this city waded after Young Rogers of Schenectady in biff bang style and won the decision by a shade … [Read more...]