These children are not posing for a school picture.
They are factory workers in Baltimore, Maryland during the early 20th century.

Until the early 1900’s, it was a common sight to see young children in cities throughout the United States hard at work in mills and factories, in sweatshops, and on the streets.  Many children worked long days or nights, six or seven days a week to help pay the rent and buy the food their families needed to survive.

In large urban areas, as in rural areas, there were many poor families who could not afford to send their children to school.  Until the early part of the 20^th century, poor children in big cities were often forced to labor to help earn the money their families needed.

  
           Children working in a cotton mill                                Young girl in knitting mill    

Children were hired to work long hours in mills and factories, usually from early dawn to nightfall.  For very little pay, they worked hazardous jobs that demanded hours of standing awake and alert at dangerous machines.  Nodding off, or a moment of distraction, could cause an accident resulting in the loss of a hand, an arm, or even a life. Children, as young as 7 or 8 years of age, often worked in blistering heat during the summer, and bitter cold in winter, in factories that were neither heated nor equipped with cooling fans.  Some jobs required children to be barefoot so they could climb onto machinery without slipping.  Children were frequently required to keep their hair cut short to avoid accidents that might cause their hair to become caught in the whirring machinery.

      Little girl working in a cotton mill                             Boy working in a glass factory

In many factories the noise from the machinery was deafening.  Workers often suffered hearing losses from their work.  In woolen and cotton mills particles of fibers choked workers as the air was filled with dust, causing illnesses and lung diseases.  Their eyesight also suffered from lack of proper lighting. 

       5 year old paperboy jumped off and on moving               A boy working as a boot black
       trolley cars to sell his papers to passengers

Children also worked on the streets of big cities to help their struggling families.  Many worked at jobs during the day, while some worked all night, often alone on the dark streets. Children working or selling their wares on the streets were often cold and soaked with rain. Frequently they worked without shelter or warm dry clothing.

The conditions under which children labored caused many to suffer serious illnesses. There was a high rate of death among children.

*urban:  city or large city area
*labor:  work

 Photographs by Lewis W. Hine)