Eye-Opening Photos Reveal Child Workers’ Lives in 1911 Virginia Glass Factories

Aug 02, 2024

Matt Growcoot

Two young boys stand side by side with their arms around each other. They are dressed in worn, old-fashioned clothing and caps. The background shows a desolate, industrial area with a wooden building on the right and factory structures in the distance. — Two young carrying-in boys in Alexandria Glass Factory. Frank Clark (on left) 702 N. Patrick St., could neither read nor write, having been to school only a few weeks in his life. Frank is working on night shift this week. Ashby Corbin (on right), 413 N. St. Asaph St. Has had only four terms of schooling.

These photos taken by Lewis Hine for the National Child Labor Committee at Virginian glass factories in 1911 show poor, exhausted young boys doing dangerous jobs.

Hine went to Alexandria in Virginia, just seven miles south of Washington D.C., to visit the child workers engaged in laborious and hazardous tasks — some were as young as six or seven years old.

Hines’s photos highlighted the exploitation and vulnerability of child workers and became instrumental in bringing public attention to the issue and spurring legislative change.

A sepia-toned photograph shows four boys standing in front of a dark background. They are all wearing newsboy caps and overalls or suspenders. Three boys look directly at the camera, with the one in the center crossing his arms, while the fourth boy looks down. — Some of the youngsters on day shift (next week on night shift) at Old Dominion Glass Co., Alexandria, Va. I counted 7 white boys and several colored boys that seemed to be under 14 years old. The youngest ones would not give names, but the following are a few: Frank Ellmore, 913 Gibbon St., apparently ten or eleven. Been there three months. Dannie Powell, 307 Columbus St. Henry O’Donnell, 1925[?] Duke St. Leslie Mason, 912 Wilke St.

A sepia-toned photograph shows a group of boys and young men posing outdoors. They are dressed in work clothes, including overalls, hats, and long-sleeved shirts. A wooden building stands in the background. The mood appears solemn and serious. — Some of the young boys working on the night shift at the Alexandria Glass Factory.

A sepia-toned historical photograph shows six young boys standing in a line outside a wooden building. The boys are dressed in work clothes such as overalls and button-down shirts, and some wear hats. The background appears to be an industrial or rural setting. — Some of the young boys who worked at the Alexandria Glass Factory.

The National Child Labor Committee (NCLC) wanted the children to be in school rather than working at factories which is why they enlisted the help of Hine in 1908.

Over the next decade and a half, Hine traveled to half of the continental United States, taking photos of everything from the Breaker boys in the mines of Pennsylvania — whose job was to separate coal from slate — to the children working in cotton mills in Georgia and Alabama.

Alexandria was just one of the stops. Hines recorded detailed information in the captions, sometimes including the names of the children, their ages, what type of jobs they did, and how many hours they worked. Note: The captions on this artice are more of less Hine’s original captions.

This information coupled with Hine’s powerful photos made it impossible for the public and policymakers to ignore the severity of the issue.

A young boy wearing a flat cap, button-up shirt, and rolled-up pants stands in a busy workshop with other workers in the background. The environment appears industrial with various tools, machinery, and materials scattered around. Early 20th-century setting. — “Carrying-in” boy in Alexandria Glass Factory. Works on day shift one week and night shift next week.

A black-and-white photo shows a group of eight young boys standing in front of large wooden beams. They are wearing work clothes, such as caps, shirts, suspenders, and boots. The boys have serious expressions and appear to be posed for the picture. — Some of the youngsters on day shift (next week on night shift) at Old Dominion Glass Co., Alexandria, Va. I counted 7 white boys and several colored boys who seemed to be under 14 years old. The youngest ones would not give names.

Seven young boys in work clothes, including shirts with rolled sleeves, caps, suspenders, and high boots, stand in a row with a wooden building in the background. The scene appears to be from an early 20th-century industrial or rural setting. — A few of the young boys working on the night shift at the Alexandria Glass Factory.

A black-and-white photograph depicts a group of nine boys in work attire, standing outdoors in front of a wooden building. They are wearing caps, boots, and rolled-up sleeves. Some boys have their hands in pockets, while others have arms crossed or resting on shoulders. — A few of the young boys working on the night shift at the Alexandria Glass Factory.

Hine later called what he did for the NCLC “detective work,” and in many ways, he had to be as discreet and sneaky as a detective. Photo historian Daile Kaplan offers some insight into how Hine operated:

Nattily dressed in a suit, tie, and hat, Hine the gentleman actor and mimic assumed a variety of personas — including Bible salesman, postcard salesman, and industrial photographer making a record of factory machinery — to gain entrance to the workplace.

When unable to deflect his confrontations with management, he simply waited outside the canneries, mines, factories, farms, and sweatshops with his fifty pounds of photographic equipment and photographed children as they entered and exited the workplace.

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