Question

Analyze this photo of child workers, taken by Lewis Hine in 1909. Explain how this photograph would have been influential in ending child labor.

Answer 1

Sample response: The boys in the image face great dangers. They are not wearing any protective gear such as goggles or ear protection, and walking along the side of a machine is very dangerous. They could get caught in the threads or the belts. This could inflict injuries or be fatal. In addition, these boys are very young. They should be in school instead of working all day.

Answer 2

His photos explicitly give the idea of how child labor has been going on during those years. It tells a lot of things experienced by children, also, it was reinforced with captions created with the help of interviews by the children themselves. It gave ideas of how these children experienced different kinds of abuse.

The photos were gathered as basis and evidence to create protection for children. Thus in 1916, Congress passed the Keating-Owens Act because of these findings which proposed better condition and child protection on labor. However, this did not push through until the New Deal came and reforms were set.