"Migration to America between 1840-1920."(Research Gate)
Point, Click, Shoot: Lewis Hine’s Photographs Create a Turning Point for Child Labor
"Ellis Island." (The Telegraph, N.d.)
Background
In the early 20th century, European immigrants’ arrival to the United States in search of economic opportunity led to a significant rise in child labor. After processing at Ellis Island, European immigrants often settled in East Coast cities to pursue the American Dream.
"Immigrants to the U.S. from 1840 to 1860." (Historical Statistics of the United States)
Arriving at Ellis Island
"Refugee children from England arrive in New York." (The Boston Globe, N.d.)
“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
~Emma Lazarus, "The New Colossus," 1883 (National Park Service)
"Ellis Island." (National Park Service, 1898)
"Cartoon Immigration."(Fine Art America, 1921)
"U.S. Immigration." (History, December 1906)
"Mr. Speaker, our Nation depends on immigrants’ labor, and I hope we can create an immigration system as dependable as they are."
~Luis Gutierrez (Citizen Path Immigration)
“We came to America, either ourselves or in the persons of our ancestors, to better the ideals of men, to make them see finer things than they had seen before, to get rid of the things that divide and to make sure of the things that unite.”
~President Woodrow Wilson, "Address to Naturalized Citizens," May 10, 1925 (Columbia University)
"List of Manifest Alien Immigration for the Commissioner of Immigration." (United States Congress, 1902)
Industrial Revolution
However, life was much harsher than expected, and many struggled to make ends meet due to the capitalistic culture of the Industrial Revolution, where profit motives ruled and workers were interchangeable parts. Despite the shift from manual labor to machine-based factory work, physical laborers were still in high demand. This prompted struggling parents to put their children to work, where they experienced long hours and hazardous conditions, to help feed their families.
"A labor agency on lower West side, New York City." (Hine, New York Public Library Digital Collection, 1910)
"Some boys were so small they had to climb up on the spinning frame to mend the broken threads and put back the empty bobbins." (Hine, Library of Congress, 1909)
ThesisLead-Up