09/07/2026
After the Civil War, the availability of natural resources, new inventions, and a receptive market combined to fuel an industrial boom. The demand for labor grew, and in the late 19th and early 20th centuries many children were drawn into the labor force. Factory wages were so low that children often had to work to help support their families.
The number of children under the age of 15 who worked in industrial jobs for wages climbed from 1.5 million in 1890 to 2 million in 1910. Businesses liked to hire children because they worked in unskilled jobs for lower wages than adults, and their small hands made them more adept at handling small parts and tools. Children were seen as part of the family economy. Immigrants and rural migrants often sent their children to work, or worked alongside them.
American photographer, Lewis Hine, used his camera to document what the powerful wanted the public to ignore. He photographed children working in factories, textile mills, coal mines, farms, and on city streets—often for long hours and in dangerous conditions. These weren’t just photographs, they were evidence.
Hine spoke with the children he photographed, documented their ages and working conditions, and helped put a human face on the reality of child labor. His work was used by reformers to build public support for stronger protections and challenge the idea that children should be sacrificed for the profits of their employers. But Hine didn’t end child labor by himself.
Workers organized. Reformers organized. Communities organized. People fought.
The labor protections we have today were won through decades of collective struggle against employers and political systems that too often valued profit over human life.
On Labor Day, we remember the workers who organized before us, the movements that demanded a better world, and the people like Lewis Hine who helped expose the injustices that needed to change.
Nothing was given. Everything was fought for.
✊ Solidarity forever.
