Progressive Era
The Progressive Era and all of its accomplishments can be attributed to the muckraking photographers that stood up for the progressive ideologies, in which they believed in. They found the simplest way to evoke emotion, empathy, and change out from a person's heart, to show them a photograph. To show them a photograph of an overworked child, a crowded tenement room that seven people called home, or the disgusting visuals of Chicago's meatpacking industry is what they did, and they had great success. From immigrants to Americans, and from Democrats to socialists, these muckrakers and their opinions were diverse. Lewis W. Hine was an American that fought the battle against child labor laws, often photographing children during their long and cruel work days. Jacob Riis was a Danish socialist that challenged the compact and appalling tenement houses of the time. Both serve as true examples of muckrakers that made the Progressive Era what it is now known for.
Info: Lewis W. Hine 1908 - 1912
A young girl in a Newberry, South Carolina mill. Lewis W. Hine often photographed children in their terrible work conditions. |
Info: Lewis W. Hine 1908 - 1912
12 years old Furman Owens, cannot read and does not know his A,B,C's. He said, "Yes I want to learn but can't when I work all the time." He's been in the mills 4 years, 3 years in the Olympia Mill. Columbia, South Carolina. |
Info: Lewis W. Hine 1908 - 1912
Some boys and girls were so small they had to climb up on to the spinning frame to mend broken threads and to put back the empty bobbins. This is obviously a dangerous jobs that no child should ever have to do. Bibb Mill No. 1. Macon, Georgia. |
Info: Lewis W. Hine 1908 - 1912
View of the Ewen Breaker of the Pennsylvania Coal Co. The dust was so dense at times as to obscure the view. This dust penetrated the utmost recesses of the boys' lungs. A kind of slave-driver sometimes stands over the boys, prodding or kicking them into obedience. South Pittston, Pennsylvania. |
Info: Lewis W. Hine 1908 - 1912
Bowling Alley boys. Many of them work setting pins until past midnight. New Haven, Connecticut.
Bowling Alley boys. Many of them work setting pins until past midnight. New Haven, Connecticut.
Info: Lewis W. Hine January 25, 1909
National Archives Identifier: 523162 Young boys schucking oysters in the hot Apalachicola, Florida sun. |
Info: Jacob Riis
"Minding the Baby," Cherry Hill. It shows the responsibility these young children had to take care of family members. |
Info: Jacob Riis. 1890-92
“Slept in the Cellar Four Years,"
This shows the types of places people were forced to live in, filthy and intolerable locations.
“Slept in the Cellar Four Years,"
This shows the types of places people were forced to live in, filthy and intolerable locations.