Connecting With Child Laborers

Here is another example of how genealogy and family history will enrich our lives. I just read about the Lewis Hine Project. This project's goal is to research the descendants of children in photos taken by Lewis Hine in the early 1900's. Hine took pictures of children who were laborers for the National Child Labor Committee.

The project is lead by Joe Manning a retired freelance journalist who found that there were many of Hine's photos available via the US Library of Congress.

To share the connection and influence of this project, let me quote Mr. Manning from his website:

So far, I have located and contacted descendants of dozens of child and
adult laborers. It's been an emotional ride - none more emotional than the
search for Minnie Carpenter, the girl on the left in the photo above. Hine did
not identify the other girl.
This was Lewis Hine's description: "Oldest
girl, Minnie Carpenter, House 53 Loray Mill, Gastonia, N.C. Spinner. Makes fifty
cents a day for 10 hours. Works four sides. Younger girl works
irregularly."
After a month of painstaking research, I obtained a copy
of Minnie's obituary. She died more than 30 years ago, single, with no children.
A nephew, of Gastonia, was listed as one of the survivors. In the Internet white
pages, I found a man with the same name living in Gastonia. I called him,
and he was the right person. He expressed great surprise about the
photograph, and was very pleased when I told him I would send him a copy. I
thanked him, dropped the photo in the mail, and called him three weeks later. He
said excitedly: "I was hoping you would call me sooner. I've got some incredible
news for you. The other girl in the photo is my mother."

This quote comes from this URL: http://www.morningsonmaplestreet.com/aboutlewishine.html

The address to the website is: http://www.morningsonmaplestreet.com/index.html

I applaud Mr. Manning's efforts. Maybe in your research you might find and ancestor that was photographed by Lewis Hine.

In addition, can you imagine meeting someone in the next life, a relative or no, and hearing them tell of being a kid who had to work 17 hours a day? Can you imagine being able to express gratitude in person to the people who changed and enacted laws that prohibit child labor today? I look forward to that.

Here is a link to the photo blog that helpe me find Joe Manning's website: http://www.shorpy.com/

I plan on meeting Shorpy one day. Reading about the children whose photos are part of the Lewis Hine project, and reading about Shorpy motivates me to get involved in my children's schools today. To make a difference, because there are children today that need help just as much as there were in the 1900's.

See how it works? How has reading histories influenced you?

Resource For Genealogical Research

While this blog is mostly about reading family history and how it influences our lives, once in awhile I find a resource I want to share. Here is there link:

Post your Genealogy Research on FamilyTreeCircles.com

This site is free to become a member, and what you do is list the surnames you are searching. Their system provides you with links to other people who are searching the same surnames. Pretty cool. I'm going to be journaling the research on my own lines there, while I will continue to blog here about family history.

Across the Globe and Across Cultures

I just read a review of a book about to be published on March 11th:From Harvey River: A Memoir of My Mother and Her Island. I'm looking forward to learning about culture both Canadian and Jamaican. You can read the review here: Bright Stitches of Family History

Here is another must read: Get your parents to reveal their stories, not to you, but to your partner: Passing on a Family History