[Music] my name is Starla Cole I work every day I think I'm plumbing so that's what my mama say sometimes on the diaper sometimes I sleep the flow I used to go to school [Music] from 1908 to 1924 one man devoted his life to document the horrors of child labor he was both artist an activist Lewis Hine Lewis Hines work for the National Child Labor Committee captured the lives and working conditions of the young labor in a difficult time through the power of his photographs he stirred the conscience of the American people and provoked them to find a legal compromise over abolished child labor liberating millions of children furthermore he revolutionized the power of photography and paved with future social documentary work and activism [Music] Lewis Hine capturing the public's heart and exposing child exploitation the Industrial Revolution is seen as time of growth capitalistic ideals and the American Dream it was but it also held one of America's deepest horrors the widespread exploitation of children since the workforce needed to dramatically increase to meet the needs of mass production the only solution became clear child laborers as Haiyan reported there was work the prophets children and there is work that brings profit only to employers the object of employing children is not to train them but to get high profits from their work this provoked conflict among progressive reformers and activists members of society believe that child labor is cruel among progressive organizations was the National Child Labor Committee founded 1904 with the mission of promoting the rights awareness dignity well-being an education of children they reported the haunting statistics of child labor epidemic like in a 1932 issue of their magazine listserv a graphic where they state each year no less than a thousand children under 18 years are permanently disabled and another hundred are killed to reinforce the power of these statistics in 1908 they hired photographer Lewis Hine whose sole objective was to invest and expose what the public could not see Heinz work took him across America to the mines textile factories and mills capturing over 5000 photographs on his journey often though gaining entry to workplaces presented a conflict since managers wanted to conceal their controversial operations usually Hine was able to use his creativity to find a compromise posing as a Salesman Industrial photographer or another job that would allow him entry one of hinds most famous continent girl came from the mills of Lancaster South Carolina here in the mill he documented the summer phases and little bodies of hundreds of children who were forced to work in order to provide for their families at the mills children usually worked as doll furs as the offer it was nerve Rob that when a thread and a mill snapped to carve on the running machine it quickly worked to reconnect the stream when they weren't careful though this process could result in this got a finger or hand hide and reporter that an overseer told him we don't have any accidents in this mill once in a while a finger smashed our foot but it don't amount to anything Hinds powerful photographs were elevated with the revolutionary style he created through his time as a photographer he found a compromise between both emotion and information to strike a chord with the average middle-class American and always composed his photos to show the complete route allottee of American child labor practices often capturing his subjects with the massive machines they worked looming over their small fragile bodies similarly his eye contact the lens connections led to the bond he hoped to create in his images as if the children were staring at the viewer begging for help [Music] some of hinds most haunting photographs were captured in the minds children as young as six or seven worked above ground as breakers each day they would regularly worked as a rock and slate from coal for hours without rest often the sled hand injuries minor like cuts but when they were sucked into the carnival machine they could be killed Hine reported on a trip to a Pennsylvania mine while I was there to break her moist fell into the coal chute where they were smothered to death in the early 20th century labor laws and regulations were often non-existent and when they did exist they were easy to bypass for minimally enforced hi and explain the Senate magazine stating an overseer told me frankly that the manufacturers all over the south evade the child labor law by letting children who are underage help older brothers and sisters the names of the younger ones do not appear on the company's books and the pay goes to the your older child with above 12 years Hines work always highlighted this using the most evocative photographs of young miners to publish along with his heart-wrenching and detailed captions Pyne photos were making an impact immediately white-collar middle-class Americans were stunned by his detailed photographs and captions he and other progressive activists were exposing conflicts and many once believed did not even exist as hi and claimed himself photography can let up darkness and expose ignorance then in 1916 senator Albert Shay Bedford's proposed the Keating Owen Act aimed at regulating child labor nationally by hindering interstate commerce the companies that use children were formerly kind embraced the new law fathers who profited from child they were relentlessly fought against it and after two years the law was repealed for its unconstitutionality Hine continued his work documenting the struggles of child laborers and reporting on them finally in 1938 Congress struck a compromise passing the Fair Labor Standards Act which promised intend to press of child labor and so the first time set serious labor standards when reformers like Lewis Hine forth the public affects the problem and they did they demanded the government help and the government did answer legislation continued to build on the progress of the Fair Labor Standards Act with routine updates to the law but more importantly the enforcement of labor laws increased then in 1941 the keeping almond Act was reinstated as a law when supreme court burst the ruling also following the economic downfall in the Great Depression America adopted the popular belief that all available job to go to adults not children a compromise for adults their jobs while allowing children to stay in school towards the end of his life Hine submitted multiple requests to join the Farm Security Administration project a group that would document the hardships of the Great Depression although he was repeatedly denied this did not stop him from continuing to inspire others he joined the photo League and began a project documenting men at work and the construction of the Empire State Building where he met firm Security Administration project photographer Dorothea Lange the evidence of Hines influence and Lange is clearly present in her 1939 photograph compared to his from 1910 [Music] today photographers like Benjamin LOI continue to explore the limits of photojournalism the evidence of hinds impact on the field continues to show in composition and message in Benjamin Louise photos of labourers in Africa they often look like hind photos thus replicated a century later in a different industry Louis photos continued to use the same classic and timeless style hi news to reform a nation times impact on photography that will always be second as a thousands of lives he better through his photos the Lewis Hine project run by Jo Manning is an initiative to track down than descendants of Hine subjects his work has to the existing power pines giving a story and a personality to the children behind that single shot one descendant management don't explain this when she saw the photo of her mother it is wonderful that the photographer could somehow reveal the real person in my opinion he was called to his work and as such countless sites throughout the nation and the world thank God for mr. Hein Jo Manning's work helps to show the public the true legacy of mine not as an artist but as an activist who assigns innovative work for the National Child Labor Committee capture the lights and working conditions of young laborers in a difficult time through the power is evocative photographs he stirred the conscience of the American people and subsequently forced the government to find a legal compromise that would abolish the industrial exploitation of children while his art and legacy had inspired future photographers and activists today thousands of photographers have devoted their lives to capture the conflicts of our world following in the footsteps trailblazer and activist Luis works fine - start a cold I work here every day