You can see the absence of childhood in their faces. The innocence, gone. The glimmer, gone. So heartbreaking, that they nolonger resemble children, just empty, tired shells in tiny bodies.

Seeing the photos make me so sad. They're children. Yet they look like adults who have been working for 20 years. The innocence and light that should be in their eyes isn't there, and they look so worn down and defeated. I hope they went on to have better lives.

Children were not "children" in those days not even "teenager" existed.

And my kid lays on the ground screaming if ask him to clean his room.

Wow. I’m from Lancaster & never knew this. Crazy. I’ve lived on a mill hill all of my life & can only imagine some of the stories

I noticed the newspaper said "1 cent" for the cost of it. I can't imagine they were paid hardly a scrap for doing what they did.

This still happens today and it leads to trafficking and child slavery. 😦

I just finished watching the mini-series, The Mill and have become very interested in child labor. Thank you for this vid.

My paternal grandfather was 5 years old when his father gave up a life of hardscrabble farming in Western Appalachia and put the wife and kids on a train bound for the cotton mill village 120 miles away. He walked, and led a humongous, prize-winning bull for a fellow who had paid him to do so. This journey would have probably taken a week or more, and word trickled down in the family that the bull "was never any good after that trip". One branch of the family insists that he RODE the bull! Either way, we do know that word travelled ahead that he was coming, and people of the small towns along the way lined the streets to see "the biggest man and the biggest bull in the state" pass by. Some of the ladies along the way had even baked cookies and other goodies for him. I have always entertained the idea that he walked, but might have ridden through some crowded stretches just to entertain the masses. Five years later, when my grandfather was only 10, his father caught a bug that was going around in the mill and died, leaving his mother a widow with four kids to feed. One of his two younger sisters was just 2 years old at the time. Nevertheless, he immediately joined his mother and older brother in the local cotton mill to try and make ends meet. The oldest sister was allowed to keep the toddler in a playpen in the nursery, thus also contributing to the welfare of the family until the time came that she too could get a paying mill job. And so, in spite of the untimely death of their patriarch, the family was keeping it together and eating well. When WW1 broke out, my grandfather was 15 years old. His mother rushed him down and signed the papers to send him off, because his older brother made a higher wage, and everyone thought he wouldn't get drafted if my grandfather was already there. They drafted his brother anyway, but fortunately, he was allowed to serve his time on a base in the states. My grandfather went straight to the front lines however, and got gassed in the hellish trenches of France. After the war, he went back to work in the cotton mills, and much of the time was forced to work 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. The Great Depression years were extremely hard, but he made it through. He died of heart problems when he was only 57. He always blamed the WW1 gas attacks, life in the mills, and worrying over his two sons while they served in WW2 for his poor health and rather short life. It is also interesting to note that his wife (my grandmother) died of heart problems at only 38 years of age after a life spent toiling in the mill. My maternal grandmother was only 16 years old when both her parents died after contracting TB in the same southern cotton mill. (Apparently these crowded, stuffy mills with all the lint flying around were very proficient at spreading diseases.) She was the oldest of five kids, and had to raise three sisters and a brother, the youngest of which was only 3 or 4 years old. Fortunately, a half-uncle by marriage was a boss in the mill, and saw that she got a job that came with a small, three or four room mill house in which they all could live. A much older cousin (they all called her "Aunt Woodie") and her husband helped with the youngest ones, and of course everybody went straight to work in the mill as soon as they were deemed old enough, which was certainly by the age of 12, and often at only 10 years old or even younger.

Heartbreaking

Wow. So sad and very beautiful photos at the same time.

Lewis Hines died in alone in poverty and obscurity. I like to think those whom he took photos of, to tell their story, where there in spirit when he passed on.

Like the story of John Foden in a cotton mill in Manchester working in the loom machine he either didn’t hear or was too slow and his head was crushed instantly. He was only 10-12 years old

Thank You and God bless all those Children thank you for all you sacrifice.

This is probably the first time I’ve ever seen African American kids shown as well, In any photographs of child labor during these times

Back then it wasn't that all the parents wanted to make their children work, it was that the pay was so terrible they had no choice. Even having their children work, sometimes the parents had to give up there children in hopes they would have a better life. The factory owners (not all but alot) back then treated every one bad adults and children. A very hard time back then! And people are always whining and protesting now days over things that are not really that bad now. I think people just like to complain now.

The children should be playing

“It doesn’t say America.” Are you sure about that?

Invariably people will type " what about" to talk about other countries but this is an example for other countries to inspire them to end child labor. If we ended it in the early 20th century they can end it now.

This was the norm.

It’s heartbreaking to watch

This remind me a old tv show called, "The Mill". I wish that show never go canceled

this is true very true it break my hreat when i heard it im sooooo sorry kids

You guys do know that in South America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East they still use child labor?? It hasn’t gone away in those places.

That's some good character building right there

Things haven’t changed in places

I suppose this proves kids are just as capable as adults even if what they are doing is extremely dangerous, there’s kids still working jobs not suitable for them in third world countries because that’s the way it is. They know nothing other than working to get food on the table or to care for their parents, these photos are sad but it’s still a reality for millions of kids around the world.

What is the melody used in the video?

Heartbreaking 💔

Sad times

Saddest thing is things haven't changed for some parts of the world

0:24 bottom right lads crosseyed!

Dear Lord 🙉😪😪😪😪 Who are these children???!!!!!where are their names????????!!!!!!! did they have any mentions with their names??!!! at least they deserve it, this is sad and heartbreaking 😢. After a hard day's work did anyone bathe them in warm water give them hot food hugged kissed asked how they wanted to feel sadness to heaven.I see that many are barefoot and in poor condition 😢😪😢😢.

“It doesn’t say America”??? What about the people who ACTUALLY picked the cotton lol 😂 for the past 100 years

In them days they had no choice. So what about children growing up in poverty and their parents are to strung out to take care of them.

Very sad story

What is the background music called??

I'm feeling very sad for these children.

I need to correct the narrator when he was talking about the type of machine the young girl Sadie Pfeifer was working on. I've seen this picture in books and the captions are also wrong, the narrator called this machine a loom, but it is a ring spinning frame.

The little girl is standing in front of a spinning frame not a loom....I'm not trying to be a smarty butt I just thought it's important for anyone doing something for school..I worked in textiles for many years of my life around 25 years more or less and that's what those specific machines were called .. I personally worked in the process of getting the cotton ready to be placed into these spinning frames ..First the cotton goes through the Carding then Drawing process and depending on what type of yarn that was needed a combing process was added between the Carding and Drawing process. The work was labor intensive but for the most part it could be enjoyable...

Hollywood needs to start making movies about this... going to be a tearjerker

*knowledge*

Kids nowadays are lucky... they dun know how hard lives were for their forefathers!

Hey look folks. Democrats are perfectly fine with abuse and exploitation of children right now in America. Children of illegals are abused constantly. Democrats turn their heads because they need the votes

Well if I hadn’t worked full time three summer starting at age 13 for jtpa a program for low income family’s to offset food stamp hand outs.Temporary work permits for children were issued,if not for that I’d feel guilty about getting ebt

GREED and 'Cheap Labor' Conservatives. GREED and 'Cheap Labor' Conservatives. GREED and 'Cheap Labor' Conservatives.

Zoom 8c?

But they produced value for the shareholders right?

**knowledge**

And now, it's a culture war issue. Across red states, the GOP is hell-bent on bringing this back.

Back in these days children quickly matured into adults through hard work and today children never become adults through lack of work. Hard to say what is better, should have gone for a middle ground.

The only child labor I would be alright with would be newspaper selling being a job children could do to earn their own money, else this is quite a bad part of the industrial era

Is Sadie Pfeifer related with Michelle? 🤔

In an unfortunate way, 10 year old children back in the days were more mature than some 20 year old adults nowadays.

_Knowledge_

Big daddy Bennett didn't have children working on his plantation, just sayin...

Why the granny music 0:23

Those children who worked at factory mills for nearly 80 hrs per week, they all have this tired, hopeless facial expressions with gaunt eyes. How sad.... Being malnurished, over worked in the unhealthy environment surely caused kids with TB.

Oh for the days of Empire . Britannia waives the rules .

I think that each century should be named and that now is Fred

Strength

Oh so this is what libertarians dream about

😮😮😮😮

hi

who else has to do this for school?

Integrety

moew

No one here is for child labor? Okay..

Now these Childrens Mothers have to work full time instead of them. Now the children have no mother at home to cook, and nurture them, make clothes....babies and children go to day care instead of home with a stable mom. Times were better then...they were told not to smile. Reverse Feminism now !

Shocked? Alot of the expensive products you buy today are made in other countries where these same practices go on. The minerals that go into creating those electric and hybrid car batteries? Dug out of the grounds in Africa by children. Your cell phone and latest video game/computer console? Parts are made in China in sweatshops by children. Those expensive Nike shoes with some basketball players name on them? Once again made in China by what pretty much amounts to slave labor. Michael Jordan might seem like a nice guy but he should be ashamed of himself for allowing his name to be stamped on those overpriced shoes considering where they come from.

This is AmeriKKKa

And millennials think they have it bad.

mrs.robert en susu

Working at 14, life expectancy of I guess 50. Sounds proportional to what happens today

Still looks better than chattel slavery to me🤔

Children nowadays need to put to work so they can STOP being so SPOILED and slowly becoming useless adults.

So much for 'white privilege'

Child labor still exists. It's called school.

There is nothing wrong with child labor. It is not immoral or wrong.

Sorry Pal, But the picture of this so called Sadie Pfeifer in Lancaster, SC @ 1:54 is not a picture of a little girl in front of a large loom in a hall. You are mistaken. I've worked in a cotton mill as well as most of my family, and I question the integrity of this whole video.