Child Labour: 1880-1920 -- Annotated Bibliography
Paterson, K. (2006). Bread and roses, too. New York: Clarion Books.
This book, a secondary resource, is a children's historical novel that depicts the 1912 Lawrence Strike (also known as Bread and Roses) from the perspective of two children, Rosa Serutti and Jake Beale. Born to Italian parents, Rosa attends school, while her mother and sister work at a mill in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Even though they work in the mill, Rosa's family cannot afford the clothes they make. Rosa is portrayed as the protector of Beale, who also works in the mills and resides in the streets to avoid his abusive father. Written by an award-winning author, the novel chronicles one of the most infamous strikes in the history of the U.S. The strike was the first in the country to be organised by women, with immigrants from 25 different nationalities participating in it. Paterson's historical novel brings to light the origin and outcomes of the strike, which left an important mark in U.S.'s child labour history.
Jeffries, M. (2007). U.S. child labour, 1908-1920. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tY1gk6J6zc
This film provides a primary account of child labour in the U.S. during the early 20th century as depicted via Lewis W. Hine's photography. The film specifically documents the quest by the American society to achieve socioeconomic advancement at the expense of children and populations in lower social classes. In the struggle for a better life, children and adults, mainly from poor and immigrant communities, participated in extremely dangerous jobs at mills and factories, which exposed them to injuries and even death. This happened despite the existence of laws prohibiting child labour in many states across the country. Attempts to even amend the U.S. constitution achieved no fruit. Hine's photography was instrumental in ending child labour in the U.S. His efforts contributed to the enactment of more stringent child labour laws, notably the Fair Labour Standards legislated by Congress in 1938.
Watson, B. (2006). Bread and Roses: mills, migrants, and the struggle for the American Dream. U.S.: Penguin Publishing.
Watson's book also provides a secondary account of the 1912 Lawrence Strike. With reference to oral and printed accounts, Watson documents how thousands of immigrant workers representing dozens of nationalities endured inhuman working conditions at Lawrence's textile factories. Led by prominent figures such as Big Bill Haywood and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, the workers organised a massive protest that led to the closure of the factories. A seminal theme in Watson's book is the unity portrayed by immigrant workers. They came together to fight against child labour and poor working conditions. On the whole, Watson's book provides a fairly comprehensive account of how an infamous industrial strike shaped the labour movement in the U.S. Decades following the strike were marked by stricter regulations on child labour and provides a primary account of child labour in the U.S., specifically focusing on the period 1908-1912. The website provides images taken by photographer Lewis Hine, who was working for the National Child Labour Committee (NCLC) at the time. The images portray children as young as 9 years working in mills, factories, mines, and farms under unimaginable conditions. They endured horrible and life threatening circumstances such as climbing on spinning machines, working at night, verbal assault, physical violence, as well as work-related illnesses such as pneumonia. The children could not even go to school as they worked all the time. Hine's photography helps the viewer gain a first-hand experience of child labour in the U.S. in the first few decades of the 20th century. It is, therefore, a valuable resource for the history of child labour in the country.
Robbins, M. (2012). Bread, Roses, and other possibilities: the 1912 Lawrence Textile Strike in historical memory. Historical Journal of Massachusetts, 94-121.
Authored by a labour historian, this article further demonstrates the significance of the 1912 Lawrence Strike in shaping the labour movement in the U.S. as well as scholarly work in the area for nearly a century. Robbins specifically considers how the event has attracted different meanings over the course of approximately 100 years, lending "itself to new methodologies of historical inquiry" (Robbins, 2012, p. 94). According to the author, the strike represented several meanings, particularly due to the diversity of its participants. For some, it was about affording basic needs such as food, while for others it was not just about economic needs, but also respect for the wellbeing of employees. In addition, some saw the strike from the perspective of working class solidarity, while others viewed it as an ideological vehicle. Robbins article introduces an interesting perspective of the debate as it demonstrates that the strike was motivated by a grander motive as opposed to just child labour.
References
Hine, L. (n.d.). Child labour in America 1908-1902. Retrieved from: http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/childlabor/
Jeffries, M. (2007). U.S. child labour, 1908-1920. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tY1gk6J6zc
Paterson, K. (2006). Bread and Roses, too. New York: Clarion Books.
Robbins, M. (2012). Bread, Roses, and other possibilities: the 1912 Lawrence Textile Strike in historical memory. Historical Journal of Massachusetts, 94-121.
Watson, B. (2006). Bread and Roses: mills, migrants, and the struggle for the American Dream. U.S.: Penguin Publishing.
Part 2
American Treasures of the Library of Congress (2010). Child labour. Retrieved from: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trm032.html
This website provides a rich source of content relating to child…
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