The Photography of Lewis Hine: Exposing Child Labor in North Carolina, 1908-1918

Image Credit: Lewis Hine, One of the doffers Vivian Cotton Mills, Cherryville, N.C., 1908. Courtesy the North Carolina Museum of History.

August 12 - November 4, 2017

In 1908, photographer Lewis Hine began visiting textile mills in North Carolina to document the exploitation of child workers. Though child labor was common at the time, Hine and other reformers wanted people to see just how horrible working conditions were for many children. “The Photography of Lewis Hine" showcases 40 of Hine’s photographs, discusses the history behind these photographs, provides insight into everyday life in North Carolina textile mills and mill villages, and concludes with a look at child labor today. Whether it is young migrant farmworkers toiling in our state or millions of children laboring in Asian cotton fields or on African tobacco and cocoa plantations, the struggle continues.

This exhibition is organized by the North Carolina Museum of History, Raleigh, NC.