Breaker Boys

 

The photo was taken by Lewis Hine on January 10, 1911, at the Ewen Breaker in South Pittston, PA, which was owned by the Pennsylvania Coal Company. Hine took over 7,000 photos of children working at breakers, textile mills, and elsewhere in an effort to change the public's opinion of child labor and end it. This photo is considered his most influential.

Breaker boys were responsible for breaking up large pieces of coal into smaller ones and removing impurities with hand tools while sitting on a wooden bench in a room filled with coal dust. They worked ten hours a day, six days a week. Those who didn't have gloves (or weren't allowed to wear them) received frequent cuts from the sharp coal.

They worked 60-hour weeks breaking coal.

Most were between 8 and 12 years old.