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[John Dempsey (looked 11 or 12) years old. Said he helped only on Saturdays. Jackson Mill, Fiskeville, R. I. (One of the B. B. and R. Knight mills). He was working faithfully in the mule-spinning room, a dangerous place for boys. I found no others below 14 in this mill,]. Location: Fiskeville, Rhode Island. – Antique Wall Art

[John Dempsey (looked 11 or 12) years old. Said he helped only on Saturdays. Jackson Mill, Fiskeville, R. I. (One of the B. B. and R. Knight mills). He was working faithfully in the mule-spinning room, a dangerous place for boys. I found no others below 14 in this mill,]. Location: Fiskeville, Rhode Island., 1909 April. — historic photograph
[John Dempsey (looked 11 or 12) years old. Said he helped only on Saturdays. Jackson Mill, Fiskeville, R. I. (One of the B. B. and R. Knight mills). He was working faithfully in the mule-spinning room, a dangerous place for boys. I found no others below 14 in this mill,]. Location: Fiskeville, Rhode Island., 1909 April.. Historic photograph from the Historic Print Archive collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

[John Dempsey (looked 11 or 12) years old. Said he helped only on Saturdays. Jackson Mill, Fiskeville, R. I. (One of the B. B. and R. Knight mills). He was working faithfully in the mule-spinning room, a dangerous place for boys. I found no others below 14 in this mill,]. Location: Fiskeville, Rhode Island. comes to life in this historic photograph, reproduced from the original with every detail intact. Sourced directly from the Library of Congress, it represents an authentic piece of documented history.

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[John Dempsey (looked 11 or 12) years old. Said he helped only on Saturdays. Jackson Mill, Fiskeville, R. I. (One of the B. B. and R. Knight mills). He was working faithfully in the mule-spinning room, a dangerous place for boys. I found no others below 14 in this mill,]. Location: Fiskeville, Rhode Island.

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John Dempsey, whom the photographer estimated to be 11 or 12, told him he worked at the Jackson Mill in Fiskeville, Rhode Island, only on Saturdays. The mill belonged to the B. B. and R. Knight company, and the boy was tending the spinning mules, large machines that were especially hazardous for children to work around. Hine's notes record that he found no other workers under 14 in that mill. The April 1909 print was made during the National Child Labor Committee's documentation of New England textile mills, and the attribution to Hine rests on the picture's provenance rather than a signed credit.

Created / published1909 April.
Medium1 photographic print.
GenrePhotographic prints.
NotesAttribution to Hine based on provenance. In album: Mills. Title from NCLC caption card for Hine no. 677. Hine no. 0678.
SubjectsBoys. Textile mill workers. Spinning machinery.United States--Rhode Island--Fiskeville.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan1,536 × 1,110 px · prints to 5 × 4 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-113750

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