Aaron King
11/12/13
Joe Manning’s
Presentation on Child Labor
Today I went to the presentation by
Joe Manning on his endeavor to learn more about child laborers and their lives.
For 8 years now Manning has looked into child laborers photographed during the
early 20th century. In particular, he studies the work of Lewis
Hine, a photographer of the time period. His photographs have become, as Manning
puts it on his website, the “best record we have of what people
looked like, living their lives in the first half of the 20th century, and what the American
vernacular landscape looked like as well.” Manning talked a great deal
about Lewis Hine, his life, and what his work means to Manning himself. Following
this, he talked about how he first got involved in his so-called “Lewis Hine
Project.” After, he details the lives of other children he has profiled, and
finished off the discussion with about how this endeavor has affected his life.
The discussion was really very enlightening and I’m actually really glad I got
to see it.
Manning’s presentation started off with a discussion of
Lewis Hine, the man who photographed the lives of these child laborers. Hine
was always a writer, and eventually he got a job from the newspaper he was
working at to photograph these child laborers and expose their hardships to the
nation. However, because Hine had to photograph these children quickly (if the
owners knew what he was doing they would send him out), not all of the children
were fully profiled; some names are missing, and other than that their lives
aren’t very well documented. Hine was a big inspiration for Joe Manning, as
they both shared a curiosity they wanted to share with others. This is where Manning
became involved with his Lewis Hine Project.
At
some time around 2005, Manning’s friend Elizabeth Winthrop finished a book she
wrote on a fictional child laborer, but was based on a girl photographed by
Hine. The girl’s name was listed as Addie Laird. Winthrop asked Manning if she
could investigate more into the girl’s life now that the book was finished.
What happened to her? Did she have a family? Does she have descendants? This is
what Manning was asked to find out. However, it wasn’t easy, because so little
was known about this girl. Yet Manning still tried, and he ultimately succeeded
in finding out who this girl really was. Following lead after lead, he
discovered the girl’s real name was Addie Card. She married once, and had a
daughter, from whom she was separated due to a sickness. Then, Manning followed
the trail to discover Addie’s second married name, Lavigne. During this
marriage, Addie adopted a daughter and had several more descendants. It was
through these descendants that Manning truly discovered who Addie Card was, what
happened to her, etc. Manning truly enjoyed this experience; following the
trail, exploring curiosities, and being determined to discover all culminated
into his finding out who this girl was. And it left Manning excited. He wanted
to continue this work, and it just so happened that there were a thousand unexamined
pictures taken by Hine, and so this is what got Manning into the work of
detailing the lives of these child laborers.
Manning continued at this point to explain other stories
he has discovered in his work. Currently he has completed over 350 children’s
stories, mainly through the use of obituaries and newspaper articles. He talked
about one boy who died at a very young age due to respiratory issues, but who
was survived by his son and grandson. He talked about a girl who was survived
by many descendants who knew little about their ancestor. This story in
particular was incredible because it showed what effect Manning’s work can have
on these descendants. The great-granddaughter of this child laborer learned
that she had uncanny resemblances to her ancestor, and made a picture detailing
the similarities. She then emailed Manning days later saying how amazing it was
to have her eyes opened to how close she ultimately was to a relative she had
never met. It was an amazing experience for her and it showed how Manning’s
work crossed generations and connected individuals who normally wouldn’t have
been.
Manning’s presentation was pretty inspirational. It spoke
a lot to his curiosity, first of all. The professor who introduced Manning
explained that no one could find him because he was exploring the area. It
showed how curious he is a person, who interested he is in gaining knowledge.
This curiosity translated well into Manning’s work, as he was always striving
to learn as much as possible about these children even from the beginning. It
was inspiring because it showed just where being curious can get someone.
Manning has brought together relatives, uncovered the lives of completely
unidentified child laborers, and been able to travel the country learning more
about some people than even their own relatives knew. I suppose this does
translate well to Lowell’s cultural identity as well, in two ways: the first
(and more obvious) being that child labor was a huge part of Lowell’s
industrial success and was a big part of its history in general. However, the
presentation also related to Lowell’s celebration of history. Both Manning and
Lowell agree that the past is a huge part of any entity’s identity, and I think
this presentation demonstrated this.
Aaron, fantastic write-up. I wish I had been able to go to that presentation. It sounds like it was an incredible event. 10/10
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