This striking photograph, taken by activist photographer Lewis W. Hine, captures a group of breaker boys standing on a muddy street in a working-class neighborhood of Pittston, Pennsylvania.

Hine, known for his efforts to expose child labor abuses, was documenting the harsh realities faced by young boys working in Pennsylvania’s coal breakers.

He captioned the image:

“Four Breaker Boys working in #9 Breaker, Hughestown Borough. Boy on left is Tony Ross, 142 Panama Street, other small boy is Mike Ross, cousin. Location: Pittston, Pennsylvania.”

Hine’s work was part of his investigative mission for the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC), an organization dedicated to ending illegal child labor practices across the United States.

Breaker boys – some as young as eight years old – spent their days sorting coal in dusty, dangerous conditions. They worked long hours under brutal supervision from foremen, earning just a few cents per hour. The job was hazardous, exposing children to black lung disease, injuries, and workplace accidents.

Hine’s photography sought to bring national attention to these conditions, advocating for stricter child labor laws that would eventually lead to reforms in the early 20th century.

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Read more about the breaker boys in the Coal Region

A breaker boy’s memory of a childhood at work | Llewelyn Evans in 1943

“Children of the mine” – The Coal Region’s breaker boys at work

Photographs document life of a child amputee of Pennsylvania’s anthracite mines | 1909

“Children of the Coal Shadow” – A haunting report about the children of the Coal Region from 1903

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