The Traveling Camera

Picture book/juvenile Nonfiction 

     There's a saying that a picture is worth a thousand words.  It's certainly true in regard to the work of Lewis Hine.  Alexandra S. D. Heinrich introduces younger readers to this crusader against child labor in her The Traveling Camera.

     Hinrich's text and Michael Garland's illustrations portray the horrific reality of life for many children in the twentieth century.  Parents were often paid so little that children had to work so the family could keep a roof over their head and food on the table.  Kids as young as six spent days shocking oysters, picking cranberries, and laboring in factories and coal mines.  Some worked perilous night shifts.

     Young readers will realize that these are kids like them.  Other than the difference in clothes styles, a picture of girls and boys streaming out of a shoe factory for lunch looks like one you could see today of kids running out of school for recess.

     Traveling around the country taking those photographs was not an easy task.  Early cameras were bulky and heavy and required a lot of equipment for taking pictures and processing film.  Hines had to use many tricks to get to photograph some of his subjects.  Factory owners did not want the public to see what went on behind closed doors.

     As Hinrichs points out in her Note to the reader, despite all the laws that were passed, child labor, involving children as young as five, is still a major problem around the 🌎 including in the United States, especially during times of economic upheaval such as the pandemic...

     ...and, as we learn in the news, conservative lawmakers are trying to strip children and teens of protection from exploitation in the workforce...

     ...because it's never their children whose presents will be imperiled and futures will be foreclosed.

On a purrrsonal note, the rest of the week I have three late days followed by a semi late day.  Today and tomorrow I run canteen for the on campus blood drive.  Thursday I have my leadership class and Wilson Center.  Friday I'll get home from ☕️ hour at 6:00--in time to make something quick.  Yesterday I spent more time in the kitchen making supper, making 🌽 chowder from scratch to put in the fridge for Eugene, and catching up with dishes.  Planning and preparing meals in advance is my life balance Achilles heel, harder than multiple regression (statistics).  It gives me a new respect for my mother who worked a professional job, parented, and had all the housework.  How did she do it?  (Jules)

I don't like all those late days.  It's a good thing I have my dad to feed me.  But I still miss my Jules.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out to all who have a lot of responsibilities to juggle.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

     

     

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