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Stunning Historical Photos of Life During the Great Depression in the United States by Lewis Hine

Lewis Wickes Hine was an American sociologist and photographer who used his art to bring attention to social injustices. Hine’s photographs contributed to the change in laws governing child labor in the United States.

After studying sociology, Heine moved to New York to work at the Ethical Culture School, where he learned photography to improve his teaching techniques. From 1905 to 1912, he photographed New York’s Ellis Island immigrants and the sweatshops and tenements where they lived and worked. Hine served as a photographer for the Red Cross during World War I. In 1919, he published his photo story, The Children’s Burden in the Balkans, about his experience with the Red Cross after WWII.

Hine was hired to record the construction of the Empire State Building, then the tallest building in the world, after his return to New York City. He had himself suspended from a crane or equivalent device in a bucket or basket to get the proper angle while taking some of the photos of the skyscraper. His photographs published in 1932 were entitled Men at Work. In the years that followed, he documented several government projects.

Hine worked again during the Great Depression for both the American Red Cross and the Tennessee Valley Authority, photographing drought relief in the North and the mountainous regions of eastern Tennessee. Besides serving as chief photographer, he was also the project’s director. This study measured employment changes concerning changes in the industry. Hine was also a faculty member of the Fieldston School for Ethical Culture.

#1 Boiling down sorghum at the Stooksberry homestead near Andersonville, Tennessee, October 1933

#2 Scott’s Run, West Virginia. Children of employed miner at Sessa Hill – Ewra Hennar’s children, 1936

#3 Scott’s Run, West Virginia. Children of miners, March 1937

#4 Scott’s Run, West Virginia. Interior of the Jero WPA nursery – These children are from unemployed miners’ homes, March 1937

#5 Scott’s Run, West Virginia. Johnson family – father unemployed, March 1937

#6 Scott’s Run, West Virginia. Recreation and community activities, March 1937

#7 Scott’s Run, West Virginia. This building is a part of the abandoned mine buildings of the stranded camp of Jere, March 1937

#8 The Glandon family around the fireplace in their home at Bridges Chapel near Loydston, Tennessee.

The Glandon family around the fireplace in their home at Bridges Chapel near Loydston, Tennessee.

Glandon's wife plays both the guitar and the organ, October 1933

#9 Family group of Fletcher Carden, Route #1, Andersonville, Tennessee, a night-watchman at the bunkhouses at Norris Dam, November 1933

#10 A little country church, Sharps Station M.E. Church, near Loyston, Tennessee.

A little country church, Sharps Station M.E. Church, near Loyston, Tennessee.

This church will be submerged by the waters of the Norris Dam reservoir, October 1933

#11 Boy plowing potato field with a mule and bull-tongue plow on steep slope on J. W. Melton farm on Andersonville, Tennessee, road, October 1933

#12 Curtis Stiner operating a circular saw at the Norris Dam site, Tennessee, October 1933

#13 Exterior view of Oakdale School near Loyston, Tennessee.

Exterior view of Oakdale School near Loyston, Tennessee.

This immediate region will be flooded when the Norris Dam Reservoir fills, October 1933

#14 Family group on farm near Andersonville, Tennessee.

Family group on farm near Andersonville, Tennessee.

This family owns two acres and has always lived in the vicinity, October 1933

#15 Grinding sorghum cane at the Stooksberry homestead near Andersonville, Tennessee, October 1933

#16 Interior of the home of Harriet Hankins at the site of the planned community near Norris Dam.

Interior of the home of Harriet Hankins at the site of the planned community near Norris Dam.

Harriet Hankins is 73 years old, October 1933

#17 Interior of the home of Mrs. Jacob Stooksbury.

Interior of the home of Mrs. Jacob Stooksbury.

This homestead is in the region which will be inundated by the waters of the Norris Dam reservoir, Tennessee, November 1933

#18 Interior view of Oakdale School near Loyston, Tennessee.

Interior view of Oakdale School near Loyston, Tennessee.

From 30 to 40 pupils usually attend, October 1933

#19 Interior view of Sharps Station M.E. Church near Loyston, Tennessee.

Interior view of Sharps Station M.E. Church near Loyston, Tennessee.

Reverend Lovelace and some children from an orphanage conduct the Sunday afternoon service, October 1933

#20 Mr. J. W. Melton and his wife by the fireplace getting ready for supper.

Mr. J. W. Melton and his wife by the fireplace getting ready for supper.

The Melton homestead is on the Andersonville, Tennessee, road, October 1933

#21 Mrs. Sarah J. Wilson has lived ninety-one years on a farm near Bulls Gap, Tennessee. She is still very active and resourceful, October 1933

#22 Oscar Cloud and family, living in the Norris townsite area. Cloud has been a quarryman and farmer. His oldest son is with the CCC, November 1933

#23 Part of the family of Hugh Noe, a renter on a farm near Andersonville, Tennessee, October 1933

#24 Rear view of the McHaffie homestead at Powell Station, Route #1, Knox County, Tennessee, October 1933

#25 S. J. Barley, Rural Route #2, LaFollette, Tennessee, November 1933

#26 Squatter’s home on Andersonville Road, Tennessee.

Squatter's home on Andersonville Road, Tennessee.

The house is a made-over houseboat, October 1933

#27 Straining the sorghum on the farm of J. W. Stooksberry, Anderson County, Tennessee.

Straining the sorghum on the farm of J. W. Stooksberry, Anderson County, Tennessee.

This is the primitive way of making molasses, October 1933

#28 Temporary kitchen serving cafeteria at Norris townsite, Tennessee, November 1933

#29 Up-to-date method of making molasses on the farm of Fred Hatmaker.

Up-to-date method of making molasses on the farm of Fred Hatmaker.

This farm will be under water when the Norris Dam reservoir fills, October 1933

#30 Washday at the Stooksberry homestead near Andersonville, Tennessee, October 1933

#31 Bedroom and living-room in company-owned home of workers in Highland Cotton Mills, High Point, North Carolina, 1936

#32 Bedroom and living-room in company-owned home of workers in Highland Cotton Mills, High Point, North Carolina, 1936

#33 Homes of furniture workers in High Point, North Carolina – Owned by a real estate company, 1936

#34 Living room and 78 year-old silk worker (now retired on $18 a month pension). Lives over Cafe, Paterson, New Jersey, March 1937

#35 Scott’s Run, West Virginia. Employed bachelor at home in Sessa Hill, March 1937

#36 Scott’s Run, West Virginia. Interior of the Jero WPA nursery – These children are from unemployed miners’ homes, March 1937.

#37 Scott’s Run, West Virginia. Typical scene of the Shack Community Center activity, March 1937

#38 Scott’s Run, West Virginia. Unemployed bachelor, Jere, March 1937

#39 Scott’s Run, West Virginia. Unemployed miners, March 1937

#40 Scott’s Run, West Virginia. Woman gathering coal, March 1937

#41 Mrs. Wallace dipping water from spring on farm near Norris townsite recently purchased by the TVA for experimental purposes, Tennessee, November 1933

#42 Scott’s Run, West Virginia. Employed miner’s family – Sessa Hill – This picture was taken at the natural supper hour, March 1937

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Written by Aung Budhh

Husband + Father + librarian + Poet + Traveler + Proud Buddhist. I love you with the breath, the smiles and the tears of all my life.

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