"View of the Ewen Coal Breaker of the Pa. Coal Co."

Young boys were often employed in coal mines in the mining regions of Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Kentucky, and West Virginia, where boys as young as twelve could be legally put to work. Often working in "coal breakers," sorting out slate and other refuse, they were subject to backbreaking work, crippling accidents, and the ever-present danger of high levels of anthracite dust, which led to asthma and bronchitis. About this photo taken in Pennsylvania for the National Child Labor Committee, Hine wrote, "The dust was so dense at times as to obscure the view... A kind of slave-driver sometimes stands over the boys, prodding or kicking them into obedience."

View High-resolution

View of the Ewen Breaker of the Pa. Coal Co. The dust was so dense at times as to obscure the view. This dust penetrated the utmost recesses of the boys' lungs. A kind of slave-driver sometimes stands over the boys, prodding or kicking them into obedience. S. Pittston, Pa.