From its earliest days, Boston decreed that its children be taught to
read and write English and understand the laws. In 1826, free and
compulsory education was introduced. The wish to educate the young
conflicted with the great need for unskilled labor in the fields and
factories. With adult wages low, schoolchildren helped their families by
selling newspapers, shining shoes, hawking goods, or scavenging. On
reaching 14 years of age, many children left school to find full-time
work. Fearing that these children would end up in low-paying, dead-end
jobs, Boston Public Schools added trade schools to teach craft
skills--carpentry, printing, and metalwork for boys; dressmaking,
cooking, and embroidery for girls. The national struggle to ban child
labor began in the mid-19th century and ended with the passage of the
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. This book describes the efforts in
Boston and surrounding towns to keep children in school, at least until
age 16, before permitting them to start work. The bulk of the images
included were taken by Lewis Wickes Hine during his several visits to
Boston between 1909 and 1917.