This is one of a series of photographs taken by Lewis Hine to show the condition of children working long hours in dangerous, difficult jobs. This boy, who looks to be ten to twelve years old, faces the camera, dirty and tired from working in a coal mine. His hands on his hips, he pauses a moment in his work clothes. The cap on his head holds a gas lantern with a large wick. In his pocket is a bag of chewing tobacco. He stands before railroad tracks that carry the carts of coal out of the mine.
Small boys were useful workers, being able to climb into the tiniest caves of the mine and light explosives. Besides not receiving an education or time to play, many young miners were killed or gravely injured in work accidents. Photographs like this of working boys and girls were published and shown by Hine to groups of people in order to raise awareness of this social problem. This photograph, along with several others by Hine, helped to convince a majority of Americans that child labor was unjust and resulted in laws to make the practice illegal in the United States.
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