People

Indian Orchard Mill Workers, Springfield, Mass (3)

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Another scene outside of the Indian Orchard Manufacturing Company in September, 1911. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, National Child Labor Committee Collection.

The scene in 2020:

As with the previous posts here and here, the 1911 photo was taken by Lewis Wickes Hine for the National Child Labor Committee to work to reform the essentially nonexistent child labor laws of the early 20th century.  His caption for this photo reads:

“Group in front of Indian Orchard Mfg. Co. Everyone in public was working, (see previous lists of names).] Location: Indian Orchard, Massachusetts.”

I’m not sure which “previous list” he is referring to, but it is probably the one from this photo from the Library of Congress, with a caption that reads:

“Group of workers from Indian Orchard Mfg. Co. including following names and others: Mose Fournier, 297 Worcester St.; in Mr. Karnes’ room. Wilfred Croteau lives on Worcester St., in front of Police Station. Doffer in Mr. Baker’s twisting room. Paul Phaneuf, 189 Franklin St., in Mr. Karnes’ spinning room. Leo La Francis, 12 Quebec St. In beaming room.] Location: Indian Orchard, Massachusetts.”

As the names of the workers suggests, most of the children in the photo were probably recent immigrants from Quebec.  During this time period, there was large-scale immigration of French-Canadians (including my own ancestors) who came to the Springfield area to work in the factories.  Although the children have in all likelihood passed away, many of them probably have descendants who still live in the area, perhaps unaware of the role that their ancestor played in the history of child labor laws.

Today, the building is still there, although the company itself was sold in 1932.  Today, the site is still used for industrial purposes, albeit with older workers older than middle school age.  Even the railroad tracks are still there, and a few of the rails appear to be dated 1909, which would suggest that the ones there today may have been the exact same ones that the boys were standing on in 1911.

Indian Orchard Mill Workers, Springfield, Mass (2)

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Another scene showing young mill workers in Indian Orchard, Springfield, Massachusetts, in September 1911. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, National Child Labor Committee Collection.

The scene in 2020:

Like the photo in the previous post, the 1911 photo was taken by Lewis Wickes Hine of the National Child Labor Committee to document working conditions of children in the United States and bring about social reform.  Hine’s caption on this photo reads:

Group in front of Indian Orchard Mfg. Co. Everyone in public was working, (see previous lists of names). Location: Indian Orchard, Massachusetts.

I’m not sure which “previous list” he is referring to, but it is probably the one from this photo from the Library of Congress, with a caption that reads:

“Group of workers from Indian Orchard Mfg. Co. including following names and others: Mose Fournier, 297 Worcester St.; in Mr. Karnes’ room. Wilfred Croteau lives on Worcester St., in front of Police Station. Doffer in Mr. Baker’s twisting room. Paul Phaneuf, 189 Franklin St., in Mr. Karnes’ spinning room. Leo La Francis, 12 Quebec St. In beaming room.] Location: Indian Orchard, Massachusetts.”

Indian Orchard Mill Workers, Springfield, Mass (1)

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Workers in front of the Indian Orchard Manufacturing Company in Springfield, Massachusetts, in September 1911. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, National Child Labor Committee Collection.

The scene in 2020:

The 1911 photo was taken by Lewis Wickes Hine as part of his effort to document child labor conditions around the country.  Here, a group of young boys are posing outside their place of employment at the textile mills of the Indian Orchard Manufacturing Company.  The caption from Hine reads:

“Group in front of Indian Orchard Mfg. Co. Everyone in photo was working. Boy not photographed. Hector Dubois, 24 Water St. Doffer in Indian Orchard; crushed finger in pump. Location: Indian Orchard, Massachusetts.”

Although many of them are likely not even teenagers at this point, they were likely finished with school, and were working full time in the factory.  Notice how many are smoking either a pipe or cigarettes, including the boy in the front row just to the left of center, proudly displaying his pack of cigarettes to the camera.

The location hasn’t changed much in the past 103 years; the building still looks much the same as it did in 1911, and even the railroad tracks are still there.  The company is long gone, though, and it is highly unlikely that any of the workers are still alive.  However, photos such as these helped to bring about calls for social reform that would eventually lead to laws against child labor practices in the United States

Huntington Avenue Grounds, Boston (2)

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Half of a panorama view of Huntington Avenue Grounds in Boston, in 1903.  The other half can be found here. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

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The scene in 2014:

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A lot has changed at the site of the original home of the Boston Red Sox. It seems as though they have played at Fenway Park for forever, and for good reason – they just finished their 102nd season there.  However, before Fenway Park, before Babe Ruth, and even before the name Red Sox, there was Huntington Avenue Grounds.  The first photo was taken on September 22, 1903, and is one half of a panoramic photo (see this post for the other half) that was taken by the studios of Elmer E. Chickering, a Boston photography company.  See the “then” photo in this post for a very similar scene showing pitching legend Cy Young.

Thanks to the efforts of the writer of the Baseball Researcher blog, we are able to identify not only the day that the photograph was taken, but also the players who appear in it.  Boston’s pitcher is Tom Hughes, an average pitcher who was in the midst of what would be a career year for him, with a 20-7 record.  The first baseman is Candy LaChance, with second baseman Hobe Ferris visible to the left, and right fielder Buck Freeman can be seen in the distance.  Freeman would go on to lead the American League in home runs, with 13, and Ferris came in third, with nine.

Boston would end up losing this particular game, 7-0, but it probably didn’t phase the team too much – they were up 14.5 games with eight left to play, so they had already clinched the American League pennant and were just over a week away from hosting the Pittsburgh Pirates here in Boston for the first World Series, which Boston would go on to win five games to three.

Today, the site is part of the Northeastern University campus, but all is not forgotten; there is a statue of Cy Young on the left-hand side of the photo in the distance, in front of the bushes.  It was largely thanks to Young’s pitching that the Red Sox won the 1903 World Series, and the statue made in his honor is placed approximately where the pitcher’s mound once was.  There is also a home plate marker, 60 feet away from the statue, around where this photo was taken.  However, this was not the actual location of home plate – the real location was about 90 degrees to the right, under what is now a campus building.

See the Library of Congress site for the complete panorama.

Huntington Avenue Grounds, Boston (1)

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Huntington Avenue Grounds in Boston, around 1903. Photo courtesy of Boston Public Library.

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The same location in 2014:

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The first photo shows the stands along the third base line at Hunting Avenue Grounds and its expansive outfield. The field measured 350 feet down the left field line, and at the time of the 1903 photo center field measured an almost unheard-of 530 feet, which was later expanded to 635 feet in 1908. Beyond center field is the apartment block that is visible in the photos on this post, although none of the buildings are visible from this spot today, and there is no evidence here that a ballpark ever existed. The building that dominates the foreground here is the Cabot Center, an athletic facility on the campus of Northeastern University.

Washington Street, Boston

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Looking north on Washington Street in Boston, toward Stuart Street, in October 1909. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, National Child Labor Committee Collection.

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The scene in 2014:

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Like many other photographs by Lewis Wickes Hine of the National Child Labor Committee, the scene in the 1909 photo has almost a Charles Dickens-like appearance to it.  In the photo, a couple young girls struggle to haul wood back to their homes, presumably to use for heat in the upcoming winter months.

Several buildings survive from the 1909 photo, including the three buildings along the right-hand side of Washington Street in the distance.  The closest of the buildings is the former Unique Theatre, which was built in 1888 and opened as a theater in 1907, where it operated as a nickelodeon, an early, no-frills movie theater that cost five cents admission, hence the name,   According to the Massachusetts Historical Commission, it is likely the last surviving nickelodeon in Boston.

The other two surviving buildings are the former Globe Theater, and the office building beyond it. The Globe Theater was built in 1903 and substantially renovated later on, including the addition of several stories,  The other building, which is located at the corner of Washington and Beach Streets, was built around the same time, and is largely unchanged in appearance since the first photo was taken.