American photographer and historian Lewis Hine used his camera as a tool for social reform, shooting thousands of photos of working children to document their hardship and abuse between 1908 and 1924.
Children as young as ten worked as bicycle messengers in several cities. Hine’s concern for these boys seems to be their long working hours and their interaction with clients in the red light districts of the day. “The Reservation” referenced in some of the descriptions below was the early 20th Century colloquialism for the red light district.
He is a messenger boy. During the day messengers go to all parts of the city. He is a go between. As errand boys, they carry messages, buy meats, liquors and dope for prostitutes. Often guide men to these haunts. He is a victim. His work gives him by personal contact, an intimate acquaintance with vice and crime, starts him down hill. What does your state permit?
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