Lewis Hine

The National Archives collection of nearly 2,000 photographs by Lewis Hine (1874–1940) chronicles a lifelong commitment to social reform. In 1908 he became photographer for the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC), spending the next decade documenting child labor in American industry to aid the NCLC’s lobbying efforts to end the practice. During and after World War I, Hine photographed American Red Cross relief work in Europe. In the 1920s and early 1930s, he made a series of “work portraits,” which emphasized the human contribution to modern industry, and included photographs of the workers constructing New York City’s Empire State Building. During the Great Depression, he worked for the Tennessee Valley Authority, documenting life in the mountains of eastern Tennessee. He also served as chief photographer for the Works Progress Administration’s National Research Project, which studied changes in industry and their effect on employment.