Scope and Contents

Collection consists of 43 gelatin bromide prints, 5.5 x 3.2 in., with two prints measuring 2.25 x 1.25 in., mounted on loose album pages of gray paper, 10 x 7 in. of photographs of New York City newsboys probably taken by Lewis Hine for the National Child Labor Committee ca. 1908-1912.

Photographs are chiefly posed, full length portraits of New York newsboys (commonly referred to as "newsies"), reported ages 6 to 14 years, pictured singly or in pairs, selling newspapers on the sidewalks of Manhattan or Brooklyn, and frequently including views of storefronts and passersby in the background. Typed caption labels recording the subject's name, age, address, school, whether they had a badge or not, and the location of the photograph, accompany individual prints. Also included is a single portrait of an 11 year old newsgirl, a photograph showing a group of 6 newsboys playing cards beside the Times Building while waiting for papers, 3 images of disabled men selling newspapers on the streets of New York City, and a photograph of a sidewalk stand displaying out of town papers.

The container list below includes select information taken from the captions (name, age, and photo location). None of the documents are dated, but when the album was processed in 2003 by curator Holly Hinman, the dates of the photographs were placed between 1908 and 1912 and the date of the album ascompiled in 1921.