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March 7, 1909. Hartford, Connecticut. "Sunday morning. Morris Hurowitz, 10 years old. Been selling two years. Sells Saturday until 8 p.m. Starts out again Sunday at 7 a.m. Sells 25 or more Sunday papers. Is a bright business-like chap, but shows signs of nervousness (eye twitching, etc.)." View full size.
Lewis Hine's hectoring just gets tiresome after a while. "Shows signs of nervousness (eye twitching, etc.)." It all fits with his meme, of course (child labor BAD, my exposure of it GOOD), but a century on he comes off as a nag with a camera.
My father was born in 1909, so he was a bit younger, but when his mother was widowed at a very young age, he was, as the oldest child, expected to quit school and earn money for his mom and four younger siblings since he was now considered the "man of the house." His mom was illiterate and unable to work and there was no welfare. He craved education so much that when he was an adult, he took high school classes at night and correspondence college classes but was never able to get a degree. Still, he was a pragmatic realist who never, ever felt sorry for himself and always seemed upbeat and at peace. I think we all decide for ourselves whether we are going to live a happy or a miserable life, regardless of ones' circumstances. He chose the former. Looks like Morris did too by his congenial countenance.
Entrepreneurship is always to be admired, especially in the young.
If Lewis Hine was trying to take your livelihood away. Did he ever ask these kids if they had widowed or abandoned mothers at home? Any baby siblings that their salaries were keeping from starvation?
According to the 1910 U.S. Census, there was an 11-year-old Morris Hurwitz working as a newsboy in Hartford, born in Georgia (I don't know if that was state or country). Mother named Esther. No father listed in household, although both parents were born in Romania. Siblings: Hattie, 12. Abraham, 9. Sarah, 7. Cecilia, 3.
He sounds motivated to me. Probably retired forty years later as a multi-millionaire.
Morris Hurowitz -- born March 19, 1898, died Feb. 1978, last address Trenton, NJ.
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