Big Apple History . New York Living . Child Labor


	Children making paper bags in an East Side basement

It was 1896. The New York State Senate had begun hearings on child labor. Working children and others were called to testify. State law said children under 15 could not work in factories but that didn't stop many children, whose families need them to earn money, from seeking employment at much younger ages. One of the children who testified was Fannie Harris, a young immigrant garment worker on Manhattan's Lower East Side.
Senator: Can you read?
Fannie: I can read a little, not much.
Senator: Do you know how to spell dog?
Fannie: I have forgotten . . .
Senator: Did you ever have a birthday?
Fannie: . . . [W]e have not any money to make a birthday . . .
Senator: And your mamma wants you to go to work?
Fannie: Yes, sir; sure she does; and I want to go to work myself . . .

The Senator then held up Fannie's age certificate. It said she was 15. But Fannie looked more like a 12-year old.
Senator: And this paper your mamma gave you, did she?
Fannie: I went to a lawyer and paid twenty-five cents and he gave me it. . .

Like thousands of others, Fannie spent more time in factories than in school. In 1902, reformers founded the New York Child Labor Committee. Slowly, they won bans against dangerous work, night work, and long hours for working children.

Illustration: Courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York.