Children at Work: Exposing Child Labor in the Cotton Mills

Subject:

Humanities, Social Sciences

Institution Name:

UNC University Library

Collection:

Stories of the American South

Grade Level:

Primary, Secondary

Abstract:

In this lesson, students will learn about the use of child labor in the cotton mills of the Carolinas during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They will learn what life was like for a child worker: how much the workers made, how many hours they worked each day, what their homes were like and what they did for fun. Students will then write an investigative news report exposing the practice of child labor in the mills, using quotations from oral histories with former child mill workers and photographs of child laborers taken by social reform photographer Lewis Hine.

Course Type:

Learning Module

Material Type:

Curriculum Standards, Lesson Plans

Media Format:

Graphics/Photos, Text/HTML

Curriculum Standards:

North Carolina Standard Course of Study - Grade 7 English Language Arts Goal 1: The learner will use language to express individual perspectives in response to personal, social, cultural, and historical issues. Objective 1.01 - Narrate an account such as a news story or historical episode which: creates a coherent organizing structure appropriate to purpose, audience, and context. orients the reader/listener to the scene, the people, and the events. engages the reader/listener by establishing a context and creating a point of view. establishes the significance of events. North Carolina Standard Course of Study - grade 8 Social Studies Goal 5 - The learner will evaluate the impact of political, economic, social, and technological changes on life in North Carolina from 1870 to 1930. Objective 5.01 - Identify the role played by the agriculture, textile, tobacco, and furniture industries in North Carolina, and analyze their importance in the economic development of the state.

Conditions of Use:

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0