|
Writing about Child Labor for Children |
Seacoast History Blog #142
September 1, 2012
I was struggling to come up with a topical blog about Labor Day. I mean, it is a history-based holiday and I do write history. It’s a fuzzy holiday for me since it isn’t named after some famous president or a guy like Columbus or Jesus or Martin Luther King. It has been a federal holiday since 1894. But exactly what is “labor?” What are we celebrating? I work my butt off seven days a week, so this might be a holiday honoring me. The official definition doesn’t help much. Labor Day honors “the economic and social contributions of workers.” Huh? The first Monday in September “pays tribute to the contributions and achievements of American workers.” Basically, it’s a get-out-of-work card in the game of life. I was still thrashing around for a topic when I realized – hey – I wrote a whole book about labor! (Continued below)
The book is called STRIKING BACK and it’s about the fight to end child labor exploitation in America. I’ve never mentioned this book on my Web site before because the bulk of the story takes place outside of our region. It’s a slim 64-page hardcover designed in what you might call a postmodern style with wide spacing between lines and lots of pictures. The book is targeted to middle schoolers, but I think it stands as a good quick-read introduction on the topic for anyone. Whenever I start a new book, I begin with a few kids’ books, and having done three of these so far, I know how difficult it can be to condense history into a few lively and accurate pages.
This is not a lucrative field. The juvenile nonfiction writer gets about 90 days to complete a book and signs away all rights for a one-time flat fee. But I embraced the chance to immerse myself in a new topic and read like a demon for a few weeks before the writing began. The goal was to show modern-day kids how the hiring of children changed as the nation evolved. Most kids worked with their families in the early days, but it was the rise of the machine and the growth of factories hiring immigrant labor that turned “child labor” into a national problem. The worst of it occurred from the end of the Civil War until the enactment of child labor laws in the mid-twentieth century. Of course, as we know, illegal child labor still goes on in America and is rampant in poorer nations around the globe.
The editors of these little books are tough. The author has to document every detail and defend every sentence. In addition to a few thousand words of carefully constructed text the writer provides a series of brief lively sidebars, a glossary, a timeline, a few pithy quotes, notes for additional reading, Web references, and a concise bibliography. To write the chapter on photographer Lewis Hine and activist Mother Jones I read at least six books. For my biography of Jesse James, I believe I read 18 books.
The process happens quickly. Eventually a package arrives with a few author copies. There are no parties, kick-offs, media interviews, attaboys, or book signings. If you’re lucky, you get another assignment. If you wrote one every month, you could make a living. In this market, fewer and fewer companies are producing history books for kids. Instead they are cranking out books on skateboarding, pop stars, zombies, and graphic novels.
You can see what it looks like on Google Books and get a used copy cheap on Amazon.com. Occasionally I get an email from some teacher or some student who has taken the time to seek the author out. I got one recently and I’ll append part of the email it below. Although I haven’t been a formal classroom teacher for 30 years, letters from kids remind me that I am still a teacher of sorts – minus the retirement checks and healthcare benefits, of course.
Dear J. Dennis Robinson,
Hello! My name is Karley, and I'm a middle-schooler in Washington. I have decided to email you on regards of a school project. I have to study the history of Child Labor and I found your book, Striking Back: The Fight to end Child Labor Exploitation, a fantastic help as to finding information for my project. However, one of the requirements for this project is to contact and have a small interview with someone who is an expert on child labor as a source. I would like to ask you a couple questions, if you don't mind and it'd be absolutely spectacular if you wrote back!
Of course, I did write Karley back. I think my note was as long as the book. Hope she got a good grade. And if you want to read a spectacular book filled with letters from young readers to an author, check out Rodman Philbrick’s e-book masterpiece.LISTENING TO KIDS IN AMERICA
--------------------------------
STRIKING BACK: The Fight to End Child Labor Exploitation
by J. Dennis Robinson (2009)
ON AMAZON.com
In 1790 the first water-powered mill in America was run by children, some as young as 7 years old. They were paid pennies for a work day that might last more than 10 hours. As America grew, the children's plight grew worse. Exhausted by six-day work weeks and harsh conditions, millions of young workers had no time to play or go outdoors. They had no childhood. In time children and adults fought back, and the children went on strike to protest harsh conditions. Finally, during the last years of the Great Depression, the government took action, passing the Fair Labor Act.
CHAPTER TITLES
- Kids Who Work
- Caught in the Machine
- Making Child Labor Visible
- Mother Jones and Mr. Hine
- Strike! Strike!
- The Law of the Land
Joomla! Debug Console
session.client.forwarded ⇒ 10.3.184.74
session.client.browser ⇒ Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)
password_clear ⇒
groups ⇒
com_rsfirewall.geoip ⇒
6.2 MB (6,496,768 Bytes)
62 Queries Logged
SELECT `data`
FROM `rabbul_session`
WHERE `session_id` = '292e3d490e8fdb7f331d821eb8a56311'DELETE
FROM `rabbul_session`
WHERE `time` < '1793612595'SELECT `session_id`
FROM `rabbul_session`
WHERE `session_id` = '292e3d490e8fdb7f331d821eb8a56311'
LIMIT 0, 1INSERT INTO `rabbul_session`
(`session_id`, `client_id`, `time`)
VALUES
('292e3d490e8fdb7f331d821eb8a56311', 0, '1793613495')SELECT extension_id AS id, element AS "option", params, enabled
FROM rabbul_extensions
WHERE `type` = 'component'
AND `element` = 'com_users'SELECT b.id
FROM rabbul_usergroups AS a
LEFT JOIN rabbul_usergroups AS b
ON b.lft <= a.lft
AND b.rgt >= a.rgt
WHERE a.id = 1SELECT id, rules
FROM `rabbul_viewlevels`SELECT folder AS type, element AS name, params
FROM rabbul_extensions
WHERE enabled >= 1
AND type ='plugin'
AND state >= 0
AND access IN (1,1)
ORDER BY orderingSELECT extension_id AS id, element AS "option", params, enabled
FROM rabbul_extensions
WHERE `type` = 'component'
AND `element` = 'com_languages'SELECT `query`
FROM `rabbul_admintools_wafexceptions`
WHERE (`option` IS NULL OR `option` = '')
AND (`view` IS NULL OR `view` = '')
GROUP BY `query`
ORDER BY `query` ASCSELECT `value`
FROM `rabbul_admintools_storage`
WHERE `key` = 'cparams'SELECT `path`
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_ignored
WHERE `type`='ignore_folder' OR `type`='ignore_file'SELECT `file`
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_hashes
WHERE `type`='protect'SELECT *
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_configurationSHOW FULL COLUMNS
FROM `rabbul_sef_config`SELECT *
FROM rabbul_sef_config
WHERE `id` = '1'SELECT non_sef_url,alias
FROM rabbul_sef_alias
WHERE published='1'
ORDER BY idSELECT m.id, m.menutype, m.title, m.alias, m.note, m.path AS route, m.link, m.type, m.level, m.language,m.browserNav, m.access, m.params, m.home, m.img, m.template_style_id, m.component_id, m.parent_id,e.element as component
FROM rabbul_menu AS m
LEFT JOIN rabbul_extensions AS e
ON m.component_id = e.extension_id
WHERE m.published = 1
AND m.parent_id > 0
AND m.client_id = 0
ORDER BY m.lftSELECT *
FROM rabbul_sef_redirect
WHERE CONVERT(source USING latin1) COLLATE latin1_general_cs = 'writing-about-child-labor-for-children/?print=1&tmpl=component'
AND published='1'
LIMIT 1SELECT id
FROM rabbul_menu
WHERE alias='writing-about-child-labor-for-children'
AND published=1SELECT id
FROM rabbul_categories
WHERE path='writing-about-child-labor-for-children'
AND extension='com_content'SELECT id,catid
FROM rabbul_content
WHERE alias='writing-about-child-labor-for-children'
AND state>0SELECT id,catid
FROM rabbul_content
WHERE alias='writing-about-child-labor-for-children'
AND state>0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_menu
WHERE type='component'
AND published='1'
AND link LIKE 'index.php?option=com_content&view=article%&id=3428'
ORDER BY idSELECT id
FROM rabbul_menu
WHERE type='component'
AND published='1'
AND link LIKE 'index.php?option=com_content&view=categor%&id=258'
ORDER BY idSELECT `id`
FROM `rabbul_usergroups`SELECT parent.id, parent.lft, parent.rgt
FROM rabbul_usergroups AS parent
ORDER BY parent.lftSHOW FULL COLUMNS
FROM `rabbul_assets`SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT b.rules
FROM rabbul_assets AS a
LEFT JOIN rabbul_assets AS b
ON b.lft <= a.lft
AND b.rgt >= a.rgt
WHERE (a.name = '')
GROUP BY b.id, b.rules, b.lft
ORDER BY b.lftSELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT rules
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE id = '1'SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT u.*
FROM rabbul_user_usergroup_map m
RIGHT JOIN rabbul_users u
ON (u.id=m.user_id)
WHERE m.group_id IN (6,7,8)
GROUP BY u.id
ORDER BY u.username ASCSHOW FULL COLUMNS
FROM `rabbul_rsfirewall_logs`SELECT *
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_hashes
WHERE (`type`='2.5.28' OR `type`='protect')
AND `flag`!='C'SELECT *
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_snapshots
WHERE `type`='protect'SELECT `ip`,`reason`
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_lists
WHERE (`ip`='10.3.184.74' OR `ip` LIKE '%*%')
AND `type`='1'
AND `published`='1'SELECT `ip`,`reason`
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_lists
WHERE (`ip`='10.3.184.74' OR `ip` LIKE '%*%')
AND `type`='0'
AND `published`='1'SELECT *
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_exceptions
WHERE `published`='1'SELECT extension_id AS id, element AS "option", params, enabled
FROM rabbul_extensions
WHERE `type` = 'component'
AND `element` = 'com_content'SELECT *
FROM rabbul_languages
WHERE published=1
ORDER BY ordering ASCSELECT id, home, template, s.params
FROM rabbul_template_styles as s
LEFT JOIN rabbul_extensions as e
ON e.element=s.template
AND e.type='template'
AND e.client_id=s.client_id
WHERE s.client_id = 0
AND e.enabled = 1SELECT a.rules
FROM rabbul_assets AS a
WHERE (a.id = 1)
GROUP BY a.id, a.rules, a.lftSELECT b.rules
FROM rabbul_assets AS a
LEFT JOIN rabbul_assets AS b
ON b.lft <= a.lft
AND b.rgt >= a.rgt
WHERE (a.name = 'com_content')
GROUP BY b.id, b.rules, b.lft
ORDER BY b.lftSELECT a.id, a.asset_id, a.title, a.alias, a.title_alias, a.introtext, a.fulltext,
CASE WHEN badcats.id is null THEN a.state ELSE 0 END AS state, a.mask, a.catid, a.created, a.created_by, a.created_by_alias,
CASE WHEN a.modified = 0 THEN a.created ELSE a.modified END as modified, a.modified_by, a.checked_out, a.checked_out_time, a.publish_up, a.publish_down, a.images, a.urls, a.attribs, a.version, a.parentid, a.ordering, a.metakey, a.metadesc, a.access, a.hits, a.metadata, a.featured, a.language, a.xreference,c.title AS category_title, c.alias AS category_alias, c.access AS category_access,u.name AS author,(
SELECT MAX(contact.id) AS id
FROM rabbul_contact_details AS contact
WHERE contact.published = 1
AND contact.user_id = a.created_by) as contactid,parent.title as parent_title, parent.id as parent_id, parent.path as parent_route, parent.alias as parent_alias,ROUND(v.rating_sum / v.rating_count, 0) AS rating, v.rating_count as rating_count
FROM rabbul_content AS a
LEFT JOIN rabbul_categories AS c
on c.id = a.catid
LEFT JOIN rabbul_users AS u
on u.id = a.created_by
LEFT JOIN rabbul_categories as parent
ON parent.id = c.parent_id
LEFT JOIN rabbul_content_rating AS v
ON a.id = v.content_id
LEFT
OUTER JOIN (SELECT cat.id as id
FROM rabbul_categories AS cat JOIN rabbul_categories AS parent
ON cat.lft BETWEEN parent.lft
AND parent.rgt
WHERE parent.extension = 'com_content'
AND parent.published <= 0
GROUP BY cat.id) AS badcats
ON badcats.id = c.id
WHERE a.id = 3428
AND (a.publish_up = '0000-00-00 00:00:00' OR a.publish_up <= '2026-11-02 09:58:15')
AND (a.publish_down = '0000-00-00 00:00:00' OR a.publish_down >= '2026-11-02 09:58:15')
AND (a.state = 1 OR a.state =2)SELECT c.*,
CASE WHEN CHAR_LENGTH(c.alias) THEN CONCAT_WS(':', c.id, c.alias) ELSE c.id END as slug
FROM rabbul_categories as c
LEFT JOIN rabbul_categories AS s
ON (s.lft <= c.lft
AND s.rgt >= c.rgt) OR (s.lft > c.lft
AND s.rgt < c.rgt)
LEFT JOIN (SELECT cat.id as id
FROM rabbul_categories AS cat JOIN rabbul_categories AS parent
ON cat.lft BETWEEN parent.lft
AND parent.rgt
WHERE parent.extension = 'com_content'
AND parent.published != 1
GROUP BY cat.id) AS badcats
ON badcats.id = c.id
WHERE (c.extension='com_content' OR c.extension='system')
AND c.access IN (1,1)
AND c.published = 1
AND s.id=258
AND badcats.id is null
GROUP BY c.id, c.asset_id, c.access, c.alias, c.checked_out, c.checked_out_time,
c.created_time, c.created_user_id, c.description, c.extension, c.hits, c.language, c.level,
c.lft, c.metadata, c.metadesc, c.metakey, c.modified_time, c.note, c.params, c.parent_id,
c.path, c.published, c.rgt, c.title, c.modified_user_id
ORDER BY c.lftSELECT a.alias AS article
FROM rabbul_content AS a
WHERE a.id = 3428UPDATE rabbul_content
SET hits = hits + 1
WHERE id = 3428UPDATE `rabbul_session`
SET `data` = '__default|a:9:{s:15:\"session.counter\";i:1;s:19:\"session.timer.start\";i:1793613495;s:18:\"session.timer.last\";i:1793613495;s:17:\"session.timer.now\";i:1793613495;s:24:\"session.client.forwarded\";s:11:\"10.3.184.74\";s:22:\"session.client.browser\";s:103:\"Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)\";s:8:\"registry\";O:9:\"JRegistry\":1:{s:7:\"\0*\0data\";O:8:\"stdClass\":0:{}}s:4:\"user\";O:5:\"JUser\":25:{s:9:\"\0*\0isRoot\";b:0;s:2:\"id\";i:0;s:4:\"name\";N;s:8:\"username\";N;s:5:\"email\";N;s:8:\"password\";N;s:14:\"password_clear\";s:0:\"\";s:8:\"usertype\";N;s:5:\"block\";N;s:9:\"sendEmail\";i:0;s:12:\"registerDate\";N;s:13:\"lastvisitDate\";N;s:10:\"activation\";N;s:6:\"params\";N;s:6:\"groups\";a:0:{}s:5:\"guest\";i:1;s:13:\"lastResetTime\";N;s:10:\"resetCount\";N;s:10:\"\0*\0_params\";O:9:\"JRegistry\":1:{s:7:\"\0*\0data\";O:8:\"stdClass\":0:{}}s:14:\"\0*\0_authGroups\";a:1:{i:0;i:1;}s:14:\"\0*\0_authLevels\";a:2:{i:0;i:1;i:1;i:1;}s:15:\"\0*\0_authActions\";N;s:12:\"\0*\0_errorMsg\";N;s:10:\"\0*\0_errors\";a:0:{}s:3:\"aid\";i:0;}s:20:\"com_rsfirewall.geoip\";s:0:\"\";}'
, `time` = '1793613495'
WHERE `session_id` = '292e3d490e8fdb7f331d821eb8a56311'
41 Query Types Logged, Sorted by Occurrences.
SELECT Tables:
15 × SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets3 × SELECT extension_id AS id, element AS "option", params, enabled
FROM rabbul_extensions3 × SELECT id
FROM rabbul_menu2 × SELECT id,catid
FROM rabbul_content2 × SELECT b.rules
FROM rabbul_assets AS a
LEFT JOIN rabbul_assets AS b
ON b.lft <= a.lft
AND b.rgt >= a.rgt2 × SELECT `ip`,`reason`
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_lists1 × SELECT *
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_hashes1 × SELECT rules
FROM rabbul_assets1 × SELECT *
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_snapshots1 × SELECT u.*
FROM rabbul_user_usergroup_map m RIGHT JOIN rabbul_users u
ON (u.id=m.user_id)1 × SELECT *
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_exceptions1 × SELECT c.*,
CASE WHEN CHAR_LENGTH(c.alias) THEN CONCAT_WS(':', c.id, c.alias) ELSE c.id END as slug
FROM rabbul_categories as c
LEFT JOIN rabbul_categories AS s
ON (s.lft <= c.lft
AND s.rgt >= c.rgt) OR (s.lft > c.lft
AND s.rgt < c.rgt)
LEFT JOIN (SELECT cat.id as id
FROM rabbul_categories AS cat JOIN rabbul_categories AS parent
ON cat.lft BETWEEN parent.lft
AND parent.rgt1 × SELECT a.alias AS article
FROM rabbul_content AS a1 × SELECT a.id, a.asset_id, a.title, a.alias, a.title_alias, a.introtext, a.fulltext,
CASE WHEN badcats.id is null THEN a.state ELSE 0 END AS state, a.mask, a.catid, a.created, a.created_by, a.created_by_alias,
CASE WHEN a.modified = 0 THEN a.created ELSE a.modified END as modified, a.modified_by, a.checked_out, a.checked_out_time, a.publish_up, a.publish_down, a.images, a.urls, a.attribs, a.version, a.parentid, a.ordering, a.metakey, a.metadesc, a.access, a.hits, a.metadata, a.featured, a.language, a.xreference,c.title AS category_title, c.alias AS category_alias, c.access AS category_access,u.name AS author,( SELECT MAX(contact.id) AS id
FROM rabbul_contact_details AS contact1 × SELECT a.rules
FROM rabbul_assets AS a1 × SELECT *
FROM rabbul_languages1 × SELECT id, home, template, s.params
FROM rabbul_template_styles as s
LEFT JOIN rabbul_extensions as e
ON e.element=s.template
AND e.type='template'
AND e.client_id=s.client_id1 × SELECT parent.id, parent.lft, parent.rgt
FROM rabbul_usergroups AS parent1 × SELECT id
FROM rabbul_categories1 × SELECT `query`
FROM `rabbul_admintools_wafexceptions`1 × SELECT `value`
FROM `rabbul_admintools_storage`1 × SELECT folder AS type, element AS name, params
FROM rabbul_extensions1 × SELECT id, rules
FROM `rabbul_viewlevels1 × SELECT `session_id`
FROM `rabbul_session`1 × SELECT b.id
FROM rabbul_usergroups AS a
LEFT JOIN rabbul_usergroups AS b
ON b.lft <= a.lft
AND b.rgt >= a.rgt1 × SELECT `path`
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_ignored1 × SELECT `file`
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_hashes1 × SELECT *
FROM rabbul_sef_redirect1 × SELECT `data`
FROM `rabbul_session`1 × SELECT m.id, m.menutype, m.title, m.alias, m.note, m.path AS route, m.link, m.type, m.level, m.language,m.browserNav, m.access, m.params, m.home, m.img, m.template_style_id, m.component_id, m.parent_id,e.element as component
FROM rabbul_menu AS m
LEFT JOIN rabbul_extensions AS e
ON m.component_id = e.extension_id1 × SELECT non_sef_url,alias
FROM rabbul_sef_alias1 × SELECT *
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_configuratio1 × SELECT *
FROM rabbul_sef_config1 × SELECT `id`
FROM `rabbul_usergroups
OTHER Tables:
1 × UPDATE rabbul_content
SET hits = hits + 11 × UPDATE `rabbul_session`
SET `data` = '__default|a:9:{s:15:\"session.counter\";i:1;s:19:\"session.timer.start\";i:1793613495;s:18:\"session.timer.last\";i:1793613495;s:17:\"session.timer.now\";i:1793613495;s:24:\"session.client.forwarded\";s:11:\"10.3.184.74\";s:22:\"session.client.browser\";s:103:\"Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)\";s:8:\"registry\";O:9:\"JRegistry\":1:{s:7:\"\0*\0data\";O:8:\"stdClass\":0:{}}s:4:\"user\";O:5:\"JUser\":25:{s:9:\"\0*\0isRoot\";b:0;s:2:\"id\";i:0;s:4:\"name\";N;s:8:\"username\";N;s:5:\"email\";N;s:8:\"password\";N;s:14:\"password_clear\";s:0:\"\";s:8:\"usertype\";N;s:5:\"block\";N;s:9:\"sendEmail\";i:0;s:12:\"registerDate\";N;s:13:\"lastvisitDate\";N;s:10:\"activation\";N;s:6:\"params\";N;s:6:\"groups\";a:0:{}s:5:\"guest\";i:1;s:13:\"lastResetTime\";N;s:10:\"resetCount\";N;s:10:\"\0*\0_params\";O:9:\"JRegistry\":1:{s:7:\"\0*\0data\";O:8:\"stdClass\":0:{}}s:14:\"\0*\0_authGroups\";a:1:{i:0;i:1;}s:14:\"\0*\0_authLevels\";a:2:{i:0;i:1;i:1;i:1;}s:15:\"\0*\0_authActions\";N;s:12:\"\0*\0_errorMsg\";N;s:10:\"\0*\0_errors\";a:0:{}s:3:\"aid\";i:0;}s:20:\"com_rsfirewall.geoip\";s:0:\"\";}' , `time` = '1793613495'1 × SHOW FULL COLUMNS
FROM `rabbul_rsfirewall_logs1 × SHOW FULL COLUMNS
FROM `rabbul_assets1 × INSERT INTO `rabbul_session` (`session_id`, `client_id`, `time`)
VALUES ('292e3d490e8fdb7f331d821eb8a56311', 0, '1793613495'1 × SHOW FULL COLUMNS
FROM `rabbul_sef_config1 × DELETE
FROM `rabbul_session`