Oklahoma’s Child Labor Conditions of Early 1900s Featured at Kingfisher’s Chisholm Trail Museum

Kingfisher’s Chisholm Trail Museum is located at 605 Zellers Ave.; Phone: 405-375-5176

  • (Photo courtesy of Taylor Strober, curator, Chisholm Trail Museum, Kingfisher) “Herschel Bonham, Route A, Box 118, an 11-year-old boy cultivating peas. He belongs to a cotton club in school. Father says he can pick 200 pounds of cotton a day. Lawton, Oklahoma, April 1917.”
  • (Photo courtesy of Taylor Strober, curator, Chisholm Trail Museum, Kingfisher) “Family of L. H. Kirkpatrick, Route 1, Lawton, Oklahoma. Children go to Mineral Wells School #39. Father, mother, and five children pick cotton. “We pick a bale in four days.” Dovey, five years old, picks 15 lb/day, Ertle, 6 years, picks 20 lb/day, Vonnie, 10 years, picks 50 lb/day, Edwards, 11 years, picks 75 lb/day, Otis, 12 years, picks 75 lb/day. Expect to be out of school for two weeks more picking, October 10, 1916.”

KINGFISHER- Comanche County photos will be included in a historic 25-image photo documentary of children in the workplace during early statehood.

Although photographer Lewis Hine died in poverty and without recognition, his photos of children in the workplace were instrumental to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. Hine once remarked, “If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn’t need to lug a camera.”

In 1908 he had resigned his position as an educator in the North to photograph poor labor conditions across the U.S. for the National Child Labor Committee. His astonishing photos of young children working in coal mines, mills, factories and fields exposed America’s exploitation of more than 1.75 million children and persuaded legislators to change the law.

Hine most generally traveled to larger cities on this mission, but he was able to capture a glimpse of children in Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Lawton, and a few other communities in Oklahoma.

The Chisholm Trail Museum in Kingfisher will host a traveling exhibit of photography by Lewis Hine from Sept. 3 to Nov. 22, 2019. “Child Labor in Oklaho- ma: Photographs by Lewis Hine, 1916–1917,” sponsored by Oklahoma Humanities, is a traveling exhibit from the Oklahoma History Center curated by Theresa Bragg, Jim Meeks, and Lori Oden.

This exhibit highlights a collection of 25 powerful photographs taken by Lewis Hine while he was in Oklaho- ma more than 100 years ago. The Chisholm Trail Museum is an affiliate of the Oklahoma Historical Society. The mission of the Oklahoma Historical Society is to collect, preserve and share the history and culture of the state of Oklahoma and its people.

Founded in 1893 by members of the Territorial Press Association, the OHS maintains museums, historic sites, and affiliates across the state. Through its research archives, exhibits, educational programs and publications the OHS chronicles the rich history of Oklahoma.

The Chisholm Trail Museum and A. J. Seay Mansion is located at 605 Zellers Ave. in Kingfisher. For more information, call (405) 375-5176.

For more information, visit www.okhistory.org.

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Kingfisher’s Chisholm Trail Museum