Johnston child labor

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The children of the 19th century had little time for play. Most did not even have time for an education. The sons and daughters of farmers were expected to toil upon the land. The offspring of mill workers were expected to gain employment, helping the head of the family to pay rent and put food on the table.

On Sept 1, 1916, the Child-Labor Act was passed, going into effect the following month. The act provided that no children under the age of 16 could legally be employed in any mine or quarry, and that no child under the age of 14 could legally be employed in any mill, cannery, workshop, factory or manufacturing establishment.

The act went on to state that no child between the ages of 14 and 16 could legally be employed for more than eight hours per day, more than six days per week, before 8 o’clock in the morning, or after 8 o’clock at night. 

Penalties for employers not abiding by the new laws would amount to a maximum of $200 for the first conviction. Subsequent convictions would cost them between $100 and $1,000 in fines, imprisonment for a maximum of three months, or both the imprisonment and the fine. 

Employers were directed to require certain information from children seeking employment. This included seeing certification of their age, their name, their place and date of birth and evidence from a child’s physician attesting to that child’s gender and color. Employers also needed to obtain the child’s signature and the address of the child’s parent or guardian.

Different types of certification were acceptable in proving facts about the child seeking employment. These included birth certificates, baptism certificates, a record of the child’s birth in a family Bible, a passport, a certificate of arrival in the United States or a life insurance policy for the child.

It was hoped the new laws would bring down the number of children killed in mills annually, as well as reduce the number of children growing into adults who were unable to read or write or benefit from all that an education allowed.

In 1870, the cotton and thread mills of Johnston employed six children who were 10 years old, six children who were nine years old, and two eight-year-old children; William Dority and Mary McAvoy.

In 1880, the mills of that town employed 18 children who were ten years of age. John Cappell, age eight, was also a local mill worker. Some Rhode Island children, toiling in the sweat and dust of the factories for hours each day, never got the chance to grow into adulthood. On Sept. 19, 1870, 10-year-old Jean Manew lost his life at a mill in Warwick. The boy was the son of Pasco and Lenore (Mason) Manew.

On Jan. 1, 1872, John Daniel Demsey was killed at Arctic Mill. The son of John and Margaret Demsey, he was only 12 years old.

On Sept. 12, 1873, Andy Smith was killed in the Print Works. The 14-year-old was the son of Edward and Bridget Smith.

In May of 1881, 12-year-old John Coleman, while attempting to entertain himself by sliding down the stair rail at Atlantic Mill in Olneyville, lost his balance and fell to floor 35 feet below, sustaining a serious head injury.

Little toes and fingers were crushed as children were assigned tasks which they could perform in the tight spots the adults could not fit their hands into, hair was caught in machinery, young lungs breathed in the unwholesome air, and what should have been the carefree days of childhood were lost among the twisting and turning of dangerous contraptions.

The new law caused Rhode Island mill owners to lose valuable employees but it returned childhood, which had been stolen from so many, for so long, without concern.

Kelly Sullivan is a Rhode Island columnist, lecturer and author.

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