Lewis Hine Project works to discover identity of photo subjects
Lewis W. Hine, born in Oshkosh in 1874, is remembered as one of the great American sociologists who used the medium of photography to reveal the injustices of child labor and the social history of the labor movement. Although Hine has typically been regarded as an important historical figure, it took Joe Manning to conduct a large-scale analysis of Hine’s famous photographs.
Manning, 67, from Florence, Mass., an author and historian, was inspired to begin the Lewis Hine Project three years ago after friend Elizabeth Winthrop based her book “Counting on Grace,” off a photograph by Hine.
Winthrop asked him to use his experience with historical research to discover the true identity of the girl in the photo and within 11 days, Manning had located Addie Card’s granddaughter.
“She lived to be 94, and her family members were quite emotionally moved by that [photo],” Manning said. “Having finished that project for Elizabeth, she told me about the other photos on the [Library of] Congress Web site, and I thought if I could do that for Addie, I could do it for others.”
