Lewis W. Hine
Jo Bodeon. A “Back-Roper” in the Mule Room, Chace Cotton Mills, Burlington, Vermont

Public Domain

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Images(2)

Artist Lewis W. Hine (American, 1874–1940)American, 1874–1940

CultureAmerican

Titles

Jo Bodeon. A “Back-Roper” in the Mule Room, Chace Cotton Mills, Burlington, Vermont

Date1909

Place depictedBurlington, Vermont, United States

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsImage: 4 9/16 × 6 5/8 in. (11.6 × 16.8 cm)
Sheet: 5 × 6 15/16 in. (12.7 × 17.6 cm)
Mount: 11 × 14 in. (27.9 × 35.6 cm)

Credit LineGift of Mike and Mickey Marvins

Object number2013.713

Not on view

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Department

Photography

Special Collections

Marvins Family Collections

Object Type

PHOTOGRAPHS

DescriptionTrained as a sociologist and recognizing the power of photography to sway public opinion and to create social change, Lewis Hine gave up his teaching job in 1908 and went to work full time as a photographer for the recently formed National Child Labor Committee (NCLC). His photographs of young children working on the street and in fields, factories, mills, and mines were reproduced in pamphlets and display materials of the NCLC and helped raise awareness of the plight of child workers, eventually leading to protective legislation. The wide-eyed Jo Bodeon was one of many children that Hine found tending the gargantuan, cacophonous spinning mules of cotton mills up and down the East Coast.
ProvenanceAuction, possibly San Francisco, c. 1994; purchased by Michael Marvins and Michele Marvins, Houston, c. 1994; given to MFAH, 2013.
Exhibition History“A Photographer’s Collection: Gifts from Michael and Michele Marvins,” The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, April 4–July 5, 2015.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

verso left in pencil reading vertically: UCLC 743

verso of mount a photo copy in a plastic sleeve: 743 Burlington, Vt. May 1909 / Name Jo Bodeon / Burlington, Vt.; A "back-roper" in mule room. / Chace Cotton Mill

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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