Lewis Hine Photographed Yocona Cotton Mill

In May 1911, photographer Lewis Hine, working for the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC), photographed employees of the Yocona Cotton Mill in Water Valley, Mississippi.  (See my previous post, Yocona Cotton Mill - A Brief History.) 

Lewis Hine photograph showing Yocona Cotton Mill workers, including approximately eighteen children. (1)

Lewis Hine’s caption: “Nearly the entire force, Yocona Mills, Water Valley, Miss.  Some of the smallest workers not in photo.  The three smallest ones in front row hang around and help some.  Baby doesn’t work, – yet.  The rest are steady workers.” 

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Identifying Workers

The 1910 Yalobusha County census may help identify workers in the photograph.  The census record is very light and therefore difficult to read, but I believe I have deciphered the following family names: Bilbro (?), Dugard (?), Eubanks, McDowell (?), Mason, Morgan, Murphy, Phillips, Ray, and Sanders. According to the census, Mr. Charles E. Romberger was superintendent of the mill, Mr. Gore was assistant superintendent, and Joe A. Hamby (?) was foreman. 

The census also listed the following jobs: spinner, spooler, thread twister, doffer, ballwinder, and picker.

Note: If you can identify any of the people in the Lewis Hine photograph above, please post a comment below by clicking on the “comments” link.

 

Child Workers

Notice the row of children in front.  Despite their age, these children worked at the mill and they are the reason Lewis Hine came to Water Valley.  In 1908, the NCLC hired Lewis Hine to travel throughout the United States taking pictures of child workers in cotton mills, canneries, farms, and coal mines.  The NCLC used Hine’s photographs in magazine articles, newspapers, and traveling exhibits to increase public awareness of child labor and push for reform legislation.

 

More

Visit the Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog, enter “Water Valley” in the search box, and click the Search button to view all five Lewis Hine photographs of the Yocona Cotton Mill.

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Sources:

 (1) Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/I?nclc:5:./temp/~pp_85AF::displayType=1:m856sd=nclc:m856sf=02107:@@@mdb=nclc. (accessed 29 Sep 2008).

Yocona Cotton Mill – A Brief History

The Yocona Cotton Mill, also called Yocona Mills or Yocona Twine Mill, was located in Water Valley, Mississippi, from the 1880s until it burned in April, 1926.

According to various descriptions in Water Valley newspapers and Sanborn insurance maps, the mill produced yarn, batts, mop cord, and twine.  It employed anywhere from 50 to 200 people.

The Yocona Cotton Mill was located in the north end of Water Valley – just north of North Court Street.  It was east of the Illinois Central Railroad tracks and just west of a street called College Street.  (Today College Street is the part of Jones Street that curves into North Court.)  It appears that the current street called Campus Drive and/or the houses along Campus Drive may have been built on top of the remnants of the mill.

The mill was started and owned by local investors, primarily the Wagner family, a prominent family in Water Valley.  Charles E. Romberger was the superintendent of the mill for many years.

I will soon post photographs of the mill taken by famed photographer Lewis Hine in May 1911.  Until then, check out A Young Workforce In 1911 Was Under Scrutiny by Jack Gurner, Jr., of the North Mississippi Herald newspaper.

If you have any information about the mill or the people who worked there, please respond.

Student Blogs

You can always tell a student blog because it ends the last day of class!  That’s what happened to this blog.

However, I’m going to restart this blog - to write about a project I’m currently working on – the Yocona Cotton Mill in Water Valley, Mississippi.

My degree program combines history and technology. For my final project, I will be creating a Web site about the Yocona Cotton Mill focusing on photographs of the mill taken May 1911, by documentary photographer Lewis Hine.

More about the Yocona Cotton Mill and Lewis Hine photographs coming soon!