Figure 1.-- The photograph shows the Jo Veal and his family in April 1913. There were six children, there boys and three girls. They lived in Lindale, Georgia. The children are all barefoot. The boys wear knee pants suits. Knee pants were out of style at the time. The girls wear print dresses that seem to need a good wash. We do not know much about the family, but the father and the three sons worked in the local mill. Source: Library of Congress LC-DIG-nclc-02797.

The photograph shows the Jo Veal and his family in April 1913. There were six children, there boys and three girls. They lived in Lindale, Georgia. All the children except one boy are barefoot. The boys wear knee pants suits. Knee pants were out of style at the time. The girls wear print dresses that seem to need a good wash. We do not know much about the family, but the father and the three sons worked in the local mill. The mill wages were very lowe, but probably worked out better than share cropping. The image raises a number of issues. It is likely thast Veal and his wife gave from farm families which is why he has a lsarge family even though he can not support them very well. Georgia and other states had both weak or no child labor laws and compulsdory school attendance law. The absence of school artendance laws in part reflected the reluctance for blacks to attend school. Jo himself presumably was uneducated and thus saw no real need for the boys to attend school. The South at the time was the poorest part of the country. This photograph is an example of the new photo journalism which helped expose social conditioins, especially the life of children. It is a major reason why the Progressive Movement in the United States achieved consideravle success in the area of shsarply reducing child labor and passing compulsory school attendance laws. Evaluating this image is, however, more complicated than a brief glance would suggest. The overwealming impression is poverty. But note that the children all look well fed. The initial inclination is to compare them to wealthy families or even middle-class families which is certainly pat of the equatioin, but the reader should also compare them to families in other countries. At the time, the last year before the outbreak of World War I, huge numbers of Europeans were flocking to America. A major question the reader must ask is to what extent the situation of the Veal family were the result of societal factors and to what extent personal choices of Jo Veal and his wife. And here we are not suggesting that it was one or the other. In fact we believe both were contributing fsactors.

The Veal Family

The photograph shows the Jo Veal and his family. There were six children, there boys and three girls.

Chronology

The photograph was taken in April 1913. That is Spring, but eorgia is a southern state which means the weather in April is no longer cold, although there are not yertt sany real hot days.

Location

They lived in Lindale, Georgia.

Clothing

The photograph here is clearly posed. I am not sure, however, that anyone dressed up for it. The boys wear knee pants suits. Knee pants were out of style at the time. The girls wear print dresses that seem to need a good wash. All the children except one boy are barefoot. The impression we get from this is that the family cannot afford shoes. We suspect that the children all had shoes, but did not commonly wear them. Why the one boy is wearing shoes we do not know. Children during the summer often did go bsarefoot. But there was also an association with poverty. The parents probably encouraged the children to save their shoes for good. And the children probably learned thast if they messed up their shoes, it would be some time before they got new ones.

Family Circumstance

We do not know much about the family, but the father and the three sons worked in the local mill. The mill wages were very lowe, but probably worked out better than share cropping.

Image Interpreyation

The image raises a number of issues. It is likely thast Veal and his wife gave from farm families which is why he has a lsarge family even though he can not support them very well. Georgia and other states had both weak or no child labor laws and compulsdory school attendance law. The absence of school artendance laws in part reflected the reluctance for blacks to attend school. Jo himself presumably was uneducated and thus saw no real need for the boys to attend school. The South at the time was the poorest part of the country. This photograph is an example of the new photo journalism which helped expose social conditioins, especially the life of children. It is a major reason why the Progressive Movement in the United States achieved consideravle success in the area of sharply reducing child labor and passing compulsory school attendance laws. Georgia did not pass the first compulsory school attendance law until 1916. Evaluating this image is, however, more complicated than a brief glance would suggest. The overwealming impression is poverty. But note that the children all look well fed. The initial inclination is to compare them to wealthy families or even middle-class families which is certainly pat of the equatioin, but the reader should also compare them to families in other countries. At the time, the last year before the outbreak of World War I, huge numbers of Europeans were flocking to America. A major question the reader must ask is to what extent the situation of the Veal family were the result of societal factors and to what extent personal choices of Jo Veal and his wife. And here we are not suggesting that it was one or the other. In fact we believe both were contributing fsactors.

Created: 6:54 PM 7/3/2009
Last edited: 6:54 PM 7/3/2009