[Antiracism] PRESS RELEASE: TRACKING DOWN HISTORY

[WMass Jobs With Justice]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jon Weissman, Western Mass. Jobs with Justice, (413) 827-0301
	or Charlie Lotspeich, Holyoke Heritage State Park, (413) 534-1723
	

TRACKING DOWN DESCENDANTS OF CHILD LABORERS PHOTOGRAPHED BY LEWIS HINE

Joe Manning, author and historian, will present a free illustrated lecture
about tracking down and interviewing descendants of child laborers
photographed by Lewis Hine in the early 1900s. The event will take place on
Thursday, November 29, 2007, at 7:00pm, at the Holyoke Heritage State Park
Visitor's Center. 

Seating is limited; please register by calling the sponsor, Western Mass.
Jobs with Justice, at (413) 827-0301. Get directions to Holyoke Heritage
State Park, 221 Appleton Street, Holyoke, by calling (413) 534-1723 or
visiting www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/central/hhsp.htm.

Joe Manning was hired in the fall of 2005 by author Elizabeth Winthrop to
find the descendants of Addie Card, a 12-year-old cotton mill worker in
Pownal, Vermont, who had been photographed in 1910 by Lewis Hine for the
National Child Labor Committee. Hine, who died in 1940, was one of the great
photojournalists of the 20th century. Addie's photo had inspired "Counting
On Grace", a children's novel by Winthrop. The book has since won many
literary awards.

Within two weeks, Manning had found Addie's granddaughter; in two more
weeks, he was standing before Addie's grave. He and Winthrop interviewed
Addie's descendants and learned about her amazing life of 94 years.

When Manning discovered that 5,000 of Hine's child labor photos are viewable
on the Library of Congress website, he said to himself, "I can do for these
children what I did for Addie." So far, he has contacted and interviewed
descendants of more than 70 children, and even received copies of family
photos.

Manning's Lewis Hine Project has been featured on National Public Radio's
"All Things Considered", and has been the subject of many newspaper articles
around the country. Information about the project can be seen at
www.lewishineproject.com.

The sponsor of this lecture, Jobs with Justice (www.jwj.org), is a
nationwide coalition founded in 1987 to improve working people's standard of
living, fight for job security, and protect workers' right to organize. In
order to be successful, workers' rights struggles must be part of a larger
campaign for economic and social justice. To that end, Jobs with Justice has
created a national network of local coalitions that connect labor,
faith-based, community, and student organizations.

Members of these coalitions pledge: "During the next year, I will be there
at least five times for someone else's fight, as well as my own. If enough
of us are there, we'll all start winning."

The Western Mass. Jobs with Justice (WMJwJ) coalition is now over 50
organizations mobilizing a network of members fulfilling their pledges.  But
WMJwJ has also specialized in events it calls "People's History" and is
proud to give people the opportunity to hear Joe Manning.

WMJwJ relies on individual and organizational dues and donations.  Donations
to the Warren J. Plaut Charitable Trust Jobs with Justice Fund are
tax-deductible. WMJwJ may be reached at (413) 827-0301; wmjwj at wmjwj.org; 640
Page Blvd. #101, Springfield MA 01104.

Learn more about the Holyoke Heritage State Park, 221 Appleton Street,
Holyoke, by calling (413) 534-1723 or visiting
www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/central/hhsp.htm.

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