Shuko's Reflection Part 1: Lewis Hine Collections

I visited four online photographic collections to look at how they cataloged the same photograph in different ways. The collections I accessed were: 1. The Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, National Child Labor Committee Collection Photograph by Lewis Hine. 2. NYPL Digital Gallery, Photographs concerning labor, housing and social conditions in the United States. / L. W. Hine. 3. George Eastman House, Lewis Hine Collection, and 4. The University of Maryland, Baltimore County digital collections, Lewis Hine Collection.

I approached the collections from a user’s perspective, namely that of a historian researching the history of tenement life in the early 20th century, in pre-depression era New York, focusing on the role of child labor in the household based industry. Lewis Hine clearly documented tenement life and child labor through his work for the National Child Labor Committee, so I searched for images online and decided to refer to a photograph of a family shelling pecan nuts. I examined the four digital collections to see which one would provide the most concise but complete information about this photograph, in order to determine which collection I should choose for my source.

Taken in 1911 (from Library of Congress)

I went to each collection and searched with terms: “Hine, Lewis, pecan” or “Hine, Lewis, nuts.” (I know the term sounds otherwise, but this was the most concise set of terms I came up with!)

 ( Library of Congress)

Library of Congress: The title of the item was: “Mrs. Annie De Martius, 46 Laight St., N.Y.C., nursing a dirty baby while she picks nuts with three other children - Rosie, Genevieve, and Tessie.” After typing the search term, “Hine, Lewis, nuts,” the Library of Congress directed me to several Hine collections. I was not sure how I could reach the photograph I wanted to access; within the collection, I needed to hunt from a dozen random photographs of Hine’s. It had a minimum amount of description; just enough for a historic inquiry, but it had no physical description or processing information. It simply stated: “Photographic print.” 

(NYPL)

NYPL: The title of the item was: “Shelling pecans at home (1900-1937).” I found that the NYPL item description was user-friendly. It had a detailed physical description and an explanation for the type of processing. On the left column, there was a field for “related subjects,” guiding me to look at other photographs tagged as “child labor” or “home labor.” The serious downside of the NYPL description was that they only gave me a very wide range of years for the data taken - between 1900-1937! Since I was supposed to find a photograph taken before 1929, the range was too broad for using the photograph to support illustrating pre-depression life. 

( George Eastman House)

George Eastman House: The item title was: “Home Sorting Nuts 1911.” The item description was the most minimalist of the four. However, they covered just enough information for my research. A person “just browsing” the collection might find the amount of information too little compared to the NYPL.

(UMBC)

UMBC: The title for this item was very long:

4:30 P.M. Mrs. Annie De Maritius, 46 Laight St., front, Nursing a dirty baby while she picks nuts. Was suffering with a sore throat. Rosie, 3 yrs. old hanging around. Conevieve, 6 yrs. old. Tessie, 6 yrs. old picks too. Make $1.50 to $2.00 a week. Husband on railroad works sometimes. Location: [New York, New York (State)]

It was directly transcribed from the original caption written by Hine.

Other than the captioned title, it concisely covered the information that a historian, archivist, and even “web surfer” would find useful. However, the item title was so clumsy that I might hesitate to cite it. 

Conclusion: As a historian trying to find a source for citation, I would choose the George Eastman House for the concise item title and description. I did not find the LC database structure user-friendly. While the NYPL has many search functions to make browsing interesting, some of the item information needs to be more precise. The UMBC is a good research aid, but I did not find it helpful to use a caption as the item title.

While Jackie Dooley discussed “the myth of the need for item-level records,” I needed an item-level record to access the specific photograph through online collections. However, I noticed item-level records did not need to be extensive. By simulating as a historian trying to find a good source for citation, I learned that all I need is concise but precise item-level information. 

Works Cited:
“4:30 P.M. Mrs. Annie De Maritius, 46 Laight St., Front, Nursing a Dirty Baby While She Picks Nuts. Was Suffering with a Sore Throat. Rosie, 3 Yrs. Old Hanging Around. Conevieve, 6 Yrs. Old. Tessie, 6Yrs. Old Picks Too. Make $1.50 to $2.00 a Week. Husband on Railroad Works Sometimes. Location: [New York, New York (State)] :: Lewis Hine Collection.” Accessed March 23, 2014. http://contentdm.ad.umbc.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/hinecoll/id/4200/rec/11.

Dooley, Jackie. “Processing and Cataloging of Archival Photograph Collections.” Visual Resources 6 (1995): 85-101.

“George Eastman House.” Accessed March 23, 2014. http://licensing.eastmanhouse.org/GEH/C.aspx?VP3=ViewBox_VPage&VBID=274DQYF1ZBJ&IT=ZoomImage01_VForm&IID=2F3XC59IGM8&PN=6&CT=Search.

“National Child Labor Committee Collection Photographs by Lewis Hine (Prints and Photographs Reading Room, Library of Congress).” Accessed March 23, 2014. http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/coll/207-b.html.

“Shelling Pecans at Home - ID: 416482 - NYPL Digital Gallery.” Accessed March 23, 2014. http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?trg=1&strucID=131315&imageID=416482&word=hine%2C%20lewis%2C%20pecan&s=1&notword=&d=&c=&f=&k=1&lWord=&lField=&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&sort=&total=1&num=0&imgs=20&pNum=&pos=1.