After running across this photo Hine took in 1909 in Boston that he captioned “The Newsboys Building. Intended to Counteract the Attractions of the street,” I was hot on the trail to see if it still existed.
Well, does it still exist? No, but it does have an interesting connection to what currently stands at this 10 Somerset Street address.
The full name of the “Newsboys Building” that Hine referred to in his photo caption was “The Burroughs Newsboys Home,” founded by Russian immigrant Harry E. Burroughs, who originally came to the United States at the age of 12 and became a newsboy. Later in life, Burroughs attended Suffolk Law School in Boston, becoming a successful lawyer who dedicated much of his life to helping the plight of inner-city boys in particular. More can be read about The Burroughs Newsboys Foundation by clicking here.
The Burroughs Newsboys Building on Somerset Street was a safe haven for the newsboys. It was said that for 25 cents per year, a boy could spend his time in this building having fun, meeting new friends and even watching movies, all which helped to offset the other part of their lives that required them to be on the streets early in the morning through late in the evening, hawking newspapers.
Here are some photos Hine shot in October 1909 of newsboys who were enjoying their time inside the Burroughs Newsboys Home -- (The first was captioned “Newsboys Club“ and the second “In the Newsboys Reading Room. Boys seated at tables playing gamers.”):
Today, this space is home to the Nathan R. Miller Residence Hall of Suffolk University. Although it’s unclear to me if Miller himself was ever a newsboy, accounts say that when Miller was a young boy growing up in this Beacon Hill neighborhood, he spent time at the Newsboys Building. Miller received an honorary degree from Suffolk University in 2003, being recognized for starting a small accounting firm which blossomed into a leading Boston area real estate business, Nathan R. Miller Properties, Ltd., which has transacted upon some of Boston’s most prestigious addresses. To read more information on Miller, as well as about the dedication of this residence hall in his honor, click here.
Here’s a picture of what this location looks like today:
*****
Lewis Hine photo credits, listed in order of appearance on this page:
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, National Child Labor Committee Collection, LC-DIG-nclc-03352
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, National Child Labor Committee Collection, LC-DIG-nclc-03351
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, National Child Labor Committee Collection, LC-DIG-nclc-03350
Boston School publications available online reveal that Boston had a separate schooling program available for newsboys and bootblacks. For various reasons, their parents - if they had any - did not send them to school, and it was work or die. The city gave them official cards to show that they were not 'truant' from school during working hours.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting! Amazing how life has changed in really not too much of a span of time.
DeleteDuring WWII I used to spend "warming up" time at the Foundation during the freezing winters - I was shining shoes in downtown Boston and the Foundation was an Oasis for many kids like myself. They used to serve hot Corn Chowders and Fish Chowders and Hot Chocolate. I saw the both the Humphrey Bogart films: Sahara and Treasure of Sierra Madre there at the foundation.It was a great blessing for many of us kids who would have probably frozen to death on those streets.
ReplyDelete