On November 12th, a group of students and professors gathered to hear Joe Manning illustrate his unanticipated journey over the past seven or so years. The presentation was set up at O’Leary’s mezzanine, with chairs and the people sitting in them occupying half of the entire floor. The seats that had been set up in neat rows filled up quickly, and many had no other option but to grab spare chairs from the library’s tables and lug them over to the area of the presentation. Joe, on several occasions before starting his presentation, asked those who were separated from the rest of the crowd if they could see the projector screen. It was obvious that he was excited. He wanted to get his presentation started, not so it would end as soon as possible, so that he could deliver the message that was being held at the tip of his tongue. He wanted everyone to hear the story, and he wanted to engage and intrigue his audience.
He began by displaying a famous picture of a girl standing next to a massive machine that would have been found in a mill. Her name was Addie Card. Her skin and clothes were dirtied, and her pose with one arm on the machine made it known that she was far too familiar with where she was. The photograph was part of a project by Lewis Hine, a photographer of the early 20th century whose work brought attention to the unjust child labor of the mill factories in America, including those of Lowell. Mr. Manning spoke of how his friend had written a story about Addie. She had done research on the life of the girl in order to write her story, but records ended about 20 years into Addie’s life. One day, the woman who had written this story went to Joe, and asked him to find out exactly what had happened to the girl in the photograph. The task seemed fairly impossible to complete, but Joe’s curiosity and interest urged him to accept the challenge.
He continued his presentation by describing the steps he took on his journey to discovering exactly what happened to this little girl of the mill factory photograph. Using the bits of research his friend had attained, Joe discovered and traveled to the girl’s hometown in Vermont. He had little to work with, and was not experienced with this line of work. He began by looking at the birth and death records of the early 1900s at the town hall, but this approach would only allow for limited success as there were no records past a certain year. This obstacle did not drain Mr. Manning’s hope. He continued on, searching deeper into any relevant record that he could get his hands on. Eventually, after several months of nonstop searching and traveling, the story of Addie Card had been pieced together. Joe had come in contact with some of her direct descendants, and some of them did not know as much about Addie’s life as he did. By not giving up on his project, Joe Manning connected relatives who had not known much of their extended family.
He then went on to describe several more of his 350 research projects on the lives of these forgotten child laborers that had been so important to America’s social history. With each project, Joe found that he was doing something important by uncovering the identities of these children, while also connecting families through their iconic ancestors. His deep interest and the support he received from the families of these child laborers urged him forward in continuing his project, one that is now a part of his daily life. Towards the end of the presentation, he brought attention to the fact that he eerily looks like Lewis Hine, and the audience responded with a gasp of agreement and awe. Mr. Manning’s excitement and obsession with discovering new information fascinated me, and I found it remarkably interesting that such an important project in our nation’s history was brought to life nearly 100 years later by one man with free time on his hands. Deep curiosity and perseverance led him to unexpectedly touch many families. Joe Manning had a goal, and no matter how much the odds were not in his favor, he did everything he could to achieve it. 