File:Lewis Hine, Velma Smith, reportedly 12 years old, Opelika, Alabama, 1914.jpg

Summary
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lewis_Hine,_Velma_Smith,_reportedly_12_years_old,_Opelika,_Alabama,_1914.jpg Description Whistle blows noon Opelika Cotton Mill. Smallest girl in photograph is Velma Smith a tiny little spinner with a steady job all day. I found her at home crying bitterly because her father refused to let her have any money out of the pay envelope she brought home. Mother said: "That haint no way to encourage children to work." Mother, father and several children work. Her mother admitted she worked here before 12 years old, and at Ella White Mill and one other city for about a year. Says they have no family record, but claims Velma is 12 now (which is doubtful). I saw her several times going and coming at 5:45 A.M. and noon. Location: Opelika, Alabama. Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine, October 1914. Date	October 1914 Source	Lewis Hine: Velma Smith, reportedly 12 years old, Opelika, Alabama, 1914, based on file from Library of Congress Author	Lewis Hine Camera location	32° 39′ 01.8″ N, 85° 22′ 50.38″ W Kartographer map based on OpenStreetMap. View this and other nearby images on: OpenStreetMap - Google Earth