A breaker boy was a coal-mining worker whose job was to separate impurities from the coal. The coal that had impurities could not go to market and would be left in the mine as a waste. Break boys would pick slate, rock and other debris from coal by hand. Until 1900, the coal breaking had usually been done by boys aged from 8 to 10. They worked 10 hours a day, six days a week. Some were even just five or six years old. In 1885, Pennsylvania State law required a coal breaker to be at least 12 years old.
However, this law was not strictly enforced because employers could not care less that the boys were under age. Meanwhile, a lot of parents often faked birth certificates for boys so that they could work. They needed children to work to help support family income. Many of these breaker boys came from immigrant families and were experiencing extreme poverty.
Many children dropped out of school because of burden to support family and working for extra money. They usually went to work when sun rose and came back home at night. Some children went to late night school to continue the education. However, most children were so worn out from working all the day, they could not even study or do anything else after work. What they all learned was how to tell the difference between coal and slate.
The coal breaking occupation was very dangerous and difficult for children.
The breaker boys were forced to work without gloves so they could handle slick materials and for better agility. The slate they were trying to remove was very sharp, so the boys would often have their fingers cut and bleeding. This hurt would not bring them rest or cure. If they were caught wearing gloves, the boss would beat them.
Some boys lost their had their fingers cut by fast-moving belt, or got their fingers rubbed heavy by the coal. Some boys got their ears damaged by extremely continuous loud noise in the mine. Some boys had their back hurt by overtime sitting. The devastating job is damaging those boys’ mentality and body at the same time.
Reference:
http://thebreakerboysbrianeicher.weebly.com/the-work-of-a-breaker-boy.html
Photo by George Bretz (1842-1895) – This file is from the UMBC Photographers & Collections Index.Accession no.: 73-02-009, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1970860
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