Lewis Hine was a famous photographer in the early 1900s. He married Sara
Rich who was related to George Rich and Harriet Rich Law. Lewis grew up
in Oshkosh, Wisconsin but lived most of his life in Hastings-on-Hudson, New
York.
He was a trained teacher who taught his students to use a camera to capture the
immigrants coming into our country during the early 1900s. He gave up
teaching to pursue this new career as probably the “father of documentary
photography.”
He became a champion of children working long hours in factories. His
pictures and books were instrumental in getting new child labor laws in
effect.
He took pictures in Europe during World War I.
In the early 1930s, he took pictures of the building of the Empire State
Building.
During the summers of the 1920s and 30s, Lewis, Sara, and their son, Cordy,
stayed in the stone house, which belonged to Harriet Rich Law’s family on Route
357 near the intersection of the Treadwell Road. His wife and son would
stay during the summer and Lewis would come by train to Franklin Depot every
weekend. He took many pictures of the area and his family.
Like
many artists, during his life time, he was not appreciated. In 1940, he died in poverty. He
is buried in the Ouleout Cemetery