African Americans appear in only several dozen photographs that Lewis Hine took for the National Child Labor Committee. Obviously, this was the result of racial discrimination, but not on the part of Hine. Textile mills, factories, and canneries, where Hine took many of his pictures, were almost never integrated. Most mainstream newspapers catered principally to whites, seldom reporting news involving black residents, so almost all newsboys and newsgirls were white. And there were very few successful black-oriented newspapers. Since there were not very many black-owned farms, most children employed as pickers were white. So Hine seldom encountered African Americans in the fields. As unfortunate as child labor was, it was not a "luxury" available to non-whites, especially among the occupations Hine concentrated on.

In 1921, three years after the bulk of his child labor work was completed, Hine accepted an assignment from the National Child Labor Committee to photograph West Virginia school children, many that were involved in 4-H programs. Early that year, the state had enacted progressive laws limiting child labor and mandating school attendance. Hine's pictures were supposed to illustrate how those laws were affecting the quality of life for children who otherwise might be typical child laborers.

Institute, where George was photographed, is a small town near Charleston, formed in the 1890s around West Virginia Colored Institute, a black agricultural college. In 1915, the name was changed to West Virginia Collegiate Institute. It is now called West Virginia State University, and was fully integrated in the 1950s, following the historic Brown V. Board of Education decision.

In the photo above, George is getting some guidance from Austin Wingate Curtis, the dean of the college at that time. He was an accomplished educator. His son and daughter, Austin Jr. and Alice, were also photographed by Hine, on the same day. Their stories are also posted on this site, and I have provided a link to it at the end of this story.

George Edward Cox was born sometime in 1909, probably in Gladeville, Wise County, Virginia. In 1924, the name of the town was changed to Wise. He was the second of at least seven children born to Philip Henry Sheridan Cox and Estella (Bandy) Cox, both Virginia natives. The family does not appear in the 1910 census, but according to the 1920 census, they still lived in Gladeville, where Sheridan worked as a railroad watchman.