Farmers began growing cranberries in Carver, Massachusetts, and the surrounding area, in the 1870s. By the turn of the century, they were raising a fifth of all the cranberries grown in the United States. Eventually, local residents were no longer interested in doing the harvesting work, so immigrants were recruited, among them French-Canadian and Italian families, young children included, who poured in from nearby factory cities like Fall River and New Bedford, and toiled in the bogs during the annual harvest in August and September. Then they returned to their homes and their jobs in the textile mills. Later, most of the work would be done by the Black Portuguese, or Bravas, who came from the islands of Cape Verde.

The picking was done by hand, or with what are known as scoops or snappers. It was tough, back-breaking work, often performed under a hot late-summer sun. The Roy family of Fall River was one of those French-Canadian families. They appear in several of about 75 photographs that Lewis Hine took in the bogs just west of Cape Cod, in September of 1911.

I had looked at these photographs a number of times, especially the one above, and made a brief search for Bella Roy, finding her in Fall River in the 1920 census. But when I couldn't get any further with it right away, I moved on, hoping someday to go to Fall River (two-hour drive) and scour the city records. Out of the blue one day, I received this email:

"Dear Mr. Manning: Are you still researching information on the children in Lewis Hine's photos? I'm quite sure that my grandmother, Isabella, is in two of the photos from Smart's Bog. Her maiden name was Roy. She was born in 1900, and was from Fall River, Mass. Her sister was Jeanette. My mom recalled her speaking about the picture. Your project looks really interesting. Melissa Belbahri."

Ms. Belbahri and I corresponded for a few months, and then I interviewed her on the phone. She also provided a link to a private genealogy website that includes some details on Isabella Roy's family history.