"On our very first visit to this place (Seaford, Delaware) there were about 400 people sitting around hulling berries. It is estimated that there were over 200 children under 14 years of age, at least 75 of whom were apparently under 8 years of age. Children of 3 and 4 years were found at work hulling berries steadily. Mothers bring nursing infants and put them to sleep while they hull berries, or lay them on a convenient box or on the ground, while they continue their work." -From National Child Labor Committee Investigation Report 216, 1910

This photograph surprised me. Had I not known the circumstances described by Hine in the caption, nor even known that it was taken by Hine, I would have been delighted by this seemingly ideal family sitting happily in the sun, perhaps preparing berries for a pie. The children look well dressed and well-cared for. But the investigation report above gives us some context. They were working for a preserving plant owned by H.A. Johnson, a Boston, Massachusetts company that bought large quantities of strawberries from farms. Despite the long hours of tedious work this family probably faced, perhaps every day of the harvest, the boy on the far right managed to steal a tasty snack when his mother wasn't looking.

The only information I had to work with was the toddler's name, Cyral, the location and the year. I searched the 1910 census and found the Merrick family in Seaford, including father Edward, mother Lillie, and four children: Pauline (8), John (7), George (5) and Cyril (2). That means that George is the one eating the strawberry. Subsequent research turned up Cyril's obituary, and eventually Robert Evans, the son of Cyril's youngest sister Ruth. I sent him the photograph, which he had not seen, and later interviewed him.