04/27/2021
FLORENCE, Mass. Joe Manning of Florence, Massachusetts, an author, historian, photographer, poet, and songwriter, died on April 27, 2021, after a short illness. He was 79 years old.
Nationally known for the Lewis Hine Project, he used his curiosity and belief in the inherent dignity of people to uncover the stories of hundreds of the child laborers Hine photographed from 1908 to 1924 for the National Child Labor Committee.
Manning was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. He served four years in the United States Air Force. In 1970, he received a BA in sociology from SUNY Cortland and became a caseworker for the Connecticut Department of Social Services, where he worked until his retirement in 1999.