Union Square Newsie. Joseph Blata, 7 years old. Lives in Basement, 306 E. 11th St. Collects discarded papers and sells them to storekeepers. Location: New York, New York (State)

In the 19th and 20th centuries, newspaper publishers relied on newspaperboys (“newsies”) to distribute their newspapers on city streets. The newsboys purchased their papers and usually had to sell all of them to make a decent profit. In 1899, with a sudden rise in the cost of newspapers, a contingent of New York City newsies staged a strike against big-time publishers like Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst.