Pottery

Title: Workers in the Clay Pits
Type: Photograph
Date: ca. 1915
Source: Goodhue County Historical Society

Description: Workers in the clay pits dug clay for the Red Wing Stoneware Company factories to use in making stoneware products.

Activities:

1. Why do you think workers in the clay pits chose the clothing they were wearing?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: Hats would shield them from the sun and the jeans or overalls would help protect them from rocks and other things that they might bump against while they were working.
2. What tools can you see for the workers to use?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: The main tool that the workers have in this photograph is a shovel. They also have steel buckets in which to put the clay when they have retrieved it. These bucket loads would be hauled up to the surface by a steam-powered crane.
3. What suggests to you that the workers might be working below ground level to get the clay?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: There is a ladder leaning against the rocks near the center of the photograph, which would suggest to us that workers had to use the ladder to get to the clay pits.
4. What information is provided in this photograph to give us an idea of where the clay pit is located?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: There is a label at the bottom of the photograph that just says "Workers in the Clay Pit" but does not tell us where the clay pit is lcoated. This clay pit happens to be located in Clay Bank,Goodhue Township.