John Tyler Wheelwright documents the lives and activities of the India Wharf Rats, a group of young boys who lived and worked in the vicinity of the India Wharf in Boston in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He explores their social, economic, and cultural backgrounds, and traces their trajectory from childhood to adulthood. This fascinating study provides a rare glimpse into the lives of working-class boys in urban America. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.