The 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia was designed to dazzle, and it did. With everything from the Corliss steam engine, which powered the fair, to gargantuan Baldwin locomotives, the first world’s fair in the United States demonstrated how far the upstart nation had progressed in just a century.

The event also shined a light on the industrial might of Philadelphia, where more than 100,000 men, women and children labored in the city’s many factories and mills, earning Philadelphia the nickname, “The Workshop of the World.”

But what was it like to be one of those workers — particularly the youngest? Episode 6 of “In Pursuit: Philadelphia and the Making of America” explores the question of wealth — and in particular the yawning gap in the financial status of the grossly underpaid factory workers and the well-heeled robber barons who owned those industries, documenting the period from 1876 to 1918.

David Contosta, professor of history and former chair of the department at Chestnut Hill College, and Jeffrey Carroll, associate professor of political science and chair of the Center for Data and Society, offer their views on the episode.

In terms of its shabby treatment of the working class at the hands of the extremely wealthy, Philadelphia was far from alone, Contosta says. “I think it occurred in industrial cities, not only all over the United States, but all over the world. And this is why we have a progressive movement in the early 20th century.”

Carroll, reflecting on the documentary, is impressed by the speed and the growth of the boom of the world’s greatest workshops. “And I was really struck by just the range of the goods and services, so when you consider the demand, how there was an attempt to meet all of that demand with 8,000 mills, workshops and factories [in Philadelphia]. You can understand that call to acquire labor at all costs, and some of this did create really horrific and gross inequities.”

Both Contosta and Carroll note the importance of the textile industry in particular, with Philadelphia producing fabrics in huge quantities in response to designs created in New York. But those mills produced casualties — particularly children, whose small hands were deemed just the right size to reach into those huge machines to make repairs. Many of those children lost fingers and hands. And the employment of children resulted in yet another inequity: Because the factories employed children, usually at about $2 a week, they could pay adult workers less.

About the only person who saw these children for who they were was pioneering labor advocate Mother Jones, but looking back, this was not surprising.

It’s not really until the early 20th century, Contosta says, that there was a sense that children were different. The concept of adolescence doesn’t even come into being until the early 20th century.

“Children were seen almost as little adults, so ‘childhood’ isn’t discovered until much later,” he says. “And I think the video did a very good job getting into how, hundreds of years ago, children would be working in family businesses, learning crafts and so on. So having children work was nothing new. It’s just that the conditions in these Philadelphia industries were really harsh.”

In those days, Carroll adds, this explosion in manufacturing growth coincided with the arrival of immigrants desperate for work. And it’s perhaps not surprising that the entire family would seek employment — including the children.

At the same time, several populations got the short end of the stick – especially African Americans making their way to Philadelphia from the South. Even immigrants had a better shot at gainful employment in the City of Brotherly Love. Although Philadelphia might be viewed as a northern city, in its prejudices it had much in common with its southern neighbors.

“In many ways, Philadelphia is a border city,” Contosta says. “We’re not far from the Mason and Dixon Line, and this is why the Underground Railroad flourishes up here.”

These 19th century inequalities presage the racial injustices that would grow to dominate Philadelphia and American life in the 20th century, Carroll says.

“The timeline of the documentary is happening in the late 19th century, but as we think about these conversations, it’s a theme, that you know Philadelphia is on the precipice of other things that are going to happen in the country, whether it’s a discussion of industry or inequities. That puts it in a much different context.”

Episode 6 will be screened Monday, Nov. 16, at Chestnut Hill College. Doors open at 6 p.m.; the film begins at 6:30.