Title: The Lowell Mill Girls
Description: This collection of essays and short stories is designed to provide a glimpse of life in the factory for the women who worked in the cotton mills of Lowell, Massachusetts in the 1840s. The book, which contains two primary sources, and three secondary sources, begins with a brief introduction to the history of Lowell and continues with an overview of the mill girls' lives. A fictional account of life in Lowell as seen through the eyes of Adeleen Blake is told in a letter to her cousin Hannah: it was written by Shirley Gifford and illustrated by Susan Lippman. A story entitled "The Spirit of Discontent," by Almira, a Lowell mill girl, illustrates both the benefits and disadvantages of the daily life of the mill girl. "Some Beauties of Our Factory System--Otherwise, Lowell Slavery," attributed to Amelia Sargent, is a strong and dramatic call to action and reform in the mills.
Subjects: Textile workers, Women, Employment