DAY 3
The Mill Girls
This statue is a tribute to Lowell's 19th century Mill Girls.
The Boston Associates pioneered the employment of women, from the ages of 15-35 from New England farming families, as textile workers, in what became known as the Lowell system. In order for the Lowell System to be successful, the Boston Associates needed to convince the protective fathers, brothers, and uncles of these girls to let them leave the safety of home. The only way this could be done was to promise the families that the company would provide good wages and a way of protecting them from the "evils" of the city. To this end, corporations established their own boardinghouses, supervised by respectable women, where unmarried textile workers were required to live. The mill girls were subject to curfews and required to attend church, and signed contracts to that effect. High standards of behavior were expected. In exchange, work in the mills provided good wages--from $1.85 to $3.00 per week--the highest in the country for women (although men working in the same mills were generally paid at least two times the salaries of women). Even though these "mill girls" (also known as Lowell girls) were paid lower wages than men, the attractive benefits that included well-run company boardinghouses with chaperones, cash wages, and benevolent religious and educational activities were too good to pass up. Working in the mills allowed women to earn money for the first time. Many women used this money to help their families pay their mortgages and complete repairs around the family home. Since most women were widowed, many daughters saw mill life as an opportunity to help out their families.
Activity 4
In this activity you are to review the rules and regulations of both the Booth Mills and the Middlesex Company. Complete the graphic organizer by reading each of the documents and listing the similarities and the differences between them. To access the rules and regulations for each company, click on the links above.
| venn_diagram_activity_6.doc |
Activity 5
Employees of the mills worked six days a week. In this activity you will compare and contrast your typical school day with the work day of a mill girl. To help guide you through this writing exercise you can use the factory schedule and/or watch the video on the Lowell Mill Girls that describes what a typical work day was like. Use the Schedule Comparison Chart below to complete this activity. Copies of this activity will also be available in class.
| schedule_comparison.doc |
The Success of the Lowell Mills
The success of Lowell as a manufacturing center and in real estate developing was something that our country had never seen before. Between 1825 and 1840 the Boston Associates would create nine more manufacturing centers in Lowell. This expansion of manufacturing brought huge profits, averaging 24% a year between 1824 and 1845. The cloth manufactured in Lowell was sold to customers in the American west, south and overseas in South America, China, India, Russia and other places around the world.
During this period the Boston Associates had a good reputation. Their planned city boasted good working conditions, a voluntary work force and workers that represented the basic republican virtues of hard work, frugality, and working for the common good
During this period the Boston Associates had a good reputation. Their planned city boasted good working conditions, a voluntary work force and workers that represented the basic republican virtues of hard work, frugality, and working for the common good
