Lowell Mill Research Paper

Lowell Mill Girls

Kenneth Mooney

U.S. History I

Winter 12-D-8-HST201-2

Colorado State University – Global Campus

March 8, 2013

Lowell Industries

Lowell, Massachusetts is located in Middlesex County and was named after Francis Cabot Lowell. Mr. Lowell was an industrialist who helped create the first planned industrial community. During the industrial revolution, Lowell dominated the woolen and cotton textile industry for over 100 years. Because of technological innovations Lowell was beginning to thrive as a major industrial center and women were flocking to the mills in hope of finding work. For the first time in U.S. history, women became wage earners. This brought great opportunities
In 1840 parents were still unsure about sending their daughters to be mill workers. To attract women to work for Lowell provided clean boardinghouses and strict moral supervision over all aspects of their lives. Lowell Mills Girls began to represent the strengths and capabilities of American women. The Lowell mills brought the women freedom and they were making a name for themselves as they took pride in their work and produced a quality product. Lowell had promised higher wages and most of the girls had hopes of higher education and self-improvement. The mill girls attended evening schools that taught courses based on high school curriculums. Some girls spent their money on German classes, music and botany. There were discussion groups and educational club activities that the girls could get involved in. Many of the girls were interested in literature and in 1844 the Lowell City School Library was
As the competition of the mill towns grew the supply and demand dropped the prices. The high profits started to decrease, this caused the wages to go down but the amount of work to go up. The girl’s wages were reduced by fifteen percent. In 1834 the woman would not accept these changes and started a strike to protest the wage cuts. The women were not successful with this strike. In 1836 the company increased the women’s rent for the boarding houses. After 1500 of the girls walked out with the support of the community and approximately two weeks it was determined that the company had violated the agreement and the rent was lowered. In 1845 the women started a strike to protest the long working hours. The girls obtained signatures on petitions requesting 10 hour work days. After some community appearances and the petitions the company reduced the work day to eleven hours instead of fourteen