The Role Of The Boott Mills In Lowell

Of the numerous mills built in New England during the birth of the Industrial Revolution, the Boott Mills in Lowell, Massachusetts remains one of the most iconic and culturally noteworthy examples. Built on the powerful Merrimack River, the Boott cotton mills were the sites of the first examples of the advancement of the “Waltham-Lowell system”, a labor and production model which would gain widespread adoption across the United States up until the mid-19th century . This model relied on hiring local women from Lowell and the surrounding regions to work the semi-mechanized cotton machines in the mills. These “mill girls” - as they were referred to - suddenly became the backbone of the burgeoning manufacturing business in the United States,
The early “mills girls” would come in from the surrounding towns including East Chelmsford to work in the mills for long hours each day. The Boott mills were unique in comparison to other locations due the fact that every stage of producing cotton fabric was under one roof While this system was highly productive, it lead to hazardous working conditions for the “mill girls”. The museum used several ways of conveying and heightening this narrative; the first of which involved the machines themselves. Upon entering the museum, one is greeted with the cacophonous clanking of the machinery that is startlingly loud even despite being place behind insulating glass. The machines are not the original models used in the 1800s but rather reproductions of models used later into the 1940s but are said to still be historically accurate. A large sign describes the claustrophobic working conditions and how the machines running at that moment were only 1-2% of all machines that would have been running during the average workday in the 19th century. In addition, the various placards discussed the dismal working life and grim aftermath of the “mill girls” work - mostly relating to major hearing loss, lack of employment following retirement from the mill and the life threatening conditions present in the mill such as airborne lung diseases – are the only information presented at that point. Following the opening exhibit, various placards the means of production and politics that lead to the birth of the mills. One of these topics was the relationship between the “masters of the lash” and “masters of the loom,” referring to the slave holders in the South producing the cotton and the investors and merchants buying the material to use in their mills. The museum also highlighted the political climate surrounding the introduction of the mills into