The Lowell Mill Girls: at a time when women couldn't vote, the Lowell Mill Girls took a stand and fought to be heard.OBJECTIVES Students should understand * Girls and young women worked in harsh conditions in Massachusetts mills beginning in the 1820s. TEACHING STRATEGY Ask students: "How does a factory create jobs, homes, and other businesses in a community? How is factory management responsible for the welfare of its workers and the local community?" BACKGROUND The Industrial Revolution gave many women in the U.S. an alternative to their traditional roles. For the first time, they found work outside the home or farm. But women still had fewer rights and a lower social status than men. Any money a married woman earned belonged to her husband. It was not until the 1840s and 1850s that many states began passing laws granting women property rights. THINKING SKILLS MAKING CONNECTIONS: Why did labor unions labor union: see union, labor. or Massachusetts legislators not support the Lowell mill girls "Lowell Mill Girls" is the colloquial name used collectively to refer to female textile workers in Lowell, Massachusetts in the 19th century. The Lowell textile mills employed a workforce which was about three-fourths female; this characteristic (unique at the time) caused two ? (Women had a lower social status than men and no political rights. The labor unions and political bodies of the era did not admit women.) MAKING INFERENCES: Why do you think Harriet's mother was punished after Harriet joined the strike? (Factory owners might have punished Harriet's mother to intimidate in·tim·i·date tr.v. in·tim·i·dat·ed, in·tim·i·dat·ing, in·tim·i·dates 1. To make timid; fill with fear. 2. To coerce or inhibit by or as if by threats. Harriet and other workers to quietly accept the workplace conditions or quit.) ACTIVITY CREATE AN INFOMERCIAL: Divide the class into two groups. Tell each group to create skits that promote good working conditions in a 19th-century textile mill. One group will represent a mill owner, and the other group will represent laborers. Each skit should address fairness and safety in the workplace, and corporal responsibility to the workers and community. CHARACTERS MILL WORKERS: Harriet Hanson Lucy Larcom Lucy Larcom (March 5, 1824 - April 17, 1893) was an American poet. She was born on March 5 1824 and died on April 17, 1893, in Boston, Massachusetts. She was the ninth of ten children. Harriet "Etta" Farley Sarah Bagley Sarah George Bagley (April 19, 1806-188?). Historian Tom Dublin says of Sarah Bagley "she was one of the most important labor leaders in New England during the 1840s. An outspoken advocate of shorter workdays for factory operatives and mechanics, she campaigned tirelessly to make Josephine L. Baker Betsey Chamberlain * Eleanor McDonnell * Edward Stodge stodge Noun Brit, Austral & NZ informal heavy and filling starchy food [perhaps blend of stuff + podge a short plump person] Noun 1. , mill foreman William Schouler, Representative from Lowell to the Massachusetts Legislature Narrators A-E A-E, AE above-elbow; see under amputation. Names in gold are leading roles. * Starred characters are fictitious Based upon a fabrication or pretense. A fictitious name is an assumed name that differs from an individual's actual name. A fictitious action is a lawsuit brought not for the adjudication of an actual controversy between the parties but merely for the purpose of . Introduction In the early 1800s, textile mills began to spring up in New England New England, name applied to the region comprising six states of the NE United States—Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. The region is thought to have been so named by Capt. . Huge five- and six-story brick factories soon lined the Merrimack River Merrimack River River, northeastern U.S. Rising in the White Mountains of central New Hampshire, it flows south into Massachusetts, then turns northeast and empties into the Atlantic Ocean after a total course of 110 mi (177 km). in Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 105,167. It is the fourth largest city in the state. It and Cambridge are the county seats of Middlesex County. , dwarfing local farms. This transformation was part of the Industrial Revolution in America, when technological advances enabled the mass production of clothes and other products. Many women and girls flocked to Lowell to spin and weave cotton, thrilled to be earning their own wages for the first time. But mill owners took advantage of them. Girls were forced to work 13- and 14-hour days, operating dangerous machines in unbearably hot rooms. When the owners refused to improve workplace conditions, some girls decided to fight back. For their pioneering efforts, they would become known as the Lowell Mill Girls. SCENE I The Merrimack Mill, Lowell, Massachusetts, 1836 Narrator NARRATOR. A pleader who draws narrs serviens narrator, a sergeant at law. Fleta, 1. 2, c. 37. Obsolete. A: After learning that their wages are to be cut for the second time in two years, the Years, The the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109] See : Time mill girls decide to "turn out," or strike. But some of the bobbin bobbin, implement on which thread is wound, used in sewing, spinning, weaving, and lace making. Sometimes the wooden spools of sewing thread are called bobbins. girls [workers who thread string or yarn] are afraid to leave their machines. This angers 11-year-old Harriet Hanson. Harriet Hanson: Our leader is waving her hood. That's the signal to turn out! Lucy Larcom: Do you think we should go, Harriet? Harriet: We have to. If we don't, they'll do whatever they like to us. Josephine Baker
Josephine Baker (or Joséphine Baker in francophone countries) (June 3, 1906 – April 12, 1975)[1] : But what if we lose our jobs? Harriet: Is this job worth it? We start work at 5 a.m. and don't finish until 7 at night. We only get two short breaks. And we can't talk because the machines are so loud-- Lucy: Things aren't that bad, Harriet. Let's not Let's Not is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. It was first published in Boston University Graduate Journal in December 1954. It was written for no payment as a favour to the journal, and later appeared in the collection Buy Jupiter. go. Harriet: We make only one dollar a Week, Lucy. It isn't fair! Betsey Chamberlain: But there are others who will work for the lower wage. They'll just replace us. Etta Farley: I have to send money home to my family. If I strike, who will pay for my brother's school? Harriet: Well, I don't care
"Don't Care" is a 1994 (see 1994 in music) single by American death metal band Obituary. what yet do. I am going to turn out. Narrator A: By the time Harriet reaches the door, the girls have fallen in behind her. But the strike of 1836 fails almost as soon as it begins. The girls return to work, and the mill owners cut their wages. SCENE 2 A boardinghouse, Lowell, Massachusetts, 1844 Narrator B: Eight years later, a new worker, Eleanor McDonnell, arrives at a local boardinghouse. She finds Sarah Bagley, a mill worker, trying to organize a strike among the girls. Lucy: You should appreciate the money you're making, Sarah, and ignore the bad things about the job. Sarah Bagley: I can't ignore abuse. Eleanor McDonnell: What abuse? Narrator B: The girls are surprised to see a new face. Eleanor: I'm Eleanor. I'll be starting at the mill tomorrow. Etta: Have a seat. You're just in time to watch Sarah organize a protest. Sarah: The days are too long, and the conditions are dangerous. Some girls have breathing problems, and others are going deaf from the machines. It's time It's Time was a successful political campaign run by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) under Gough Whitlam at the 1972 election in Australia. Campaigning on the perceived need for change after 23 years of conservative (Liberal Party of Australia) government, Labor put forward a we protested again. Harriet: Not me. The last time I went on strike my mother was punished. Sarah: You said you were proud of that strike. Harriet: It failed, Sarah! The owners didn't care! Sarah: Then I'll think of another way to make our point. SCENE 3 A Lowell mill Narrator C: It is Eleanor's first day at the mill, and the foreman, Mr. Stodge, is putting her to work. Edward Stodge: Betsey! Here's the new bobbin girl! Show her what to do. Narrator C: Betsey brings Eleanor to a spinning frame. Eleanor: I don't even know what a bobbin is, Betsey. Betsey: Bobbins are big spools that catch the yarn. Don't worry, it's easy. Just take the full bobbins off the spinning frame, and put empty ones on as quick as you can. Narrator C: Suddenly, there is a terrible scream. Etta: Help! Hester fell asleep, and her hair got caught in one of the machines! Betsey: Hurry! Turn it off! It's pulling her scalp right off her head! Josephine: There's blood everywhere! Lucy: Don't look, Eleanor! Harriet: I told her she should wear her hair up! Sarah: Mr. Stodge! Help her! Narrator C: Stodge strolls over to the machine with a knife and chops Hester's hair off. She falls to the floor. Stodge: Back to work, girls. Sarah: Is that all you have to say? Stodge: Back to work, Miss Bagley, if you want to keep your job. SCENE 4 The boardinghouse Narrator D: Sarah calls a meeting of the mill girls. Sarah: If you ever had any doubts, poor Hester's accident today has made it clear that the mill is an unsafe place to work. Etta: The poor girl was so exhaust she fell asleep standing up. Sarah: We can't let accidents like that happen again. We have to make them shorten the workday. Lucy: But how? Josephine: As long as the owners profit from us, they won't listen. Sarah: I know how to get their Attention. We'll take our case to the Massachusetts Legislature. Harriet:. None of the men around here will let us join their unions. Why should the politicians listen to us? Sarah: When they find out that girls just like their daughters are in danger, they'll listen. Betsey: What are we going to say? Sarah: That we want a safer environment and a l0-hour workday. Lucy: It's worth a try. Eleanor: Agreed. Narrator D: In December 1844, Sarah and the others start the Lowell Female Labor Reform Association (LFLRA), one of the first permanent labor groups for women in the U.S. As president, Sarah helps lead the growing movement for a 10-hour workday. SCENE 5 The Massachusetts Legislature, Boston, Massachusetts “Boston” redirects here. For other uses, see Boston (disambiguation). Boston is the capital and most populous city of Massachusetts.[3] The largest city in New England, Boston is considered the unofficial economic and cultural center of the entire New , 1845 Narrator E: In January 1845, Sarah and her group petition, the state for a 10-hour workday. On February 15, Sarah and Eleanor are seated before panel of Massachusetts representatives including the chairman, William Schouler, who represents Lowell in the Legislature. Rep. William Schouler: We will now hear from Miss Sarah Bagley on the working conditions in Lowell's textile mills. Sarah: Thank you, sir. The mill is kept hot and humid hu·mid adj. Containing or characterized by a high amount of water or water vapor: humid air; a humid evening. See Synonyms at wet. so that the threads won't dry out and break. Girls pass out regularly. We inhale in·hale v. 1. To breathe in; inspire. 2. To draw something such as smoke or a medicinal mist into the lungs by breathing; inspire. cotton dust and lint lint - A Unix C language processor which carries out more thorough checks on the code than is usual with C compilers. Lint is named after the bits of fluff it supposedly picks from programs. all the time. Many of the workers have coughs. Schouler: And? Sarah: We are working 14-hour days, 5 days a week, plus a half day on Saturday. Schouler: That sounds easier than life on a farm, Miss Bagley. Sarah: It's dangerous, sir. Schouler: I'm sorry. The Legislature does not have the authority to determine work hours. Sarah: But, sir-- Schouler: Miss Bagley, we've got more important things to worry about. You may go. Narrator E: The disappointed girls head back to the boardinghouse. Eleanor: I guess we don't remind them of their daughters after all. Sarah: If those men spent one hour working in the mill, they would understand. Eleanor: But that doesn't mean they'd care. I don't like that Mr. Schouler. He shouldn't be representing Lowell. Narrator E: Sarah gets an idea. Sarah: You're brilliant, Eleanor! If we make sure he loses the next election, people will realize that our organization has real power. If their jobs are at risk, the Representatives will have to pay attention! AFTERWORD af·ter·word n. See epilogue. William Schouler lost the next election, due to Sarah Bagley's campaign against him. The LFLRA then presented a petition with more than 10,000 signatures to the Legislature, asking that action be taken against the mills. Although the Legislature still refused to help, Sarah did not give up. She traveled throughout New England, working on behalf of women's rights The effort to secure equal rights for women and to remove gender discrimination from laws, institutions, and behavioral patterns. The women's rights movement began in the nineteenth century with the demand by some women reformers for the right to vote, known as suffrage, and and worker safety. In 1874, nine years before Sarah died, Massachusetts finally enacted the 10-hour-workday law, thanks in large part to her efforts. Your Turn THINK ABOUT IT 1. Why do you think the Legislature refused to help the Lowell Mill Girls? 2. Can you think of modern examples similar to the situation of the Lowell Mill Girls? |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion