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A Mill Girl Explains Why She Is Leaving Factory Life (with text supports)

Born on a Vermont farm, Sarah Rice left home at age 17 to make it on her own. Eventually she journeyed to Masonville, Connecticut to work in textile mills much like those of Lowell. Rice's first letter was written after she had been weaving in the factory for about four weeks. Her second letter was written after about nine months of mill life.


Source | Sarah Rice, "Letter to Father (Hazelton Rice)," 23 February 1845 and 14 September 1845, (Vermont History Society, Hazelton Rice Papers), available from Center for Lowell History, University of Massachusetts at Lowell Libraries, http://library.uml.edu/clh/All/Ric.htm.
Creator | Sarah Rice
Item Type | Diary/Letter
Cite This document | Sarah Rice, “A Mill Girl Explains Why She Is Leaving Factory Life (with text supports),” SHEC: Resources for Teachers, accessed March 28, 2024, https://shec.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/1987.

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