A Former Mill Girl Remembers the Lowell Strike of 1836 (with text supports)
Labor Activism
Work
Harriet Hanson Robinson began work in Lowell at the age of ten, later becoming an author and advocate of women's suffrage. In 1834 and 1836, the mill owners reduced wages, increased the pace of work, and raised the rent for the boardinghouses. The young female workers went on strike (they called it “turning out†then) to protest the decrease in wages and increase in rent. In 1898 Robinson published a memoir of her Lowell experiences where she describes the strike of 1836.
Harriet Hanson Robinson
Harriet Hanson Robinson, <em>Loom and Spindle or Life Among the Early Mill Girls</em> (New York, T. Y. Crowell, 1898), 83–86, from <em>History Matters: The U.S. Survey on the Web</em>, http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5714/.
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
1898
1808, 1821
English
Antebellum America (1816-1860)
A Mill Girl Tells Her Story of Work
Work
Lucy Larcom worked in the mills at Lowell as a young woman. Forty years later, she described her experiences in her book An Idyl of Work. She dedicated the book "to working women."
Lucy Larcom
Lucy Larcom, An Idyl of Work (Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, 1875) 49, from University of Virginia Library, http://xtf.lib.virginia.edu/xtf/view?docId=chadwyck_ap/uvaGenText/tei/chap_AM0116.xml.
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
1875
English
Antebellum America (1816-1860)
A Mill Girl Tells Her Story of Work (with text supports)
Work
Lucy Larcom worked in the mills of Lowell as a young woman. Forty years later, she described her experiences in her book An Idyl of Work. She dedicated the book "to working women."
Lucy Larcom
Lucy Larcom, An Idyl of Work (Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, 1875) 49, from University of Virginia Library, http://xtf.lib.virginia.edu/xtf/view?docId=chadwyck_ap/uvaGenText/tei/chap_AM0116.xml.
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
1875
English
Antebellum America (1816-1860)
Farm vs. Factory: Citing Evidence
Gender and Sexuality
Work
This activity asks students to analyze three primary documents about the experiences of young women who worked in textile factories in New England during the 1830s and 1840s. It provides worksheets to guide and support students in writing a paragraph that cites evidence about the documents.
American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning
2012
Copyright American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning. <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/" rel="license"><img style="border-width: 0;" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-nd/3.0/88x31.png" alt="Creative Commons License" /></a><br />This work is licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/" rel="license">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License</a>.
Antebellum America (1816-1860)
Farm vs. Factory: Citing Evidence Answer Key
Work
This sheet provides answers for the classroom activity Farm vs. Factory: Citing Evidence.
American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning
2012
Copyright American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning. <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/" rel="license"><img style="border-width: 0;" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-nd/3.0/88x31.png" alt="Creative Commons License" /></a><br />This work is licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/" rel="license">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License</a>.
1989
Antebellum America (1816-1860)
Farm vs. Factory: Constructing a Paragraph Worksheet
This worksheet helps students to understand the component parts of a paragraph (claim/counterclaim, supporting details, conclusion/summary) using a paragraph about a cover image from <em>The Lowell Offering</em>. <em>The Lowell Offering</em><span> was a monthly magazine written by the young women who worked in the Lowell textile mills and published from 1840 to 1845.</span>
American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning
2012
Copyright American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/" rel="license"><img style="border-width: 0;" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-nd/3.0/88x31.png" alt="Creative Commons License" /></a><br />This work is licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/" rel="license">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License</a>.
1989
Antebellum America (1816-1860)
Farm vs. Factory: Finding and Citing Evidence Worksheet
Work
This worksheet helps students to gather evidence from two primary documents from young women who worked in the textile factories of Lowell, Massachusetts, during the 1830s and 1840s, and use that evidence in a paragraph.
American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning
2012
Copyright American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/" rel="license"><img style="border-width: 0;" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-nd/3.0/88x31.png" alt="Creative Commons License" /></a><br />This work is licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/" rel="license">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License</a>.
1822, 1821, 1987, 1549, 1989
Antebellum America (1816-1860)
Lessons in Looking:<em> The Lowell Offering </em>Worksheet
Gender and Sexuality
Work
This worksheet helps students to analyze and interpret the meaning of an image that appeared on the cover of <em>The Lowell Offering</em> in 1845. <em>The Lowell Offering</em> was a monthly magazine written by the young women who worked in the Lowell textile mills and published from 1840 to 1845.
American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning
Copyright American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/" rel="license"><img style="border-width: 0;" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-nd/3.0/88x31.png" alt="Creative Commons License" /></a><br />This work is licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/" rel="license">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License</a>.
2012
1986, 1989
Antebellum America (1816-1860)
Lowell Strikers Sing
Work
Starting in the 1820s, a group of business owners built textile mills in New England, where for the first time, people could use machines to weave cotton into cloth. The first factories recruited women from rural New England as their labor force. These young women, far from home, lived in boardinghouses next to the mills. In 1834 and 1836, the mill owners reduced wages, increased the pace of work, and raised the rent for the boardinghouses. The young female workers went on strike (they called it “turning out” then) to protest the decrease in wages and increase in rent. Harriet Hanson Robinson was one of those mill girls; she began work in Lowell when she was ten years old. As an adult, Robinson became a writer and advocate of women’s right to vote. In 1898 she published Loom and Spindle, a memoir of her Lowell experiences, where she included this song that the girls sang during the 1836 strike.
Unknown
Harriet Hanson Robinson, Loom and Spindle or Life Among the Early Mill Girls (New York, T. Y. Crowell, 1898), 83–86, from History Matters: The U.S. Survey on the Web, http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5714/.
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
1936 (Circa)
English
Antebellum America (1816-1860)
Lowell Strikers Sing (with text supports)
Work
Starting in the 1820s, a group of business owners built textile mills in New England, where for the first time, people could use machines to weave cotton into cloth. The first factories recruited women from rural New England as their labor force. These young women, far from home, lived in boardinghouses next to the mills. In 1834 and 1836, the mill owners reduced wages, increased the pace of work, and raised the rent for the boardinghouses. The young female workers went on strike (they called it “turning out” then) to protest the decrease in wages and increase in rent.
Harriet Hanson Robinson was one of those mill girls; she began work in Lowell when she was ten years old. As an adult, Robinson became a writer and advocate of women’s right to vote. In 1898 she published Loom and Spindle, a memoir of her Lowell experiences, where she included this song that the girls sang during the 1836 strike.
Harriet Hanson Robinson
Harriet Hanson Robinson, Loom and Spindle or Life Among the Early Mill Girls (New York, T. Y. Crowell, 1898), 83–86, from History Matters: The U.S. Survey on the Web, http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5714/.
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
1836 (Circa)
English
Antebellum America (1816-1860)