Lowell mill girls
Posted by Carolyn B on February 04, 1998 at 19:32:39:
In response to I forgot to mention...., written by gkb on February 04, 1998 at 10:09:46
] .... that the silk workers in Chinese factories were mostly women who seemed to revel in the freedom from the farm. They had sisterly relations (good and bad) with their fellow workers and took pride in their usefulness and status. Factories had a liberating effect on women as long as they supported one another. It was a way to avoid marriage, servanthood, and poverty--a solution that was not open to JA.
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In the US as well in the first half of the 19th C. there were opportunities for young women to work in the textile mills, the Lowell, Massachusetts example being the most well known. There they lived in dorms and to some extent were supervised to protect them from "immoral influences" They even published their own writings and poetry ("The Lowell Offering"). Many of them came in from the country side to earn money for a year or two before they got married.
Of course, these factories were not the safest places to work. Many examples of women getting their hair or clothing caught so the machinery pulled them in. (No OSHA regulations back then!)
- Could you explain..... Caroline 10:30:21 2/08/98
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- OSHA Carolyn B 13:43:25 2/08/98
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- Oops, typo in the link! Well, we'll live without it - *nfm* Carolyn B 13:46:50 2/08/98
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- Oops, typo in the link! Well, we'll live without it - *nfm* Carolyn B 13:46:50 2/08/98
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- OSHA Carolyn B 13:43:25 2/08/98
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