‘Lowell Mills’ referred to collectively, is a reference to the series of mills and factories which were built in the city of Lowell. These factories and mills were unique for the time in that they combined the two separate disciplines of spinning and weaving under the same roof, rather than having them in separate buildings, which was a feature which helped to boost the mass production of cloth. By the time of the 1830s, it was estimated that roughly three-quarters of the work force in the Lowell factories were women.
These combination mills came to be known as the Waltham-Lowell system, and on the whole the system worked quite well. Unfortunately, it felt the impact of any economic instability more than most, and fluctuations in the economy led to wages being constricted without an accompanying fall in the number of hours worked in the mills. This in turn led to the women who worked in those factories organising strike actions where they demanded less work for the amount of pay they were getting. In response, the mills turned increasingly to migrant workers who were willing to work the hours for that amount of pay, leaving the original workers out of a job.
This paper will look into the reasons behind why women might have been tempted into working in the Lowell Mills as a whole. Work done by Robinson on the lives of the women who worked in the mills will be combined with work done by Dublin using the women’s own personal letters will allow us to create a picture of what life was like for a woman in that time period, and why she might be driven to take up a job in a factory which produced textiles on such a scale as the Lowell Mills.
The Lowell Mills quite possibly represented the feeling of economic freedom to the women who came to work there. Robinson makes reference to home-sick girls who came from the country specifically to work in the town mills (Robinson 8), so we can safely assume that there must have been some sort of incentive to move away from home and work in a mill in an unfamiliar setting.
The corporation guarded well the interests of its employees; and as the mill-hands looked to the factories for their support, they workedto help increase the growing prosperity of the city, which had given to them a new and permanent means of earning a livelihood. (Robinson 8)
Robinson seems to imply that the women who came into the mills looking for work found a better situation than they would have had in their own home, wherever that was. This suggests that, even if the payment standards for men were significantly less for women than they were for men in the mills, it was still better than anything they could command at home. As Robinson goes on to point out, the Mills and their employees gave great prosperity to the city of Lowell which they resided in, both through strength of numbers and through monetary capital itself (Robinson 8-9).
According to the standards of today, the women in the mill did not make much money at all for the work they did. “Six to ten dollars a week” (Robinson 8) out of which they had to pay room and board, is not much according to our own ideas of monetary compensation, but again, we have to bear in mind that if it was worth repeating in such tones of awe, then it most likely was a small fortune to the women at that time. The differences in wages notwithstanding, the reasons behind women moving to live in Lowell and work in the Mills there were most likely often the same as the reasons we have for women having work experience today – it gave them independence, particularly if home life was stifling for them; the money gave them some financial backing, allowing them to support themselves separately if the need arose; and having their own money, however small an amount, raised their credentials and gave them a bargaining chip to use with husbands\potential husbands.
Another reason for the Mills being so popular with women was the educational opportunities they gave for everyone there. In a world where many people still lived rurally, there was often not enough time or money for everyone to be educated to the same standard, and – given the time period – women very often felt the brunt of this lack. Adding this to the difficulties inherent in giving every child in a large family a chance at a comfortable living (Dublin 48), and the reasons behind so many woman seeking work in the Lowell Mills can become much clearer.
I will just inform you that my school will close tomorrowI saw Mr Brusbridge yesterday. He said they should expect me to teach next term. We shall [have] two weeks [sic] vacation which will give us an opportunity to rest you know. (Dublin 52)
The educational opportunities which were given to employees at Lowell Mills most likely were aimed at helping them to excel within the company itself, and perhaps to help them move through the ranks and become assets to their employers. However, an unintended side-effect, which most likely only came to light through the economic ups-and-downs which precipitated the Mills moves from employing American workers to employing Irish immigrants, was that the education which they received in the Mills could be extrapolated into other fields. When women lost their positions at the Mills, they were not ultimately as lost as they could have been due to the education they had received, meaning that, like Elizabeth Hogdon in the letter quoted above, they could move on to other pursuits, and continue to enjoy their independence.
When a text refers to Lowell Mills, it commonly means the collection of factories and mills which were created in the eponymous city in Massachusetts, built specifically to combine the industries of spinning and weaving under one roof, in a move which had never been tried before, in a bid to increase the production of high-quality textiles. In an unusual move, by the mid-1830s almost three-quarters of the employees in the various mills were women.
The combination of spinning and weaving in the same factory was known as the Waltham-Lowell system, and while it flourished for a while, it soon felt the pull of economic depressions, being more sensitive than most industries in this area. The changes in the economy prompted the mills to reduce wages, though workers were still expected to make up the same amount of hours as before. Naturally the workers resented this change, and ended up going on strike to try and remedy the matter. This in turn led to the mills turning to the new Irish immigrants for labourers who would accept both the money and the hours, and the women at Lowell Mills were out of a job.
This paper will look into the reasons behind why women might have been tempted into working in the Lowell Mills as a whole. Work done by Robinson on the lives of the women who worked in the mills will be combined with work done by Dublin using the women’s own personal letters will allow us to create a picture of what life was like for a woman in that time period, and why she might be driven to take up a job in a factory which produced textiles on such a scale as the Lowell Mills.
This paper looked at the various reasons why women in particular would have been drawn to the employment which was available at the Mills. Using both Robinson and Dublin as sources, this paper discussed the life of the average woman who worked at a Lowell Mill. Among other reasons, the main reasons appear to be economic independence, however small that might have been. While at that time, women were still paid less than men, the money they earned gave them a small sense of pride in themselves that they may not have had before, while the educational opportunities given through the factories allowed them more opportunities in their futures.
Works Cited
Dublin, Thomas. Farm to Factory: Women’s Letters, 1830-1860. Columbia University Press, 1981.
Robinson, Harriet. Loom and Spindle or Life Among the Early Mill Girls. Crowell and Company, 1898.
