In the early 1800s, Lowell, Massachusetts was perhaps the most famous city in the nation. Men...and women...were offered "life on the Corporation". The mills housed and fed their workers in modern boarding houses, built a short walk from the factories themselves.
In what became known as "The Lowell Experiment," corporate investors specifically targeted women recruits for their mills. They built "proper" boarding houses that were offered to women only, and kept under stead by a community matron, often with children of her own that were working in the mills. The women more often than not worked because they wanted to...not because they had to. They were generally not in bad straits, they worked to improve their family's standing, fund their own dowry, or to experience a life of independence and cosmopolitan culture.
Lowell's fame was not just its available work, it offered the highest wages in the nation, the highest standards of living, and unlike other industrial pursuits of the day, the Lowell mills paid cash instead of Company Scrip. The workers were provided with a dispensary and given free vaccinations. The "Lowell Factory System" was called a miracle by some, and a Utopia by others.
As pressure to cut costs steadily rose, living and working conditions began to degrade. Some women protested, others chose to leave mill life all together. Some moved home, some got married, and others parlayed their financial and cultural enrichment in to a completely new career, such as politics -- a particularly notable achievement considering women would not regain the right to vote until well in to the next century.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, the city of Lowell has commissioned artists to tell more of Lowell's story...especially the story of the people themselves.
Feedback and comments welcome
In what became known as "The Lowell Experiment," corporate investors specifically targeted women recruits for their mills. They built "proper" boarding houses that were offered to women only, and kept under stead by a community matron, often with children of her own that were working in the mills. The women more often than not worked because they wanted to...not because they had to. They were generally not in bad straits, they worked to improve their family's standing, fund their own dowry, or to experience a life of independence and cosmopolitan culture.
Lowell's fame was not just its available work, it offered the highest wages in the nation, the highest standards of living, and unlike other industrial pursuits of the day, the Lowell mills paid cash instead of Company Scrip. The workers were provided with a dispensary and given free vaccinations. The "Lowell Factory System" was called a miracle by some, and a Utopia by others.
As pressure to cut costs steadily rose, living and working conditions began to degrade. Some women protested, others chose to leave mill life all together. Some moved home, some got married, and others parlayed their financial and cultural enrichment in to a completely new career, such as politics -- a particularly notable achievement considering women would not regain the right to vote until well in to the next century.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, the city of Lowell has commissioned artists to tell more of Lowell's story...especially the story of the people themselves.
Feedback and comments welcome
