Mill Girls by Anne Kasper H O UG H T O N MIF F L IN Mill Girls by Anne Kasper ILLUSTRATION CREDIT: Len Ebert PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS: Cover © Bettmann/Corbis; Cover, 3–14 (border) © Getty Images; tp, 3–5 © Bettmann/Corbis; © Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, National Child Labor Committee Collection,; 7–8 © Bettmann/ Corbis; 11 © Underwood & Underwood/Corbis; 13 13 © Polka Dot Images/SuperStock; 14 © Bob Sciarrino/Star Ledger/ Corbis Copyright © by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company All rights reserved No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner unless such copying is expressly permitted by federal copyright law Requests for permission to make copies of any part of the work should be addressed to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt School Publishers, Attn: Permissions, 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, Florida 32887-6777 Printed in China ISBN-13: 978-0-547-02330-4 ISBN-10: 0-547-02330-8 0940 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 If you have received these materials as examination copies free of charge, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt School Publishers retains title to the materials and they may not be resold Resale of examination copies is strictly prohibited Possession of this publication in print format does not entitle users to convert this publication, or any portion of it, into electronic format Table of Contents Moving to the City Life on the Farm A New Life Jobs at the Mill A Day in the Life Opening Doors On Strike Speaking Out 10 Women’s Suffrage Movement 11 Creating Change 13 Important Dates in Women’s History 14 Moving to the City In the early 1800s, thousands of young women in New England left their farm homes They moved to cities to find work in America’s first textile mills These mills made woven cloth from cotton that was spun into thread Moving to the city was a big change for these women Textile mills were large and noisy factories Early textile mills were run by waterpower Life on the Farm Before textile mills and other factories were built in New England, most women worked on their family’s farm Life on the farm was hard work Women had to cook, clean, care for children, and help raise crops Many also made their own clothing, soap, and candles Women used to spin their own thread Many workers spent their first earnings on new clothes A New Life The opportunity to work in the textile mills provided women with a chance to live on their own and earn their own money for the first time in their lives In the 1830s and 1840s, these young “mill girls” worked in New England textile mills They often lived in boardinghouses owned by the factories Jobs at the Mill The women had different duties at the mill Some workers watched over spinning machines that spun cotton into thread Others collected full bobbins of thread and carried them to the looms There, weavers operated giant looms that turned thread into cloth Bobbin Loom A loom was a machine used in textile mills to weave cloth The bobbin was a part that held thread Working in a mill meant that women were on their feet for hours A Day in the Life Imagine working at a textile mill in the 1840s Your day begins at five o’clock in the morning Inside the mill, it is hot and noisy, and the air is filled with lint The machinery is dangerous You might stand at a loom and tie broken threads again and again After twelve hours, your shift ends, and it’s time to go home You are exhausted Opening Doors Although the work was exhausting, the textile mills changed the lives of the mill girls Many workers spent their free time reading and attending lectures or talks This showed the country that women were both intelligent and informed Some workers even saved their money to become some of the first women to attend college Mill workers in Lowell, Massachusetts, published their own magazine On Strike As time passed, mill workers’ lives became more difficult Women worked longer hours and earned less pay The factories also were dangerous Some workers were injured when their arms or hands were caught in machines In many cases, the mill owners denied that anything was wrong To fight back, factory women began to organize strikes called turn-outs Some were well organized, while others were disorderly The first turn-out occurred in Rhode Island, in 1824, when several mills announced that workers would have to work longer hours Speaking Out As mill workers learned about politics, they took their protests to the next level In the 1840s, women could not vote, so they began sending petitions to the Massachusetts legislature asking for an amendment to make a ten-hour workday the longest amount of time a person could work The law wasn’t changed, but the women succeeded in getting their voices heard In the 1840s, women working at mills in Lowell, Massachusetts, formed a group to protest low pay and poor conditions This group, led by a woman named Sarah Bagley, became the first official group of women to work together to fight for better conditions and higher pay 10 Women’s Suffrage Movement Because women did not have the right to vote, mill workers did not get to approve the candidates who made the laws that affected them For this reason, many joined the women’s suffrage movement, a group that fought for the women’s right to go to the polls and vote Women in the United States finally won the right to vote in 1920 11 How Women’s Work Has Changed Before the Rise of Factories and Mills After the Rise of Factories and Mills Today housewife factory worker doctor child caring telephone operator lawyer schoolteacher nurse politician servant secretary journalist schoolteacher firefighter police officer engineer accountant stockbroker FBI agent professor archaeologist astronaut much, much more 12 Creating Change The story of New England’s female textile workers shows how a small group can change the country Throughout American history, people have fought for change Harriet Tubman led enslaved workers to freedom on the Underground Railroad, and Dr Martin Luther King, Jr led the civil rights movement Maybe one day you will change the world, too! Today, women in the United States can pursue any career they choose 13 Important Dates in Women’s History 1793 — America’s first water-powered textile mill opens It was built in Rhode Island by Samuel Slater 1822 — First planned textile city developed in Lowell, Massachusetts 1824 — First turn-out held by textile workers 1844 — Textile workers begin petitioning the Massachusetts legislature for ten-hour workdays 1869 — The National Women’s Suffrage Association formed to fight for women’s right to vote 1920 — The Nineteenth Amendment gives women the right to vote in the United States Nowadays, women not only vote, they can be mayors, governors, and much more 14 Responding Word Builder The word informed means “in the know.” What things people use to stay informed? What things they use for entertainment? What things can both inform and entertain? TARGET VOCABULARY Things Used to Stay Informed Weather report Both Things Used to Be Entertained Newspaper Movies ? ? ? Write About It Text to Self The mill girls felt strongly about getting their voices heard Write a paragraph in which you describe something that you feel very strongly about Use two words from the Word Builder in your writing 15 TARGET VOCABULARY amendment approve candidates denied disorderly informed intelligent legislature politics polls Infer/Predict Use text clues to figure out what isn’t directly stated by the author TARGET STRATEGY What vocabulary word rhymes with something that woodpeckers make in trees? 16 Level: S DRA: 40 Social Studies Strategy: Infer/Predict Word Count: 884 4.5.22 Build Vocabulary HOUGHTON MIFFLIN Online Leveled Books ISBN-13:978-0-547-02330-4 ISBN-10:0-547-02330-8 1032229 ... textile mills These mills made woven cloth from cotton that was spun into thread Moving to the city was a big change for these women Textile mills were large and noisy factories Early textile mills... work in the textile mills provided women with a chance to live on their own and earn their own money for the first time in their lives In the 1830s and 1840s, these young mill girls worked in... girls worked in New England textile mills They often lived in boardinghouses owned by the factories Jobs at the Mill The women had different duties at the mill Some workers watched over spinning