A Girl's Perspective

Girls were drawn to the idea of working at the Lowell mills because the idea of a new job as a mill worker presented many opportunities that were previously unavailable to women. They were drawn to this idea because of the benefits that came with the job. In Lowell, girls could earn money for themselves and use some of it to support their families who were back on the farm. They had some freedom to control their lives. They also received an education and kept busy in the mills. The experience in the mills allowed girls to meet other girls their age and make friends. Some of the bad things about working in the mills included the girls moving away from their families.Other risks of working in the factories were health risks and the risk of mill accidents. Some health risks could include catching diseases from working close to others or becoming deformed from putting so much pressure on their bones from standing all day. Mill accidents could include getting caught in the machines and hurt badly, or even killed. Girls also had to pay to live in the boarding houses. Most of their paycheck went to this. There was also the possibility of wage cuts, and not having enough money to send back home to help support their families who lived and worked on the farm. Many girls believed the benefits outweighed the risks and went to work in Lowell.

A Mill Girl Working
Winslow Homer, illustration for William Cullen Bryant, “Song of the Sower”

In order for the girls to go and work in Lowell, their parents had to give them permission. Parents were often hesitant to send their daughters far away to work in the city. Representatives from the mills came to talk to parents and convinced them that their daughters would be well cared for, and that the job was not binding, that it was only a temporary job. Representatives told parents that working in the factory was like being part of a family. The father figure in the system was the corporation. They set rules for the girls. Some of these rules included curfew at 10 pm, the mill hours, church on Sunday and the girls code of behavior. They also emphasized that women would be protected. The mother figure at the mills was the boarding house keeper. Girls stayed in boarding houses at the mills when they worked in the factories. The boarding house keeper ensured that a ‘home environment’ was maintained and she regulated the girls behavior outside the factory. She made sure the girls went to educational lectures during their free hours, and that they didn't do anything to hurt their reputations.

Before women had the opportunity to work in the mills, working women were viewed as people who no one wanted to marry. They were outcasts. These new opportunities for women, but also the restrictions they had, such as having to be watched over more than boys,  and the fact that people believed them to be more obedient than boys, led to women right’s movements later on. These women, and some men, campaigned for equal rights for men and women.