Teaching Module: Women Workers in Lowell
This module focuses on young women who worked in textile factories in Lowell, Massachusetts in the 1830s and their role in creating a union movement. These materials would work well in U.S. history survey, women’s history, and labor history classes. Below is a suggested approach to implement these materials across two class periods.
Homework
Distribute the Daughters of Free Men viewers’ guide. Ask students to read pages 1-12.
Day 1 (In Class)
Screen the 30-minute Daughters of Free Men documentary. Facilitate a class discussion with the following questions about the role of young women workers in Lowell:
- Who were the types of women who worked at the textile mill factory in Lowell?
- How did forms of women’s work change from the farm to the factory?
- How did the depression of 1837 change conditions in Lowell?
Homework
Ask students to read the following sections in Northern Society and the Growth of Wage Labor, 1790-1837 in Vol. 1, Chap. 7:
Day 2 (In Class)
Divide students into three groups, distribute the following three primary sources, one to each group. Lead students in an in-class primary source analysis activity:
- A Mill Worker Describes Factory Life
- The Lowell Mill Girls Go on Strike, 1836
- Remembering the 1836 Lowell Mill Strike
Ask students to consider the context of the source and the content of the source and its historical significance.
Context of the source: What type of document is the source? Which year was it published? Who wrote it? Why did they write it? Did they have a specific goal while writing? If so, what is it? Which audience was the document intended for?
Content of the source: What is the main point of the source? (It may be something different to the modern reader than it was in the time it was produced.) Is the source making an argument? What is the author’s tone?
Historical significance: Why is this source historically significant? What does the source tell us about working conditions in Lowell?
At the end of class, bring all the groups back together to debrief as a class about their sources and their main takeaways. As an extension or homework assignment, this discussion could also result in written responses or essays reflecting on the conclusions students draw from this exercise.