APPENDIX
Mill Towns Mentioned in the Text
![[Map of New England]](MILLMAP.GIF)
The era of the New England mill girls began near 1820 and lasted roughly until the outbreak of the Civil War. It was a time when young females--most in their elder teens or early twenties--flocked to the new cotton textile factories, located primarily in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine,[1] to join the labor force. Most of the mill girls were native to the New England states, and they came from all walks of life, some being orphans and the rest the daughters of teachers, sea captains, ministers, doctors, businessmen, and especially farmers. Among their many ingrained values, these female factory operatives held a firm belief in the importance of education and felt a strong obligation toward self-improvement. Most of them were literate and came to the mill towns wanting to learn more than their maximum of elementary schooling had afforded them.
In general, girls in New England--and especially these factory operatives--loved to read. As one mill girl, Lucy Larcom, stated in her memoirs some forty years after her experience, "we were as fond of good story-books as any girls that live in these days of overflowing libraries."[2] Even so, many of these women came from places in New England where books were largely unavailable. In their hometowns, the libraries that did exist were proprietary club-like lending institutions, "jointly owned by a select group of professional men and land-owning gentry."[3] Women could use the lending libraries only if they had a familial tie to one of the owners or if they were able to secure (rare) special permission. But this all changed when they came to work in the cotton mills. The female factory workers enjoyed drastically increased access to books, formed reading discussion groups, and, according to modern librarian and researcher Elfrieda McCauley, "became voracious readers."[4] Two separate statements which support this claim include one by Philip Foner of Pennsylvania's Lincoln University, that "the picture of the average operative was that of a person reading a book,"[5] and another by Benita Eisler, "the Lowell [Massachusetts] mill girls [were noted] as avid readers ... by visitor and resident chronicler alike."[6]
In the following paragraphs, I will explore the reading habits of the New England factory women in more detail. Specifically, I will discuss what, why, when and where they read as well as the sources for their reading material.
In the words of former operative Harriet Robinson, the mill girls were "omniverous [sic] readers of books."[7] In many cases, they read whatever they could get their hands on. In fact, one of the attractions to mill work was the unusual availability of all kinds of books. Lucy Larcom said they read books "that bore directly upon the condition of humanity in our time,"[8] while Michael Denning, an American Studies professor at Yale, claims that the factory workers mostly read sensational fiction. He reports that the operatives were one of the largest audiences for dime novels, which came in three different formats: 1) weekly papers of serialized stories, 2) classic pamphlet novels, and 3) "weekly series of short, complete novels."[9] According to Robinson, the mill girls' favorite types of fiction were Gothic novels, romance novels, and mysteries. Some of the most popular titles were Charlotte Temple, Eliza Wharton, Maria Monk, The Arabian Nights, and Abellino, the Bravo of Venice.[10] Robinson also reported the mill girls' preference for the English classics and for works of history. McCauley found that they liked to read biographies and travel books as well. The mill girls loved poetry, too, and they especially enjoyed works by Bryant, Longfellow, Holmes, Whittier, Burns, Cowper, Scott, and Wordsworth. Additionally, most mill girls owned--and had brought with them from home--a Bible and various devotional books.[11] According to Robinson, their "religious reading ... [consisted of] ... the Bible, Baxter's Saint's Rest, The Pilgrim's Progress, The Religious Courtship, The Widow Directed, and Sunday-school books."[12]
In addition to books, the mill girls also subscribed to magazines and literary newspapers and read them on a regular basis. Perhaps they were careful about what publications they were seen with, though, since "women ... caught reading `radical' newspapers, were subject to instant dismissal and subsequent blacklisting throughout New England."[13] Among the most popular periodicals read most often by the mill girls were Blackwood's Magazine, Edinburgh Review, North American Review, Graham's Magazine, and The Lowell Offering.[14]
Reading books provided the mill girls with entertainment, education, motivation, and a diversion from their personal troubles and discomforts.[15] The churches, under the belief that mental development led directly to moral improvement, further encouraged the mill girls to avail themselves of the libraries and other intellectual opportunities that abounded in the factory villages. However, the churches most certainly did not encourage the girls to read novels , which most members of the clergy considered categorically detrimental, if not evil. Denning even tells of one mill-town minister who accused the girls of using dime novels like an addictive drug, needed to help them "`pass away the time'", either by stimulating or soothing their minds.[16] Naturally, some of the young women heeded these warnings, swearing off fiction altogether. And some avoided novels simply because they considered them frivolous. Nonetheless, many mill girls continued reading novels--and indeed many other kinds of books--"to improve our minds."[17] Furthermore, in line with their established thirst for knowledge, Robinson said the factory women read the weekly newspapers and other periodicals in order to stay abreast of public events and issues.
It seems the only reason the New England mill girls might not have engaged in reading--whether of novels, poems, magazines, or something else--is exhaustion due to long, hard days at the mill. Factory operatives typically worked over 12 hours per day, six days a week. Even though they usually tried to make the most of what little leisure time they had, the mill girls simply may have been too worn out to read. This could have been the case especially in the 1840's, when the factory owners started speeding up the machinery to increase output. As a result, the workers became more and more exhausted, and some might, understandably, have traded the option of reading for the alternative of sleeping.[18]
In most cases, workers were not allowed to bring books into the factories and, in Larcom's words, "were forbidden to have books at their work."[19] Even the Bible was no exception and would be confiscated by the overseers whenever found![20] But the punishment often was worse than merely losing the book brought in. In fact, as Caroline Ware reported, "in the Lowell corporations girls were dishonorably discharged `for reading in the mill,'"[21] a penalty which could prevent the offender from working in any mill ever again. This was the rule for the spinners and weavers, at least.[22] Apparently, reading was permitted between shipments for workers in the cloth rooms, which housed no machinery.[23] And overseers would sometimes allow the doffers (very young girls, around age 10, who worked at the mills replacing bobbins on the spinning frames when not in school) to read while they waited for a full bobbin.[24] Obviously, these exceptions applied to a minority rather than the majority of factory women. Despite the strict rules and harsh consequences, some factory girls smuggled books into the mills and sneaked in reading time while on the job. Oddly, while the general prohibition of books was made quite clear, pieces of printed paper received no objection and were, therefore, assumed to be admissible. Consequently, it was not uncommon for an operative to surround herself with individual pages of books, attached to the frames of her loom(s) and any nearby windows. She would then steal glances at and attempt to memorize these pages of poems, hymns, books, etc. while she worked.[25]
Many mill girls considered time for reading a luxury. Since the working days were so long, a mill girl's total daily leisure time consisted of a maximum of three hours, and arguably less depending on the time of year, the distance she must walk from the mill to her boarding house, and the promptness of her evening meal. In fact, Hannah Josephson in her The Golden Threads, poses that the operatives only had 11/2 to 2 hours of spare time, nightly.[26] Typically, the operatives woke before sunrise and went straight to work. They were granted extremely brief breaks for their morning and mid-day meal, which included the walks from the factory to the boarding houses and back. The mills would usually close for the day sometime after 7:00pm--occasionally not until 8:30--and the girls had to be in bed when the curfew bell rang around 10:00. Even though these women worked so hard during the day, they did not allow themselves to play and idle away their precious free time. According to Helena Wright, an employee of the Merrimack Valley Textile Museum, the Lowell mill girls "spent their leisure in the pursuit of culture and enlightenment",[27] whether in the form of reading or attending a lyceum lecture, a concert, or a study group. Lucy Larcom fondly recalled the evening leisure hours, when "the [boarding-house] dining-room was used as a sitting-room, where ... [the mill girls] gathered around the tables, and sewed, and read, and wrote, and studied."[28] Looking back, she marveled at how much they were able to accomplish with so little time.
There were a lot of bookstores in Lowell in the 1830s and 1840s.[29] Even the general stores in the mill villages catered to the interests of these female operatives by stocking their shelves with books and other reading materials.[30] It was not altogether uncommon for mill girls to purchase books instead of--or at least before--going to a library, especially since ownership would ensure their having something to read in the future whenever they should decide to stop working at the mills and return home. The girls also found a lot more selection if they were willing to buy rather than borrow. For example, one circulating library in Nashua, New Hampshire, both lent and sold books, with three times more volumes designated for the latter option.[31] And in one Lowell library, as surely was the case in many others, the particular books borrowers wanted were usually out in someone else's hands.[32]
In addition to purchasing books, the mill girls also bought periodicals. As mentioned earlier, many subscribed to magazines and literary newspapers. Often, they would pool their resources together and order subscriptions for shared use by everyone living in their boarding house.
But mostly the mill girls obtained reading matter by borrowing from the local libraries. In fact, "the lending libraries ... were said to be a very potent factor in drawing country girls to Lowell."[33] The three main types of libraries that were available were mechanics' libraries, circulating libraries, and Sabbath-School libraries.
Mill owners established mechanics' libraries to improve the technical skill of their work force. These libraries were generally available to all factory workers but stressed a technical education and career direction for the male skilled workers.[34] Of interest is the Nashua Manufacturers' and Mechanics library, which did not permit use by women until very late in the New-England-mill-girl era, by which time it, coincidentally, also contained travel and adventure books, biographies, and romance novels. From the Nashua Manufacturers' and Mechanics library, one book could be borrowed at a time for a maximum of 3 weeks at a 6 cents weekly charge.[35]
Typically not finding much of interest in the mechanics' libraries, the mill girls relied predominantly on Sabbath School libraries and especially circulating libraries for items to read. According to McCauley's study, the circulating libraries were the girls' main source of fiction in the 1830s and 1840s.[36] Eisler's expression that Lowell's circulating libraries "trafficked" novels supports this finding.[37] Likewise, one circulating library in Nashua was noted in a coeval Whig publication as "`embracing all the new and popular novels of the day.'"[38] Use of these circulating libraries was not free of charge, however. For example, at a Lowell circulating library in the 1830s, subscribers paid an annual fee upwards of $3.00, depending on the privileges desired, while non-members paid at least 6-1/4 cents per borrowed book per week, depending on the size and recency of the item.[39]
Somewhat of a hybrid of the mechanics' and circulating libraries, were counting-house libraries. They were "established ... either by ... the stockholders [of the factory] or by ... the workers themselves."[40] A counting-house library was "a small collection of books for the exclusive use of the mill employees" and got its name by usually being located in the counting room or counting house of the mill.[41] The Great Falls Company in Somersworth, New Hampshire, established such a library for mill girls in the early 1840s. The Great Falls Company library was proprietary, but the female mill employees could use it for an annual fee which ranged over the years from 25 cents to 50 cents, with a restriction of borrowing only one book at a time.[42] By their very nature as a hybrid type of lending institution, the collections of individual counting-house libraries varied a great deal, ranging in purpose from purely technical to primarily recreational. While the Great Falls library did not offer popular fiction,[43] the counting-house library in Waltham, Massachusetts, was "a general interest collection", including many items that suited female tastes.[44]
Sabbath School libraries, in contrast, were run by the churches and offered religious rather than secular books. Many new Sabbath School libraries were established during the New-England-mill-girl era in an attempt to neutralize the "evil influence" of the books offered by the circulating libraries. Sabbath School libraries were also known for providing "simple and uncomplicated reading materials."[45] Perhaps this is why by the 1840s many of the operatives began turning to other sources for items to read and why the Sabbath School libraries eventually became "libraries primarily for children."[46]
Clearly, the New England mill girls were readers. They sought books of all kinds--even novels, which were not yet widely approved of--as well as various periodicals. The mill girls read for many reasons, not the least of which were education and entertainment. Since reading was, by and large, not permitted in the mills, the factory women had to save this activity for their short evening leisure hours back at the boarding house. Although these female operatives did purchase some reading materials, they more often borrowed items from the wide variety of libraries that existed in the factory towns. In summary, the New England mill girls had many types of reading options available to them, and it seems they did not let even one go to waste.
1 Elfrieda B. McCauley, The New England Mill Girls: Feminine Influence in the Development of Public Libraries in New England 1820-1860 (New York: Columbia U, 1971) 16. [Return to Text Reference]
2 Lucy Larcom, A New England Girlhood: Outlined from Memory (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 1892) 244. [Return to Text Reference]
3 McCauley, The New England Mill Girls, 13. [Return to Text Reference]
4 McCauley, The New England Mill Girls, 3. [Return to Text Reference]
5 Philip S. Foner, ed., The Factory Girls (Urbana: U of Illinois P, 1977) 19. [Return to Text Reference]
6 Benita Eisler, ed, The Lowell Offering: Writings by New England Mill Women (1840 - 1845) (New York: Harper & Row, 1980) 29. [Return to Text Reference]
7 Harriet H. Robinson, Loom and Spindle, or Life Among the Early Mill Girls (Kailua, Hawaii: Press Pacifica, 1976) 56. [Return to Text Reference]
8 Larcom, A New England Girlhood, 244. [Return to Text Reference]
9 Michael Denning, "Cheap Stories: Notes on Popular Fiction and Working-Class Culture in Nineteenth-Century America," History Workshop Journal 22 (1986): 2, 7. [Return to Text Reference]
10 Compiled from lists provided in Robinson, Loom and Spindle, 57; and McCauley, The New England Mill Girls, 137. [Return to Text Reference]
11 Lucy Larcom, "Among Lowell Mill-Girls: A Reminiscence," The Atlantic Monthly 48.289 (November 1881): 604-605. [Return to Text Reference]
12 Robinson, Loom and Spindle, 57. [Return to Text Reference]
13 Eisler, The Lowell Offering, 38. [Return to Text Reference]
14 Compiled from lists and mentions in Hannah Josephson, The Golden Threads: New England's Mill Girls and Magnates (New York: Duell, Sloan, and Pearce, 1949) 88; Helena Wright, "The Uncommon Mill Girls of Lowell," History Today 23.1 (January 1973): 16; Elfrieda B. McCauley, "The Manufacturer's and Village Library in Somersworth, New Hampshire," Historical New Hampshire 27.2 (1972): 105; and Larcom, A New England Girlhood, 232, 239-40. [Return to Text Reference]
15 Larcom, "Among Lowell Mill-Girls," 600, 608. [Return to Text Reference]
16 Denning 3. [Return to Text Reference]
17 Eisler, The Lowell Offering, 99. [Return to Text Reference]
18 Foner, The Factory Girls, 82, 85, 93. [Return to Text Reference]
19 Larcom, "Among Lowell Mill-Girls," 596. [Return to Text Reference]
20 Josephson 87. [Return to Text Reference]
21 Caroline F. Ware, The Early New England Cotton Manufacture: A Study in Industrial Beginnings (New York: Russell & Russell, 1966) 255. [Return to Text Reference]
22 Robinson, Loom and Spindle, 28. [Return to Text Reference]
23 Larcom, A New England Girlhood, 233. [Return to Text Reference]
24 Harriet H. Robinson, Early Factory Labor in New England (Boston: Wright & Potter, 1889) 6. [Return to Text Reference]
25 Robinson, Loom and Spindle, 28. [Return to Text Reference]
26 Josephson 89. [Return to Text Reference]
27 Wright 10. [Return to Text Reference]
28 Larcom, "Among Lowell Mill-Girls," 599. [Return to Text Reference]
29 Samuel P. Hadley, "Reminiscences of Lowell Booksellers," Contributions of the Lowell Historical Society 2 (ca. 1916): 293. [Return to Text Reference]
30 McCauley, The New England Mill Girls, 10, 172. [Return to Text Reference]
31 McCauley, The New England Mill Girls, 172-73. [Return to Text Reference]
32 Hadley 292. [Return to Text Reference]
33 Josephson 88. [Return to Text Reference]
34 McCauley, The New England Mill Girls, 13-14, 167-68. [Return to Text Reference]
35 McCauley, The New England Mill Girls, 169-70. [Return to Text Reference]
36 McCauley, The New England Mill Girls, 137. [Return to Text Reference]
37 Eisler, The Lowell Offering, 31. [Return to Text Reference]
38 McCauley, The New England Mill Girls, 172. [Return to Text Reference]
39 McCauley, The New England Mill Girls, 141. [Return to Text Reference]
40 McCauley, "The Manufacturer's and Village Library," 93. [Return to Text Reference]
41 McCauley, The New England Mill Girls, 59. [Return to Text Reference]
42 McCauley, "The Manufacturer's and Village Library," 97-98, 101-103. [Return to Text Reference]
43 McCauley, "The Manufacturer's and Village Library," 103. [Return to Text Reference]
44 McCauley, The New England Mill Girls, 65. [Return to Text Reference]
45 McCauley, "The Manufacturer's and Village Library," 94. [Return to Text Reference]
46 McCauley, The New England Mill Girls, 143, 178. [Return to Text Reference]
Denning, Michael. "Cheap Stories: Notes on Popular Fiction and Working-Class Culture in Nineteenth-Century America." History Workshop Journal 22 (1986): 1-17.
Eisler, Benita, ed. The Lowell Offering: Writings by New England Mill Women (1840 - 1845). New York: Harper & Row, 1980.
Foner, Philip S., ed. The Factory Girls. Urbana: U of Illinois P, 1977.
Hadley, Samuel P. "Reminiscences of Lowell Booksellers." Contributions of the Lowell Historical Society 2 (ca. 1916): 285-98.
Josephson, Hannah. The Golden Threads: New England's Mill Girls and Magnates. New York: Duell, Sloan, and Pearce, 1949.
Larcom, Lucy. "Among Lowell Mill-Girls: A Reminiscence." The Atlantic Monthly 48.289 (November 1881): 593-612.
Larcom, Lucy. A New England Girlhood: Outlined from Memory. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 1892.
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Robinson, Harriet H. Loom and Spindle, or Life Among the Early Mill Girls. Kailua, Hawaii: Press Pacifica, 1976.
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Wright, Helena. "The Uncommon Mill Girls of Lowell." History Today 23.1 (January 1973): 10-19.
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Horwitz, Richard P. "Architecture and Culture: The Meaning of the Lowell Boarding House." American Quarterly 25.1 (March 1973): 64-82.
Larcom, Lucy. An Idyl of Work. 1875. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood, 1970.
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McCauley, Elfrieda. "Women in Nineteenth-Century New England: A Review Essay." The Journal of Library History 15.1 (Winter, 1980): 71-75.
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Wright, Helena. "Sarah G. Bagley: A Biographical Note." Labor History 20.3 (Summer 1979): 398-413.
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