A Mill Girl's Story

The Industrial Revolution in America was in full swing during the early 1800s. At that time, agents of the Boston Manufacturing Company of Lowell, Massachusetts traveled the countryside recruiting Yankee girls from farms and villages. Their promises of monthly cash wages and pleasant accommodations enticed girls to leave home to go to work in the cotton textile mills. At the same time, a growing number of New England farm families faced severe economic difficulty.

As was typical for the times, Elizabeth Harney had completed her formal education by the age of ten. Girls faced lives of domestic chores, marriage, and motherhood; there were few respectable ways for a girl to earn money. Elizabeth signed a contract promising to obey the company regulations. Excited about her prospects for independence, she agreed to work at the mill for at least one year.

Once Elizabeth arrived in Lowell, she learned that she would be required to work fourteen hours every weekday and eight hours on Saturdays. Her starting wage was $1 per week with half deducted for room and board. Elizabeth lived in a company-owned boarding house with a "house mother" who strictly enforced the rules. There were eight girls crowded into each cramped room, two per bed. The strong community of girls influenced Elizabeth's manner of speaking and dress and helped her adjust to factory life.

Elizabeth started out as a "doffer", changing the bobbins on the spinning machines. Her small size enabled her to maneuver around the machines. Elizabeth wrote to her family and sent money to them when she could. Spirited, determined "mill girls" like Elizabeth helped to forge the path for future generations of women; those prepared to make sacrifices in order to gain financial independence.









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