What was life like for the mill workers in lowell?
Most textile workers toiled for 12 to 14 hours a day and half a day on Saturdays; the mills were closed on Sundays. Typically, mill girls were employed for nine to ten months of the year, and many left the factories during part of the summer to visit back home.
How were the working conditions for the mill girls?
Between poor building structures, dangerous machinery, crowded boardinghouses, and a variety of frequent accidents, these women Worked at their own risk. Work hazards were compounded by exhaustion, a frequent topic of reporting from inside and outside the mill.
What is true about the lowell mill girls?
The Lowell mill girls were Young female workers who came to work in textile mills in Lowell, Massachusetts, during the Industrial Revolution in the United States. The workers initially recruited by the corporations were daughters of New England farmers, typically between the ages of 15 and 35.
Why did the mill girls work there?
Women wanted to work at these factories for a variety of reasons or, as Farley noted, for no reason at all. Many came To improve their financial stability, such as earning money to pay off their mortgages or to help out their families. Others worked for the experience rather than the money.
What kind of health hazards did workers of the mill face?
Steel Mill Workers and Asbestos. Steel mill workers faced many health hazards, including Exposure to asbestos in insulation, gaskets, boilers, brakes and protective gear. As a result of this exposure, steel mill workers suffer higher rates of mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases.
What life was like in a textile mill village?
Most millhands went to work early in the day and labored for ten to twelve hours straight, amid Deafening noise, choking dust and lint, and overwhelming heat and humidity. Families usually began mill work together, since employers paid adults poor wages and offered jobs to children to help make ends meet.
Where did mill workers live?
Mill hands made their homes in villages owned by the men who employed them. At the turn of the century 95 percent of southern textile families lived in factory housing. For these people, perhaps more than for any other industrial work force in America, the company town established the patterns of everyday life.