Women, Work, and Protest in the Early Lowell Mills: “The Oppressing Hand of Avarice would Enslave Us”

A. Lawrence Lowell, was an impressive accomplishment. In 1820, there had been no city at all—only a dozen family farms along the Merrimack River in East Chelmsford. As Lowell expanded, and became the nation’s largest textile manufacturing center, the experiences of women operatives changed as well. The increasing number of firms in Lowell and in the other mill towns brought the pressure of competition. Overproduction became a problem and the prices of finished cloth decreased. The pre-conditions for the labor unrest in Lowell before 1850 may be found in the study of the daily worklife of its operatives. The mutual dependence among women in early Lowell was rooted in the structure of mill work itself. Living conditions also contributed to the development of community among female operatives. Most women working in the Lowell mills of these years were housed in company boarding houses.