"Sophie" photo by Lewis W. Hine, 1911, Library of Congress
In
celebration of Women’s History Month, I will be presenting a talk on “The Mill
Girls” - Wednesday, March 14, 2018, at 6:30 p.m. at the South Hadley Public
Library.
At
the dawn of the Industrial Age in the early nineteenth century, New England mill
owners coincidentally spawned another economic revolution: The hiring of thousands of young, unmarried
women to work in the cotton, woolen, and silk textile factories. A huge workforce was needed for the
burgeoning mill towns, and women comprised the biggest untapped labor force in
the United States. The women changed the
economy, they changed society, and they created new opportunities for
themselves. Come follow the adventures of the mill girls of Chicopee, Holyoke,
and South Hadley at the South Hadley Library, 2 Canal Street, South
Hadley. For more information, see the
library website at: http://www.shadleylib.org, or call
413-538-5045.
