Talk on the Mill Girls - South Hadley, Massachusetts

"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.