Mill Girl - Manchester, NH
Posted by: 
Telomere
N 42° 59.511 W 071° 28.049
19T E 298848 N 4762864
A sculptural monument commemorating women's role in the historic Amoskeag Woolen Mills.
Waymark Code: WM6AW4
Location: New Hampshire, United States
Date Posted: 05/04/2009
Views: 9
In the early 1800's, the "Mill Girl Experiment" sought to entice farm girls to come into the cities; with promises of steady employment, unheard-of wages, structured living, and moral guidance. Many young women did accept the offer, and the woolen mills provided what they had promised. What hadn't been stipulated formed a balance: long hours, dangerous machinery, poisonous air, and unbearable noise levels. This, and the worldly influence of the urban settings which inevitably changed their mannerisms and outlooks, and distanced them from their families and their provenance. The owners of the mills were often demonized for usurping and exploiting their female employees; oratory from pulpits described a slippery slope for the once-scrupulous ladies. In retrospect, they played a crucial role in blending the disparate populations of agricultural and industrial districts, necessary to form a strong, cohesive nation. When the 'experiment' waned, they were each replaced by a newly arrived european immigrant, and the cycle began again. And, although the woolen mills have all been replaced by offices and 'light manufacturing', the work never ends: in 2008, Men's Health magazine named Manchester, NH the 'most overworked city in the nation"!
Sector of the workforce: Female textile workers
Created or Donated by which group: Artist: Antoinette Prien Schultze
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