Episode 31: Brown Lung and Blow Outs: The First Mills and Millworkers in New England

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When Francis Cabot Lowell built the first end-to-end cotton mill in Waltham, MA, he needed workers. Instead of hiring children, like many other factory workers (horrifying), he hired women. The farmers' daughters of New England flocked to mill towns and for the first time ever, made their own money. A decade or so later, many of the New England natives worked alongside Irish immigrants--the first immigrant labor force to work in sizeable numbers in the mills.

As you gear up to celebrate St. Patrick's Day this year, listen in to learn about:

• What it was really like to work in a mill: Poetry pasted on windows--nailed shut

• What the women who worked in the mills had to say about their days in letters home and poetry of their own

• Libraries and Lyceum halls: How mill workers spent their free time (reading!!!)

• The first mill worker-edited and owned magazine

• The Great Famine in Ireland and the harrowing journey many Irish emigrants took to New England towns

• The origin of the word "blow out" to mean a really big party--and what it was celebrating

We think we've uncovered our funnest facts yet in this one, so grab your handcraft of choice and tune in!

Show notes and sources here: https://tinyurl.com/4wy52zze

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