Thursday, June 12, 2014

Boott Cotton, Lowell, MA and Everett Mill, Lawrence, MA

The last day of our tour we visited Boot Cotton Mill in Lowell, MA and the Everett Mill in Lawrence, MA. Prof. Robert Forrant, a labor historian at UMass Lowell, led our tour.  He provided a rich description of the mills and labor history of Lowell and Lawrence.

In Boott Mill, we saw working looms.  They are very loud, and we wore hearing protection during that part of the tour.  Afterward, we walked through the museum, and learned about the workers, the process, and the history of cotton mill work.

In Lawrence, we went to the Everett Mill, the location of the Bread and Roses strike in 1912.  We walked through town to see how massive the mills were, and the amount of real estate that they took up.  Our final stop in Lawrence was at the Pemberton Mill, where the building collapsed due to inadequate construction.  Over 100 workers died in the collapse and subsequent fire (tourlawrence.org).

Thanks to everyone on the tour for making this a great experience!  











5 comments:

jem said...

The bread and roses strike: not enough only to buy bread, but to buy some roses, too.

Alicia Jaggernauth said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Alicia Jaggernauth said...

The history about the Cotton Mills is one of my favorites. Because of the many strikes and countless deaths that took place, we can be grateful for the impact it has made throughout history and still does till this day.

Unknown said...

This hot and humid morning, I realized (again) how brutal it must have been for those millworkers working 12 hours a day in the heat of summer. The Historical Perspectives Tour is invaluable for it's stark reminders of why we fight for workers health and safety.

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