WAR INTERNATIONAL

Just in case anyone was wondering...that website for the Women At Risk International is

warinternational.org

It's an amazing website and there are even stores located around the Grand Rapids area where you can buy jewelry also!

Mary Paul

As I said I would, I spent the last couple days looking into the normal lives of mill girls and their backgrounds. I looked through my stack of books again and found a book that I had skimmed and nit picked, and decided to look more closely at it. The Book I found is called FARM TO FACTORY. It follows the lives of 4 ordinary mill women through their letters and correspondence with family and then proceeds to discuss what each letter is about and what's happening at that time. When I first looked at the book back in Oct. I had decided to use the woman Mary Paul in my paper to catch the readers attention and then I decided to weaver her throughout the paper saying here and there what Mary might have thought about certain situations. I think that it keeps the paper alive and creditable.
The reason I'm saying all this is to let you know that it helps a lot to just go back over information; even if you think you might know everything about your topic and your paper is golden. I went back over FARM TO FACTORY and just one sentence got me thinking and helped me a lot this past weekend. It was a section I'd skimmed over the first time reading through the book and it was all about how the women were the crucial ones to the city of Lowell and how it was really them who began and ran the community, with of course the men steering them in certain directions based on how fatherly they were feeling. It really helps going back over and over materials. You never know what you might have missed. I'd start with the ones you didn't spend too much time on because you thought it didn't have any info that would be relevant to your topic other than a couple sentences.

Sneak Peek!

I wanted to post some images from my presentation on here in case I go quickly through them during my  presentation!

These are the boardinghouses that were near the Boott Mill.
Many of the boarding houses were demolished or were burnt to the ground. The Lowell Heritage State Park has built replicas of many of the boardinghouses. 

This is a map of the canal system in 1845

If you wanna check out some volumes of THE VOICE OF INDUSTRY go to this website: http://www.voiceofindustry.info/   I <3 it! 

The great and mighty clock tower is pictured here. The concept of keeping time and working on a schedule was difficult for the new Mill girls to adjust to. Having their lives run by a clock and bell was the hardest part. 

Many images that were produced by the mill were not accurate. If a picture had actually been taken there would have been lint particles flying all over (it would have looked like snow) and it would have been a very dark surrounding. 

The regulations had to be kept by the women or termination of their employment would have been likely. It would have been most difficult to be watched constantly by a keeper. 

Making connections

Presentations are going great so far! Congrats to everyone!! I was ready to go on Thursday, so having a homework assignment done this early is kind of a shocker!

I've been working on my paper even more this weekend. I've been trying to make more and more connections between the boardinghouse environment, Maya, and then Now. I've figured out that I need to do less background on the factory and then add a section about the background of the women. Also, I need to work on the men section. Basically, the only reason they were in the community was overseers or potential husbands! But, I'm trying to connect them to compare how this boardinghouse system worked specifically to the women in Lowell and how it was the women who made up the community in Lowell. The men had a part in it, but the boarding system didn't apply to them in the same way.

I'm looking at Maya again because I'm trying to examine how the women's backgrounds affected their experiences and new individuality in Lowell.

I definitely am starting to realize that I need to focus more on the women instead of just the history. There's just so much to tell. Just as Fine said in REO Joe, I don't want to get the story wrong and misconstrue what actually happened. 

Prezi

Hey!

I've decided that I'm going to do Prezi for my presentation instead of a power point. If you don't know what a Prezi is then you should look it up because it's a great alternative to power points. I'm basically putting everything I though was interesting, but didn't incorporate into my paper. Yes, I will be talking about my paper and key points I layed out in it, but I gotta make it interesting! haha! A couple of weeks ago when I was researching I was scouring a lot of Issues of "The Voice of Industry." I think I mentioned before that I found a great website where all the Volumes were posted, so I'm taking examples from that and adding them to my presentation. I think it should be good. I haven't presented in front of a class since fall semester last year...so I don't know how that's gonna go, but yea. It should be good.

If you go to www.prezi.com it should take you right to the website! It's free for students.

See you tomorrow! I can't wait to hear about everyones projects!

Just been working.

Not a lot has changed. I've just been working on my research paper still even though the rough draft has been handed in. I really need to incorporate more outside issues that were occurring at the time into my paper. Of course I know what's been happening, but making sure it gets added into my paper is what the problem is.

Also, I've been working on my final project. A few posts ago I added a link to a website where there was a game you could play to see how your experience as a Lowell Mill Girl would turn out. I think I'm going to go along the lines of that and try to incorporate that into my presentation somehow....still working out the details though.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Question

Should we be using pictures or examples in our research papers?

I know for the power point yes, but in the paper??

I feel like I love my topic too much!

Haha! I love reading all the diaries, poems, news paper clips, and letters. It seems like I have to force myself to do other homework, so that I'm not just neglecting my classes and focusing on this one...even though I'd love to do that!

Okay, so basically I've finished my outline and I'm writing....A LOT! What's great is that while I'm writing, my topic is starting to *click*!

I went to the library and got to look at some microfiche; super interesting! I needed some info that I knew this sample would give me, so I dragged a study party there and spent a good hour chillin' in the copy center. I found a copy of a 50pg book that was all about the boardinghouse living and, also, it gave me an interesting look into what kind of injuries the women would get while working. You'd think that with all the resources I have I'd have at least a chapter in one of them telling me about everything that could or did went wrong, but nope! So, I'm going to keep looking into that a little bit more.

I'm sure I'll start having problems soon...I just haven't found them yet. I'm trying to stay positive!

Have a great day!

Census and Voice

So, this weekend I did a lot of work pulling my resources together and creating an outline

I also did a lot of searching through census records, but it's kind of difficult because I've narrowed my research down to the years 1845-1847 (I'm still narrowing), but most women only stayed in the area for a few years at a time, so most of the specific women I search aren't coming up. But, what the sensus records are giving me are ages. It's a solid example of what the age range was in this community.

Then I was going through some saved files and came upon a site I'd forgotten about. It was a database with scanned copies of the "Voice of  Industry," a popular newspaper which was first published in 1845 and was last published in 1848. It has lots of advertisements, more stories written by the women, and common comings and goings form the town.

I was really happy when I found it!

Hope everyone is doing great!

oh..

Oh and I finally got my MelCat today......7days later. So, if you find something order it soon.

FIND: American Notes

I was able to come across in my searches one day an article written by Charles Dickens and he gives a very well written account of his visit to the factory. What I like about his account is that, although he left out many details, he wrote a lot about the lives of the women in the boardinghouses and at work. One section of this article I specifically liked was:
            I am now going to state three facts, which will startle a large class of readers on this side of the
            Atlantic very much. Firstly, there is a joint-stock piano in a great many of the boardinghouses.
            Secondly, nearly all these young ladies subscribe to circulating libraries. Thirdly, they have got up
            among themselves a periodical called THE LOWELL OFFERING, "a repository of original articles,
            written exclusively by females actively employed in the mills," -- which is dulyy printed, published, and
            sold; an whereof I brought away from Lowell four hundred good solid pages, which I have read from
            beginning to end.

After reading his chapter on Lowell, I had an even better understanding of the factories. Although he never compares factories of Manchester (which were horrible horrible horrible) to that of Lowell, this chapter gives me a definite impression that, for the times, the women's positions in the factories were not that bad. They were getting an education, living in warm boardinghouses, being fed, attending up-lifting religious ceremonies, gossiping, creating fashion styles, and writing freely. For the first time these women were able to live in an area where they didn't have to live under their fathers or husbands rules.

huh...I wonder what the men thought of this. I shall find out tomorrow!

Dickens, Charles, "IV An American Railroad. Lowell and It's Factory System," American Notes, (New York: St. Martin's, 1985), 61-62. 

Success!

Success on Mel Cat!!!! It's really easy requesting material online. I'm waiting to see how getting the two books I ordered online through the system before I order the microfilm. Also, just by being on the website I was able to find many other resources I could think about getting. Now that I've gotten general background on the mill and how it works I'm really starting to concentrate on the boardinghouse life. That means lots of diaries, newspapers, and letters that I'm going to search through. Everything's on it's way and because we don't have class on Thursday I'm still going to wake up and work on all my research project because I am a little behind and I don't want to be!!!

One question though; if anyone can help me out. Will I just get an email when my books come in? I'm assuming that's how it works, but I'm kinda unsure. Anyway! See you in class!

Haven't worked much.

Hey!

So, I went home this past weekend and..yea....didn't get that much done on my topic. But, I have been reading our homework and I like this book a lot more than "Maya of Morganton." I like how she's looking right into the community and how she gives us brief information on the beginning of Lansing and the Industry. After doing the reading, it draws me to the conclusion that I think I'm trying to look for conflict within the community instead of the just looking at the community as a whole. That I'm trying to find what made the women and men of the Lowell tick, when I should just be looking to find what the women and men did around town.
Because of this, I'm going to be searching more deeply into newspapers to find what activities were going on. Also, I really want to know what types of ethnicities came to Lowell at this industrial age and how that affected living situations within the boarding houses. So I think I'm going to start with ancestry.com through MSU to see if there are any census records available and then move on from there.

tut tut for now!
See you in class.

Gathering My Thoughts--LateNightStyle

Great game today!!!!! Go Green!

Basically, I've been trying to gather my thoughts around this topic. Trying to get resources and everything still. I'm a very visual learner and there's a lot that I want to incorporate into the paper, so I've created a poster board of notes! Haha!

Haha! This is my board....It's kinda my version of a web. 

As I've been going through my information so far, I've found that I need just a little something more, so I'm going to the library tomorrow....again. 

I found a cool website though, where you could make life choices as if you were a mill girl. It's really short, but it gives you some great background information:

http://www.uml.edu/tsongas/bringing-history-home/page_00/index.htm

It's neat! Anyway, I'll write more again soon. 

A little reading here, a little reading there.......

So, I've basically started reading a couple of the books that I got from the library on Friday. One that I'm focusing on tonight is "The Lowell Offering: Writings by New England Mill Women (1840-1845)." In this collection there are letters to home which describe first moments of walking into the mill, meeting other young women, and living in the close quarters of the boarding houses. I get more and more excited as I read on, but I know that I still have a lot more to learn and I definetly need to be putting this assignment at the top of my list.

I'm actually starting to put some of my thoughts down on to paper and I'm starting to take the advice that the "Craft of Research" gives us to narrow my topic down.

I've added a video thing to the top of my page. Hopefully it will keep only videos from the mills, but I'm not sure what will happen with it.

I hope all of you are doing well in your research!

Library Daze

Hey everyone!

I went to the MSU Main Library today and got a few books! When I went there I already searched online for some books. So, I found those and before I left I decided to take a look at some of the encyclopedias. Let me just say, I feel like it's so much easier to look up what your looking for then online. They also gave me some ideas for other searches.

So, if you haven't yet, take a look at the encyclopedias when you go to the Library!!!

Research of the Day!

After reading from the book "The Maya of Morganton" by Leon Fink, after today's class, and after learning about the Poultry Factory and the way that they process the chickens I wanted to search a little bit about the Boott Cotton Mill today. I am a very visual learner, so I sought assistance from YouTube.com! I then was able to find numerous videos of the machines that the women use to work with. Yay!!!!

Here's one I found:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTmYV3J5JU4&feature=player_embedded

The video is of the Mill Room at the Boott factory in Lowell, Mass. Notice how the machines are incredibly loud. What the Mill Girls would have to do is  stand at these looms for 12-14 hours a day, along with having to breath in the cotton that flew around the factory called the "White Hell" and they would have to worry about getting fingers, clothing, or hair stuck in the machines. More on what their duties were with the machines soon! I'm still gathering sources on that one....

"White Hell" example. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbiwINt3FlU&feature=related

This clip is from North and South (2004) by BBC and I remembered it from a History 202 last semester. It's a great example of the what it would have looked like in the mills. 

Bah! The more I find the more and more excited I get. I'm really at the stage where I'm starting to map out what I'm going to even write about in the paper. Such as, what topics I find are most valuable for my paper. 

After class today, I know I'm going to discuss:

*How the business began. (background information)

*Why the women came to work in the mills.

*If there were many immigrants that came to work in the Boott Cotton Mill specifically. 

*Working Conditions is going to be a strong point. 

*Living conditions

*Voices of Protest

*I really want to see how Men played a role in the Women's lives. There were men around, so I want to know how they treated the women. 

That's just some of the stuff I'm still thinking about, but I want to try and incorporate into my paper. 

Hopefully tomorrow if it's not raining too hard I'll get to the Library! If not I'll spend a little bit more time doing some initial research online. Later-gators! 

“Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.” ~ Zora Neale Hurston

Right now, I'm just trying to learn the basics of the company and Lowell, Massachusetts before I even begin. Basics on the mill, the town, the set up, etc. But, what I'm concerned about is finding Primary Sources and, so, I've been spending most of my time exploring the resources available through MSU.
I'm very excited though because I found that the MSU Library holds a book of "The Lowell Offering" which is a periodical written by the women and for the women working in the mills at the time. Also, during my searches I've found various micro-form copies of the periodical. To tell the truth, secondary sources are not that difficult to find because whenever I search Women's Rights and "Lowell Mill Girls" together, there are always a couple books that appear.

As a back up plan, I've been reading a little bit on Lumber Camps in Northern Michigan. I grew up in Petoskey and have always learned about them in school or I've visited historical sites. So, I feel like that would be an interesting topic. The job was not easy and they got paid very little for how much physical stress was put on during the job. Also, many of the men had to stay away from home for months on end. It's just an option. I am pursing the Lowell Mill Girls though as my topic and I'm very excited.

Hopefully, I'll make it to the library soon with all my searches and find what I need. Tomorrow I'll write more of what basics I've found.

Late Night Comments

The Lowell “Mill Girls” where considered lowest on the food chain when they went to work in the mills. In Europe, it was considered horribly dangerous to a woman’s purity and virtue to work in the mills in Lowell, Massachusetts. But, because the women wanted to send a brother to college to get an education or because it was another opportunity to leave home and work “Mill Girls” went through the harsh criticism and worked extremely long hours in tremendously horrible conditions  to make just to make some money. This was the way of the “mill girls” for the longest time. These women lived, worked, and struggled together every day for months on end. Some were immigrants looking for opportunity and some were American farm girls looking to make some money.

Basically, I’m really starting to look into this specific topic of the Lowell "Mill Girls." I find this topic of the “Mill Girls” fascinating because they really began to pave the way for women’s rights by setting up news papers, protesting through "turn-outs" and strikes, and forming the Lowell Female Labor Reform Association. Also, suddenly there were jobs open to women that weren't only cleaning or sewing. Although it wasn’t the most sought after job in town, it was still a job that many flocked to because it allowed them to have some monetary freedom, even if they sent it all away to their brothers. 

What's also interesting is that because they had their own publishings there are some books that have written accounts from women working in the mills. I know I'm going to be reading a lot, but I can't wait! 






                      
Some of the girls working at the mill could've been as young as 10 and were usually as old as 26, but there were some women who were middle aged who worked in the mill.
This is an image of the mill in Lowell on a busy work day. The mill, although, is no longer operational is still a major feature of the city today. 

Some pics to go along with my first post.

 
Troy's Collar Workers in NY    Mill Girl in Lowell, Massachusetts

First Time Blogger!

Hello!

My name is Morgan and as of right now this is the first time I've ever opened and written on a blog! I’m a sophomore and I’m still exploring my options for a major within the College of Social Science. I’m trying to find the right fit for me and what I want to do with my life and it's turning out to be very difficult because there are so many awesome subjects to gain knowledge on. But, History seems to be the one subject that keeps drawing me closer to my decision. I've taken one history class which was last semester in the spring and I had history throughout high school as well! 

My favorite time periods that I find interesting range from pre-colonial to about World War Two in the United States and what really fascinates me within those time periods are the adventures and struggles that women went through constantly. Learning how they went on day by day fighting for their rights, learning how different women were treated over time in different communities in the U.S, learning about the women who went on to the battlefields during the first Wars of this country, and learning about the women who were the first to explore every part of this country is just so interesting to me.

 I'm looking forward to this project and already looking at ideas. See you in class!