Industrial Revolution for Kids: The People and Technology That Changed the World, with 21 Activities
During the Industrial Revolution children like Lucy Larcom and this young cotton spinner worked long hours in textile mills Courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints Photographs Division LC DIG nclc 05382
INTRODUCTION Lucy Larcom 11 Year Old Doffer CCT THOUGHT IT WOULD BE A PLEASURE to feel that I was not a trouble or burden or expense to anybody it really was not hard just to change the bobbins of the spinning frames every three quarters of an hour or so with half a dozen other little girls who were doing the same thing Lucy Larcom wrote those words about her first day as an 11 year old mill girl in Lowell Massachusetts in 1835 At eight years of age Lucy had moved with her mother and siblings from Beverly Massachusetts when her dad died Her mother ran a boardinghouse for women who worked at the Lawrence Manufacturing Company Lucy’s older sisters went to work in the mills and when the family needed more income Lucy began her job as a doffer She spent her days changing sewing bobbins on the water powered looms that spun thread and wove fabric Sometimes Lucy and the other girls explored the mill or played games among the machinery Although the work wasn't hard Lucy did work long hours 5 AM to 7 PM Lucy’s 1 in weekly wages helped the Larcoms keep a roof over their heads and food on their
Lucy occasionally took time to gaze out the window at the Merrimack River as it flowed past the mill In the summer it was difficult for Lucy to stay confined in the mill all day She wished she had wings so she could fly away from the deafening clang of the machines She dreamed of becoming a teacher or a writer Lucy worked at the mill until she was 22 Then she moved with her married sister from Massachusetts to Illinois In 1846 that trip was an adventure The women boarded a steamboat named the Worchester in a snowstorm for the first leg of the 1 000 mile journey There were beds on the boat but they were three wooden shelves or berths one on top of the other Lucy was sandwiched into the middle bed And what made the situation almost unbearable was that Lucy got terribly seasick Sharing the cabin with two other seasick family members and a crying baby made for a nasty trip At Cumberland Maryland Lucy boarded a stagecoach to cross the Allegheny Mountains Nine passengers and a baby spent the night packed into the tight quarters Lucy described it as miserable They caught another boat named the Clipper as they made their way to St Louis Missouri There they spent the night on a canal boat as they waited for repairs to be made to the canal They passed through the locks during the night a very slow trip In the morning they arrived at their destination Illinois's Looking Glass
In Illinois Lucy was able to fulfill one of her dreams After attending the Monticello Female Seminary she took a job as a traveling teacher spending three months at each school before moving on to the next She was paid 14 per month but had to pay 1 25 per week for room and board usually with the family of one of her students When Lucy worked as a doffer in the mill she used to dream of being a teacher But once she fulfilled her dream she may have wished she were back at the mill sometimes especially when she had to deal with unruly students One day one of her students a boy she described as a misbehaving urchin was acting very badly annoying the other students Lucy made the boy sit on a stool away from the other students near the fireplace She turned her back on the boy and I continued to work with the other children When she turned to look at the ſurchin the stool was empty Where was that naughty child The other children directed Lucy’s attention outside where they saw the mischievous boy dancing in front of the school He had escaped by climbing up the fireplace chimney Despite the occasional misbehaving urchin Lucy loved teaching She decided to move back to Massachusetts in 1853 She taught at Wheaton Seminary for several years but left to make a living as a writer She was a very successful writer publishing several books of poetry and a book about her days as a mill
