| |
| | Reading Habits: New England Mill Girls |
 | | It was a time when young females--most in their elder teens or early twenties--flocked to the new cotton textile factories, located primarily in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine,[1] to join the labor force. |
 | | Most of the mill girls were native to the New England states, and they came from all walks of life, some being orphans and the rest the daughters of teachers, sea captains, ministers, doctors, businessmen, and especially farmers. |
 | | In their hometowns, the libraries that did exist were proprietary club-like lending institutions, "jointly owned by a select group of professional men and land-owning gentry."[3] Women could use the lending libraries only if they had a familial tie to one of the owners or if they were able to secure (rare) special permission. |
| www.philandsusantolbert.com /research/millgirl.html (2871 words) |
|