What did Sarah G Bagley do?
Sarah George Bagley (April 19, 1806 – January 15, 1889) was an American labor leader in New England during the 1840s; an advocate of shorter workdays for factory operatives and mechanics, she campaigned to make ten hours of labor per day the maximum in Massachusetts.
Was Sarah Bagley successful?
Radical Reformer In 1844, the Lowell Female Labor Reform Association (LFLRA) was founded, becoming one of the earliest successful organizations of working women in the United States, with Sarah Bagley as its president.
Who opposed Sarah Bagley reforms?
Charles Fourier
The 10-hour movement largely disintegrated in 1846 following the legislature’s refusal to act, and Bagley, her health declining, turned to a utopian philosophy of social reform espoused by Charles Fourier.
Why is Sarah Bagley important to the history of the American labor movement?
Sarah Bagley was a famous labor leader in Lowell during the 1840s. And she—as a labor leader, she at one point published the Voice of Industry, which was an important newspaper in that labor movement. She corresponded with a lot of important political figures and reformers. And this is part of her correspondence.
What did the Lowell female Labor Reform Association do?
Preamble & Constitution of the Lowell Female Labor Reform Association. Before changing the name to the Lowell Female Industrial Reform and Mutual Aid Society in 1847, the Lowell women created the Lowell Female Reform Association, whose main purpose was to lobby for reform in the factories.
Who was the mill girl who organized the first union?
It was worse than “the poor peasant of Ireland or the Russian serf who labors from sun to sun.” Lucy Larcom started as a doffer of bobbins when she was only 12 and “hated the confinement, noise, and lint-filled air, and regretted the time lost to education,” according to one historian.
What were the two main goals of the Lowell female Labor Reform Association?
The associations two’ main goals were to influence an investigation of working conditions by the Massachusetts state legislature and go obtain a 10-hour workday. She pushed for this rule to apply not only to federal jobs, to to private businesses as well.
What was Lowell’s vision?
His vision of the American textile factory differed from what he saw in Great Britain. America did not have a domestic cotton textile industry but depended on cloth imported from Great Britain and India. The factory he planned to build near Boston would create new jobs rather than replace home spinners and weavers.
What was life like for a Lowell girl?
These women worked in very sub-par conditions, upwards of 70 hours a week in grueling environments. The air was very hot in these rooms that were full of machines that generated heat, the air quality was poor, and the windows were often closed.
What troubles did the mill girls face?
The demands of factory life enabled these women to challenge gender stereotypes. Over time, adult women would displace child labor, which an increasing number of factory owners, such as Lowell, were disinclined to hire.
When did the Lowell mills close?
The wartime demand for labor seemed to bring an end to the depression in Lowell that had begun with the mill closings in 1926.
How long was a typical workday in Lowell?
Factory workers regularly put in 12-hour days and 68-hour workweeks. By 1840 the workweek in the major mill town of Lowell, Massachusetts averages 74 hours.