The industrial revolution in nineteenth-century New England, in the words of the workers.

The Mill Women of Lowell, Massachusetts--the first female industrial wage earners in the United States--were a new social and economic phenomenon in American society. In the 1830s and 1840s, drawn by the highest wages offered to female employees anywhere in America, they sought and found independence and opportunity in the country's first planned industrial community.

Even after long work hours, the women found time and energy to write about their lives and aspirations. From their own literary magazine, the Lowell Offering, here are their letters, stories, essays, and sketches.