Women at Work: An Oral History of Working Class Women in Fall River, Massachusetts, 1920 to 1970

by Dennis A. Binette

Women at Work documents the lives of a group of working-class women in the city of Fall River during the middle decades of the twentieth century. Their stories provide a first-hand account of labor issues and everyday life during a tumultuous era in the city’s history. It was a time of change, hardship, and recovery, when the city and its residents faced the decline, and ultimate collapse, of the textile industry; the early depression years of the late 1920s; the Great Depression years of the 1930s; and the rise of the female-dominated manufacturing and needle-trade industries. The women profiled in this volume are of Azorean Portuguese, English, French-Canadian, Lebanese, and Polish descent. The progeny of immigrant ancestors who were drawn to the “Spindle City” by the promise of work and betterment, they are interwoven through marriage to form the warp and weft of the fabric that is the city of Fall River. The oral histories of Women at Work tell a Fall River story unique to the time, events, and culture of a city determined to reestablish itself.

416 pages, Paperback

Published May 8, 2017

Reviews

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is probably for the children and grandchildren of the women at work in the early to middle 20th century. It is an interesting journey back to a simpler yet difficult time in Fall River, Massachusetts. All these working women lived through the Depression, most of them working in the needle trades that played a big part in the history of this mill town. Their stories are similar, with hard work, religion, family, and simple pleasures a common theme. But through it all you can see the young women, fun loving and full of hope for their future. The pictures are wonderful and if you grew up in Fall River they take you back to familiar scenes.
This is a must read if your parents or grandparents worked in the mills in Fall River as mine did. The personal stories of these women sheds a light on my own family history and connected me to that history with compassion and understanding.