Farm to Factory

by Thomas Dublin (Editor)

Between 1820 and 1860, tens of thousands of single women streamed from rural New England to find work in the burgeoning factory towns of the region. In "Farm to Factory" Thomas Dublin has selected five sets of letters in order to provide a personal view of the first generation of American women employed for wages outside their own homes. The letters he has selected provide a unique perspective on early industrial capitalism and its effects on women.

The second edition of what has become a classic work contains a new introduction, placing the women's correspondence in the context of broader economic developments in early-nineteenth-century New England, and a new set of letters written by Emeline Larcom from Lowell, Massachusetts. Like thos in the first edition, these letters will lure you back in time, offering a broadened view of women's lives in the nineteenth century.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Womens

217 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1982

Reviews

[Rogue Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Women's opportunities to work in factories and towns to supplement the family income and surprisingly, often to earn a dowry. Correspondence quoted extensively with footnotes making further reading and understanding really easy.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting subject. However being letters there’s a lot of X sends live, Y is ill, Z had a baby. So a three if you just want a good book to read.

[Rye Thomasdatter]

I really enjoyed reading history through these letters. I will probably look for collections like this again.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting look into the lifes of women working outside of the home in the New England clothing factories of the 19th century through their letters to family and vice versa. It is a look at the economics of the time, the few choices availble for jobs for women, the community that the women formed away from their families. Informative peak into that time period and what hard work the women did and expected to do even as the Civil War started, cotton became scarce and factories began to shut down. Those that continued to operate, cut the wages back as there were so many women who needed the work.

[ػᶈᶏϾӗ]

This was interesting. I liked the lady who moved on to a utopian community the best.