Petition
to the Massachusetts Legislature
We the undersigned, peaceable, industrious, hard-working men and women of Lowell, in view of our condition, -the evils already come upon us, by toiling from thirteen to fourteen hours per day, confined in unhealthy apartments, exposed to the poisonous contagion of air, vegetable, animal and mineral properties, debarred from proper Physical exercise, time for mental discipline and Mastication cruelly limited; and thereby hastening us… to a premature grave – pray the Legislature to institute a ten-hour working day in all the Factories of the State.
The following fictitious "signatures" have been received.
| Shian Thomas Tabitha Thomas Lydia Worthen Catharine Edwards margaret Chartland Harriet Robinson Lucy Larcom Angela Corliss, Emlily mckay Elizabeth Smith leah sussman Margret Olter marcia spaise |
Tania Santini Andy DiNunzio Taina Santos Nicole Salvati shane latorella Kristina Barbaro mailisa christian Joe Jacobs Bob Butterscotch Marland Monroe keith Smith Lyddia Worthin victoria sorrentino |
harrit tubman tiffany Mika Rihotochi Kayama Mika akua-nikin Meghan King Edwina May Boateng Kumi John Feeley Karen Iyere Abraham Jessica Mitchell Rebekah Katie Colleran |
Brittany James Erin O' Donoghue joanna d'ambrosio Iris Kunnal Lauren Nicole veronica lil Sarah Bagley Hermione Granger Abigail Hanson Anna Riley Lyddie Worthern alexandra velazquez kevin arango |
My name is Anna and I work at J.L Mill corporation and I am writing to you saying that the work conditions in the mill are a disgrace. I am coughing right now I am becoming very sick! I can't take it anymore until you guys better our settings and conditions. We wont make cloth! When we arrive at the mills we are perfectly well when we leave. We are either dead or not able to get out of bed.
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I worked for 14 hours a day, Lilia May |
we cant take this tony |
I agree about signing the petion because the girls were getting paid half of what men got paid and that wasn't fair. To add to this there was dust in the air and peole got sick. Changing the hrs. was a good thing to do because the girls didn't get enough sleep andthey had to get up early . You can imagine what they had to go through. So I would sign the petion.
We the mill girls have to tell you some uncomtarble situations that we face working on the mills. first of all we have to wake up really early. It feels like if we just blink and the bell ring that is time to work. We have to get ready and wash up. We have to huury up and we ready so whenb the bell rings we are ready to live the bording house. We have to wait two hors until we eat breackfast. it seems so long until the bell rings that we have breackfast. We have to hurry like if we are animals and don't have enough time to finish. Sometimes I have to hurry a lot that I go to the mill with a huge stomach ache. We have to work three hors more until is lunch time. While we are working it seems like is for ever. We have to be carefull with our hair so it won't tangle on the machines. We have to stand up for hours and we also have to hear the loud noise that the machines make. Then the bell rings and it's time for lunch and like I said we have to rush to eat the food. Then again we have to work and it seems like an iternity or in another words for ever. Then finally the bell rings for supper and it's time to eat supper. We have little time to go and shop or to learned. then the bell rings and it's time to go to bed. We all too tire and in the blink of the eye it's time to wake up!!!!!!!!
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Here's a poem describing how most of us females feel about
the wages and salaries we recieve: |
Here i am, a factory girl, Barilla |
We the mill girls have sweat our last breath. we cannot take this pity . working 14 hrs. a day is too much for us. Who should go through all that? The rules are killing us. especially when we eat, we have to eat like we are animals hunting. What kind of girl wants to live like that? the way they judge us is another thing !! The amount of respect that we take in is part of our dignity. With this jobwe want you to change the harsh rules that you require us to do. The air is very dusty and we breathe that into our lungs. People getting sick is not a very good thing to do. The only advantage to this job is the freetime we get to do. I protest morality, respect, and better working conditions.
Jason: In the mill, mill girls hard, but for some reasons they quit because the working conditions in the mill are bad. You know why because windows were closed just to make the fabric good. Why? Because inside the mill workers are hot and sweaty. They even complain about the wages/salary, and especially the working hours.
Hi! My name is Emmelne Larcom, I am a worker in the mill. The condition of the factory is bad. The air in the weaving is fill of cotton, this cause the brown lung disease. The temperature is very hot, almost everyday is like summer. No window is open. Not only the condition is bad, also the the rules are strict. For example, we always have to follow the bell. We don't have much time to eat nor sleep. The wage we can made is only two to three dollar a week.
DEAR HALLY, HI! IT'S ME MISHY! I'M SORRY I HAVE NOT BEEN WRITING TO YOU! I HAVE TO WORK 12-14 HOURS A DAY AND ONLY GET PAID $2-$3.50. WE HAVE TO FOLLOW THE BELL SCHEDULE TO KNOW WHAT WE HAVE TO DO NEXT. IN THE MILL DUST AND LINT IS FILLING THE AIR. IT IS VERY HOT AND I FEEL LIKE FAINTING. WELL I WILL WRITE TO YOU AGAIN SOMETIME SOON. MISHY
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We have so many dreams to dream, |
I work twelve to fourteen hours a day |
We worked about l4 hours a day |
Jay D.: I hate all of the side effects of working at the mill.
Piglet: I will sign this because like last night i was watching this incredibly intresting show called The Little Mermaid....so it got me thinking..if Flounder and Ariel were such a great team together and could fight Irsala togetherthan i do believe that the Mill Grls can do it also!!!!!!!!
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We have so many dreams to dream, |
WORKING IN THE MILL, WORKING HARD EVERYDAY; |
Oh! I can not stand this place no more!! |
Bridget Ghidoni: I will sign this petition because I think that working the way we do for 12-14hrs without being able to sit. On top of that we breath cotton dust, get low wadges, and very little education!
Elise Abatha-Smith: I will sign the petition because I need to stick up for what i want and the rights to my " girls". All we do is work 11 hours and day, breath in cotton dust, get low wages,varicose veins, long hours, lack of opportunity for education, and generally being treated like slaves. I do not need to be treated like this but I understand, I think?
xOx MaNdEeE!xOx: I am singing this petition because I do not think that forteen year girls should work for 10 hours a day and six days a week, but it is better than 14 hour days. Also, if you do not get payed what you want, you should really have a problem with that! I do not think any girl that young should have to do that much work and if they did, then they should want to, and get payed the proper amout of money!
Cortney Jodoin: The reason I am signing the ten hour petition is because they expect us to do such great work while we work in the mills. Since we work 14 hours a day we are going to get tired. How can they expect tired people to be able to do work. They would see if we had ten hour days instead I am sure that our work would inprove and we would feel better too. Also we live in shaggy apartments that could get us sick. The more people that get sick the less people they have to work for them. We need better shelter and if we get a better shelter and not to mention better food then less of us would die of disease's and there would be more people to work in the mills and in turn more work would get completed. Thank You for your time.
Banana: The reason why i'm goin to sigh the petitioon is because i think working as a young girl, at this age ,that long is not right. Also the older woman are getting sick and they act like they dont care, and when they said they would take care of us and they are not!
cha cha chica!: I will sign this petition because I will stand up for others.By the time i get out of work i am way too tired to even eat. then, in the morning i must get up early and leave so i don't even get to eat.Our lunch breaks, i fall asleep then the bell wakes me up when it is time to go to work again. so, clearly, i am very weak and hungry that is why i am signing this petition.
carolyn baber: I was weeding the garden and my father approached me. He sarted to speek to me.He told me about working in a factory. He told me me the types of things they do there. it startled me. i didn't want to think about living away from home but i know i was doin a good deed for my family. so i went off to work. i sent home money to my family every week. i got really home-sick. i missed my family and i missed the house, but i got used to it. so that is my story.
justin fellows: they don't need to work 14 hours a day
. 10 is much better.Benjamin Garber: It is not just to work the women this much.
Sandy Hill: Exposure to environmental and health conditions that will lead to an early death. Too long of hours. It's unfair to women.
Betsey Goss: My good friend Alice died because she was hit in the head by a spindle and the overseer didn't care about helping her!
| Oh isn't it a pity such a pretty girl as I should be sent to the factory to pine away and die? Oh I cannot be a slave oh I will not be a slave for i'm so fond of liberty that i cannot be a slave! |
I want freedom, I don't want to be a slave, give me freedom, or better working conditions, I don't need lot of money, I want to be safe, so give it to me today. |
I AM A FACTORY GIRL I WORK HARD FOR THE MONEY I SHALL BE PAID MORE FOR THE WORK I DONE IF NOT I'LL NOT WORK FOR YOU I WANT MORE THAN TWO DOLLARS I AM A FACTORY GIRL UnKnOwN Snoey |
| Oh! how pretty and how pity to be a girl who works in the mill Working under harsh conditions Long hours and less pay Working fourteen hours a day and get $2.00 per week? Harsh conditions don't give me any option to escape the desert Wearing long dress and long sleeve shirts while I'm working. Sweat makes us stink Let's act against them to get new clothes and new wages In the mill, we're treated like slaves I'm not free because I'm sourrounded by rules I want freedom! Forcing us to go to church is stupid! I don't want rules I am not a slave; I can't be slave. |
All day we work But not much breaks, We work 14 hours a day That's too much; Ten hours please. Our wages is too less for only 14 hours It's not fair; $2-3.50 a week. Increase our wages, We wored hard and its tired. The curfew bell is at 10pm, And have to go to church on Sundays Inside is hot and stuffy, All windows are closed for frabic to moist. It's really loud and crowded With lots of machines and looms, Hair might get caught in machines. |
Amelia Allen: The mill is working us like animals! I know that signing this petition will make me lose my job and be blacklisted,but the world needs to know that the mill girls will not be silenced!
William Hartford: these are harsh conditions with little pay
Karen Sierra: I am going to sign the petition because the girls and me have been working for 14 hours a day and it is only right for us to have to work 10 hours a day.
ana zapata: we have worked for over 14 hours a day i think we should recive a dicrease in our hours.
Lyddia Worthen: I have had a long time to think about this and the mills are wrong. They make young children ill and have the children that do live work with everything they have.
Anna Giddings: 14 hour days are unfair
Lynn Maisel: I need time to take care of my family's personal business without worrying about losing my job.
Nicholas Holden: 13 hours is way too long, especially with bad working conditions.
Trisha Williams: It is wrong that we work so hard for so long for such small wages
Maggie Smith: We need more time to relax and get ready for the next day of work...
Yes, I will sign the ten-hour petition because I think it's very important to let women have their freedoms to work less hours. I also agree with the petition because IT's very unfair for women to work forteen hours a day in the harsh conditions and get low paid. It's violence.
Anna Chin: I want my 10 hour work day back because we are all ired of working for 14 hours a day
Takato: Working all day is very tiring and stressfull, its not
very good for the heart.
They have lives out side the mill and they woun't be able to see to its fullest
Jay Ann: To reduce the hours of the hard wroking people in the mill
Mill girls should be able to have less hours to work because of the breathing conditions. They should be able to have breaks for at least ten minutes to get some fresh air and some exerise. Working nonstop, and breathing unhealthy air is unreasonable
Ms Gray's students: I'll sign the petition because working for 13 to 14 hours makes you really tiring. And even if you get a lot of money you'll have to use all your money for doctor because you get sick faster for working so long without stopping.
Dusty Dan: I think it is the correct thing to do. I wouldn't want to see the mills girls or myself suffer in any way.There is no reason why the mills can treat us [millgirls] as slaves. We are humans, and they deserve there rights. let us be Free
| Is this the Life of the girls of this day? Is this the price we have to Pay? Slaves, its the truth. Yes we are. Is this the truth of this horrible mill? Is this the truth of America's Will? Slaves, its the truth. Yes We are. |
O'why, O'why must we work for little or no wage? O'why must we be in danger of getting sick or dying? O'why must we have to dress in tight dresses? O'why must you work us to death for over 12 hours? O'why do you think we can work for many hours and not need a break? We are human beings so we beseech you to treat us like one! |
RuBeE: I signed the petition because its true that we're breathing in the poison air, and we don't have enough time to rest or do anything from the 13 hours or work
Women deserve better they are our equals they are our mothers, sisters, aunts and grandmothers how will you feel if your mother is working on those horrible conditions dying jut for a couple bucks
Terrell:
The mill girls are working too hard,13 hours a day,they should reduce it to ten.May: I think ten hours is fair for everyone. If we work more will would be really tired to work the next day, so ten hour is fine.
I think working over more than 10 hours should be illegal. We humans are not machines
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when i wake in the morning i have to work all day until my back start soring then again i see my boss walking i just want to toss something |
Our work is like not a typical work everyday. We work 13 or more hours a day and not paid enough We women don't have any certain rights The American flag stands for freedom and justice and RIGHTS FOR ALL. |
We are mill girls we wake we work we weave we wait we are hot our hearts pound with pain we bleed we blister we are mill girls. |
Auron: Because women should also have rights of their own.
"WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS TO BE SELF-EVIDENT THAT ALL MEN ARE CREATED
EQUAL."
Lindsey Helitzer: I hate the low wages, dirty, dusty, filthy air, and the machines are very dangerous
Elizabeth Gurley Flynn: The number of hours of work; the manner in which the work is supposed to be done; and the injustice of those doing the actual work not getting proper compensation --- The industrial wage system is cruel and unusual punishment.
Sarah Brown: The working conditions of the Lowell Mill are terrible. We work 14 hours a day with only a half hour break for dinner and breakfast. The rooms that we sleep in are so small and crowded. We are payed nothing more than $1 a day or even $12 a month. We are being treated cruelly. Working conditions need to be improved...quickly!!
Leah Dziduch: Better working conditions and pay all the way! You go Lowell Mills petition signers!
Cathleen Mills When I first came to the mills the girls were treated well. Now it is like we are slaves...
Lydia Worthen: i htink that the hours are to long for what we are getting paid
Dianna Goss: The 14 hour days are horrible, the working conditions are dangerous and unhealthy. Atleast 7 people a week have got black lung. This is not a proper working facility. The wages have been cut more then once! We mill girls are dieing from coughs and need a break to get medicine and fresh air i feel very sick and need help.
lydia worthen: because i want to have better work hours
I would simply like to inform
you of the terrible mill conditions. The hours are brutal; 5 am to seven pm,
with meal breaks in between. The air is stuffy and full of dust, making it very
difficult to breathe. The girls and I are fully aware how wonderful this is,
having Mr. Lowell take us in and train us at the boarding houses so that we can
become good wives and women, but at this cost? We are all extremely miserable,
though very grateful. If you please, write to the heads of the Mills and ask
them to open windows or doors, or somehow filter the air. Gratefully yours,
Molly Harrington & the Girls of Harbor Boardinghouse
Harry Potter: I will sign the petition because I believe that we should have better conditions and less working hours.
I have worked in these mills for a long time and every year the hours double and the looms go faster. So I belive that we shouldn't have to work so long. If they fire me o well because every person they fire they won't make as much cloth!!!
Ezekial Abernathy: I will sighn the petition because it is not right to have a 14 hour work day
Mary Aiken. The girls need a break.
Milly White, i will sign. We need more freedom.
I don't like the working conditions! Delina Madanina
I will sign the petition becasuse we deserve to have a break
I will sign the petition because I do not think that the conditions of the mill are good.
I signed the 10 hour petition because I agree with all of its terms. The ten hour petition will prevent sickness. We work too many hours for such little pay. I think the ten hour petition will benefit all the workers. I would like the ten hour patition to become the real rules. Harriet Robinson
I would like to sign because it is not fair that us mill girls have to work for so long every day. we have little time for breakfast and other meals. We also get payed very little. We are continuously being replaced by immigrant girls who will work for less. Lots of us have gotten sick because of the factory smoke. some of us will lose our hearing because of the loud noise. Laura Currier
I am a mill worker. I feel like I work too hard. I have bad feet. When I work at the mill my feet get tired of standing. I have to pay extra money to get medicine for my feet. My doctor says that I should not stand on my feet too long, but at the mill I always stand too long and my feet always hurt. Harriet Farley
We have bad food here at the mills of Lowell. Each day we get only bread and gravy. If the owners of the mills expect us to work 14 hours a day, we must get our nutrition and energy. I think that we should sign a petition for better food. If you have any questions or want to help organize a petition, please contact me, Maria Currier
Here at the mills, we have bad working conditions. First of all, we work too long to stay healthy. Second, we don't get enough food to work in these terrible conditions. The mill owners never have the windows open for fresh air and it is too dusty to work as efficiantly as they would like. In the end, some mill girls get fired because they got sick or can't work as well all because the mill owners won't take the time to open a few windows and clean some of the dust off of things. I think that we should write a petition to help get better working conditions. If you have any questions or want to help with the petition, please contact me, Louisa Currier, Boott Mill, Boarding Room 08.
If i sing the 10 hour petition i can only get paid less and not get the money i need. So i will not sing the 10 hour petition.
lyddie:I don't want to sign it because it will make me earn less money.
I will not sign the petition because I have little money with a big family that I have to support. 14 hour work days don't bother me since I have gotten used to them already. Brigid
Ezekial Aberneth
Lyddie:because i feel that i can't get fired and lose my money
I agree with the working conditions, and the pay is definitly good. Even though most of the workers are signing, my mother said not to go along with the crowd.
Mr. R: Women are noting the are just like slaves they deseve nothing
i came from the old country and these wages are more than fair! Kelleigh Murphy.
Elexia Ayeka Ryoko Kanzaki
I hate the pitition - Lyddia
I don't really want to sign. Sophia Lewis
10 hours is not enough at all and they are not treated like slaves. Nathan Appleton
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