The Girls

During the course of the Industrial Revolution, many events and inventions changed the world. The cotton gin improved the process of collecting and separating cotton. Interchangeable parts made items such as machines much more easy to assemble and fix. The shift from agriculture to the factory system caused a great population shift from the country to cities. 

With the need of more factory workers, women became a driving force in the working society. Lowell Mills, which began in 1814, employed girls from the ages of 13 - 30. Other such mills started appearing elsewhere in the United States. Many of the girls that left home to work in these mills were forced to by family's money situation.Working conditions were hard. There were usually about 80 girls and machines packed into a room. It was hot and humid in the rooms and they were often never ventilated so girls would faint from the heat and bad air. The hours were long and grueling. Typically 12 to 14 hours was a normal work day. They were often not allowed many or sometimes any breaks. In Certification Woman's blog post about the Lowell Mills, she posted a typical work day schedule:

4:30 a.m. Wake up call
5:00 a.m. Work began
7:00 a.m. Breakfast
7:30 a.m. Back to work
12:30 p.m. Dinner
1:00 p.m. Work resumed
7:00 p.m. Workday ended
10:00 p.m. Lights out

 

 Many deaths occurred from the terrible working conditions. One tragedy that occurred and helped change working conditions and safety regulations was the Triangle Factory Fire.
March 25, 1911, near closing time, a fire broke out at the top levels of the factory. Many workers were of course women. Many factors came in when determining why 146 of the 500 employees died.
- The doors were locked to the rooms where the girls worked so many died trapped inside.
- The doors all opened inward so the crowd of oncoming girls did not allow for the doors to open.
- The one fire escape collapsed
- There fire safety was only 27 buckets of water.

Many girls leapt 9 stories to their death. It was said that onlookers watched as girls would jump from the top levels and hit the ground with a thud.                                

 

 It is such a horrible event and it is even more terrible to think that so many young lives had to be ended for better working conditions to be put into place. So many of those deaths and other such work-related deaths could have been prevented if the simple thought of humanity was there.