Lyddie: Chapter 19 - Diana

With Rachel gone, Lyddie trudges through her daily life.

New England factory life. Bell time. Wood engraving in Harper's Weekly, July 25, 1868, after Winslow Homer.

With Rachel’s departure, Lyddie feels lonely. She tries to distract herself by thinking about work. She learns that the weavers at a nearby mill had signed a pledge in protest of demands that they work four looms each for less pay. Lyddie thinks Diana will be happy about this news, but Diana just looks drained.

Lyddie tells Diana she’s thinking about signing the petition for ten-hour workdays. Diana barely responds. When the workday is over, Lyddie seeks her out, but learns that Diana is at the weekly meeting for the Female Labor Reform Association. Lyddie goes there and receives a warm welcome. Afterwards, she expresses her desire to sign the petition, but Diana tells her it’s too late. She can try again next year.

Diana and Lyddie leave the meeting before curfew. Lyddie is shocked when Diana tells her that she’s leaving Lowell. She thinks it has something to do with Diana’s activism, but Diana tells her that she is pregnant and must leave before the news gets out. The father of the child is a married man. She thanks Lyddie for her friendship and leaves, promising to write if she can.

Fact Check: Lowell Female Labor Reform Association

Was the Lowell Female Labor Reform Association (LFLRA) a real organization? Are Mary Emerson and Sarah Bagley fictional characters or real people?

What do we know?

The LFLRA was a real organization founded in 1844. Sarah Bagley was its first president, and Mary Emerson an officer. This first union of working women in the United States published The Voice of Industry, a newspaper that insisted on improved working conditions and addressed other needed social reform. The LFLRA was the main force behind the ten-hour movement in Lowell. The “mill girls” sent petitions to the state government in Massachusetts, asking for a ten-hour workday in all of the factories in the state. They joined forces with the New England Workingmen’s Association, working with men to achieve their goals.

What is the evidence?

Primary Source:

Letter from Daniel Spencer Gilman to his brother Moses, March 15, 1846

“… Miss Bagley, formerly one of our factory girls & a sworn foe to the factory system in its present State. This winter she headed a petition of some four or five thousand names praying our legislature to reduce the hours of labor in our factories to ten per day. She is also President of the Female Labor Reform Society of this City. This Society has purchased a printing press & type, there is a Paper printed on this press which advocates the rights of the Laborer & circulates about 2000 copies per week. This Society are [sic] to have a course of six Lectures on Labor to be delivered at the City Hall by some of our most distinguished men. First Lecture next Wednesday Eve.”

Center for Lowell History

Primary Source:

“Our Women’s Rights Convention … [or] as our gentlemanly Editors have it – The Hen Convention came off … on the 15th and 16. I was present (for which privilege I thank God) but to attempt any description thereof, that would do any thing like justice [,] is beyond the daring of my feeble pen, You will form some conception … when I tell you that hundreds stood upon their feet during each separate session, which lasted [a] full two hours and a half [,] so interested in the exercises [were the attendees] as to preserve the most perfect order.”

Mary Emerson, letter to Angelique Martin, Oct. 18, 1851.

Primary Source:

“Shall we, Operatives of America, the land where Democracy claims to be the principle by which we live and by which … we are governed, see the evil daily increasing which separates more widely and more effectually … [the] favored few and the unfortunate many, without one exertion [on our part] to stay [stop] the progress [of the evil]?- God forbid! Let the daughters of New England kindle the spark of philanthropy on every heart till its brightness shall fill the whole earth! In consideration of which we adopt the following Constitution:”

“Preamble to the Constitution of the Lowell Female Labor Reform Association.” Published in Voice of Industry, Lowell MA, 1846.

Secondary Source:

“In January of 1845, the Lowell Female Labor Reform Association (LFLRA) was founded. This organization, which collaborated and fundraised with other local labor groups like the New England Workingmen’s Association and New England Labor Reform League, dedicated itself to advancing the interests of Lowell’s female work force at the state level.

One cause which united the LFLRA and other labor groups was the 10-hour movement, which advocated for passage of a legal regulation making it so corporations could only have their workers on the job a maximum of ten hours per day. As factories began to demand more work from their laborers without raising wages, the LFLRA pushed back by demanding more time to rest and pursue their own, personal interests.

Organizing petitions to be sent to the Massachusetts State House was one way the LFLRA tried to bring about change. Hoping that their voices would be heard [,] these women signed petitions by the thousands in favor of reforms that would improve their working and living conditions.”

“Lowell Female Labor Reform Association,” Lowell National Historical Park, October 26, 2021.https://www.nps.gov/lowe/learn/historyculture/lflra.htm

Voices from the Field

"Sarah Bagley" by Dr. Margot Minardi is Professor of History and Humanities at Reed College. She thanks Reed student Jordan Kappler for helping with research on the Lowell mill women.

Photos & Multimedia

Timetable of the Lowell Mills, 1851 Center for Lowell History

See it yourself

Learn more about the Lowell Female Labor Reform Associationhttps://www.nps.gov/lowe/learn/historyculture/lflra.htm

Time and Work in a Mill City Minute video
https://www.nps.gov/media/video/view.htm?id=68613B13-0575-5083-867CB827772F8A57

Writing Prompts

Opinion

Why does Diane believe she needs to leave Lowell? Use reasons and information to support her point of view.

Informative/explanatory

What tactics did the LFLRA use to advocate for their cause and changes to the factory work system? Use precise language to inform about or explain the topic.

Narrative

Lyddie describes her deep loneliness after Rachel’s departure. Write a poem about loneliness and how to help cure it. Use concrete words and sensory details to convey your thoughts.