Lyddie

The Acre is a neighborhood in Lowell, Massachusetts, founded by Irish immigrants in the 1820s. Though Irish labor was necessary for the factories to run, many of the elite in Lowell (mostly of English, Protestant… read analysis of The Acre

In early textile mills in Britain and the United States, doffers were responsible for managing the spinning wheels that turned loose cotton or wool into thread. Because doffing was more about speed than physical strength… read analysis of Doffer

In Lyddie, Diana teasingly introduces Lyddie to the term “kiss of death” when she shows Lyddie how to use her mouth to suck new thread into the shuttles of the factory’s mechanical looms. But… read analysis of Kiss of Death

In the time before the United States had instituted any social service infrastructure, society’s most impoverished residents were cordoned off in brutal “poorhouses.” Poorhouses forced dozens of men, women, and children to share meagre portions… read analysis of Poorhouse/Poor-Farm

The ten-hour movement (also known as the “ten-hour petition”) was the most important advocacy carried out by the real-life Lowell Female Labor Reform Association (LFRA); in the narrative, the movement is personified by the character… read analysis of Ten-Hour Movement