The Factory Girl's Garland illustrated an overwhelming shift for young women that occurred with the industrialization of New England in the middle of the nineteenth century. In the 1830s, women all over New England began to move away from their homes and their lives on small farms in rural areas and into the burgeoning cities, such as Lowell, Massachusetts, to work in the textile mills. During this time, large-scale factories were built along most of the major rivers in New England; the factories incorporated all of the steps of cloth-production under one roof, and demanded a large labor force. Women met this demand and, by the mid 1830s, the number of female employees exceeded that of men working in the factories. As you will note, by 1844, the publication that was directed toward "the Interests of the New England Factory Operatives" was named the Factory Girl's Garland, and it aimed its articles specifically at women. As you examine this artifact, consider the ways in which articles addressed concerns that might have been specific to women in the nineteenth century.

Investigate the source using the zoom and navigational tools in the Flash player and then answer the questions below.

1			As you examine the newspaper, pay particularly close attention to the headlines. What specific issues does the newspaper as a whole target?
2			While the immediate audience of this newspaper is the thousands of women working in mills all over New England, do you think there is another audience this newspaper is targeting? If so, who else do you think might be interested in reading it?
3			What kind of advice would the columns of this newspaper give to young women living in the factories?
4			If you were a woman working in a factory in the mid-nineteenth century, what articles do you think would be the most interesting?