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Bread and Roses Strike Begins
Bread and Roses Strike Begins
On this day in 1912, the labor protest later known as the "Bread and Roses" strike began in Lawrence. A new state law had reduced the maximum workweek from 56 to 54 hours. Factory owners...
Lynn Shoeworkers Strike
Lynn Shoeworkers Strike
On this day in 1860, thousands of striking shoeworkers filled Lyceum Hall in Lynn. By choosing to begin their protest on Washington's birthday, the strikers were invoking the memory of their revolutionary forefathers. Lynn had...
Frances Perkins Born in Boston
Frances Perkins Born in Boston
On this day in 1880, Frances Perkins, the first woman to hold a cabinet position, was born in Boston. Raised in Worcester, she attended Mt. Holyoke College, where she became committed to improving the lot...
"Mill Girl" Writer Lucy Larcom Dies
"Mill Girl" Writer Lucy Larcom Dies
On this day in 1893, Lucy Larcom died. A popular poet during her lifetime, she would be forgotten today except for a work of prose that she wrote in 1889. Her autobiography, A New England...
Telephone Operators Strike
Telephone Operators Strike
On this day in 1919, striking telephone operators in Massachusetts won the right to negotiate with the New England Telephone Company. The young, single women who had flooded into the industry in the early 1900s...
Berkshire-Hathaway Announces Mill Closing
Berkshire-Hathaway Announces Mill Closing
On this day in 1958, the North Adams Transcript reported that the owners of the Berkshire-Hathaway Company had passed a death sentence on their factory in Adams. The company announced that it was shutting down...
Matzeliger Demonstrates Revolutionary Machine
Matzeliger Demonstrates Revolutionary Machine
On this day in 1885, Jan Matzeliger demonstrated his invention — a machine that could finish 75 shoes in a 10-hour day. The most skilled craftsmen working by hand could turn out 50. An improved...
George McNeill Organizes Workers
George McNeill Organizes Workers
On this day in 1852, hundreds of mill workers at the Woolen Company in Amesbury walked out on strike. Fourteen-year-old George McNeill, who had worked in the carding room since he was ten, immediately organized...
Chinese Workers Arrive in North Adams
Chinese Workers Arrive in North Adams
On this day in 1870, a train arrived in North Adams with 75 young men from China hired to replace striking shoe workers. Over 2,000 people watched as the men walked to the factory under...
Strike Ends in Hopedale
Strike Ends in Hopedale
On this day in 1913, a 13-week strike at the Draper Corporation in Hopedale ended in failure, and the workers returned to their jobs. This was a time of labor unrest throughout the country, but...