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The Lowell Mill Girls Go On Strike, 1836: by Harriet Hanson Robinson
1.) How old was Harriet Hanson Robinson during the Lowell turn-out of 1836?
2.) In what year was her memoir Loom & Spindle, in which she recounted the 1836 turnout, published?
3.) How old was Harriet Hanson Robinson when her memoir was published?
4.) In reading Harriet Hanson Robinson’s account, what similarities do you find between
her version of events and those portrayed in the other sources you have read?
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5.) What differences if any do you find between her version of events and that portrayed
in the other primary sources you have read?
6.) According to Harriet Hanson Robinson, how many mill girls, “turned-out and walked
in procession through the streets,” of Lowell?
7.) What was the “favorite” song of the protesters, and what was its origin?
8.) According to Harriet Hanson Robinson’s account, was there a lot of discussion and
debate leading up to the decision to turn-out?
9.) On the day of the strike, who “started first” and what was the effect on the mill?
10.) According to Harriet Hanson Robinson’s account, how was the decision to
participate in the strike made on her floor of the factory when, “the girls in my room
stood irresolute?”
11.) Of what was Harriet Hanson Robinson, “more proud than I have ever been since?”
12.) What does she say would make her as proud, today?
13.) What “small revenges” does the agent of the corporation where she works take on
“the supposed ringleaders” of the turn-out?
14.) According to Harriet Hanson Robinson, was the turn-out of October 1836 a success?
15.) What does Harriet Hanson Robinson say happened in the aftermath of the turn-out?
16.) How does Harriet Hanson Robinson’s experience of the turn-out of 1836 compare
with what Mary Appleton Aiken surmises will be the experience of the mill girls who
participate?