The Belles of New England: The Women of the Textile Mills and the Families Whose Wealth They Wove

Rating:
Summary: Before you complain about YOUR job, read this book!
Review: The next time I complain about MY job, I'll try and spend a moment thinking about what it was like to work in the mills described in this excellent book. Deafness, arthritis caused by repetitive hand motion, young children put to work because their families were desperate for money, fires in the mill, job-related injuries, long hours of work, poor ventiliation and light - you name it.

I heard about this book while watching C-Span and today I'm ordering a copy for a friend in New England whose long-ago relatives came from Canada to work in the mills.

It has strengthened my resolve to visit Lowell, Mass. and see what has been preserved.

It's fascinating and enjoyable to read - I'm just glad I didn't have to live through the experience myself. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Long Before Rosie the Riveter- Franco-American Women Worked
Review: Very few books give enough credit, in my opinion, to the important role women played in the development of American society. French Canadian women are probably at the very end of a long line of feminist ethnic groups frequently overlooked for the formidable standard they set, later a prototype characterized by Rosie the Riveter during America's darkest days during the middle of the last century. The Belles of New England is a well researched history about the development of New England's dinosaur textile and shoe industries and how hard working immigrant women made moguls of their owners. Although the Franco-American woman were a large workforce in these now largely empty brick buildings, hopelessly stuck on the landscape of New England towns, they weren't the only ones to contribute to the industrial age success of these mega-industries. Still, Franco-American women were unusual. Largely from Quebec, they raised extraordinarily large families while working labor jobs to raise money for their extended families. Franco-Americans are different than other American ethnic melting pot varieties in that they could always go home again, to Canada, by train or by foot. But, they stayed, raised their families and contributed to the wealth of a few industrialists who probably never said thank you. So, author Bill Moran has said in "Belles" what the moguls couldn't even conceptualize if their lives depended on it to do so. Nice selection of historic photos, too. Moran gives long overdue credit to the women who helped make New England prosperous.