Homeschool Memoirs #11

THEME: Share your favourite field-trip that you’ve been able to go on since you’ve started homeschool.

Well, it's hard to choose just one...we've visited a medieval castle where the family lives like it's like the middle ages...right now! :) Last year, we visited the Lowell Mills and participated in a program called "Working on the Line" to learn what it was like to be a mill girl during industrial revolution times. VERY cool. We toured a portion of the huge mill building to see the looms all lined up. With only a few of them running, the sound was deafening. With no ear protection and all looms running, it did literally deafen the workers. Injuries were tragic and the girls were so young, often living in the nearby dorms which we also visited. A working loom (above) going too fast to photograph, and a still one (below). To give the kids an idea of what it would be like to work in a mill setting, our guide had the kids work together to make a set of "tea towels" made of paper & rubber stamps. One would draw the outer line, the next would stamp the flower pattern, the next would stamp the leaves, the next would add a stem, the next would advance the paper roll, the next would cut off the finished towel, and then someone and inspect the quality. She had them punch in, and then she became "mill boss" in the hat, getting into character and barking instructions at the kids in her new role. For a while, the production went well. When one member went slow, others would encourage. When production delayed, the process moved faster and faster, causing mistakes and lots of ugly tea towels. :) The kids howled in laughter at some points and began bickering at other times, accusing their friends of going to slow or making mistakes! How quickly art imitates life... Sweet Pea is in the striped shirt up front, and Cupcake is in the back row, on the right.
In order to get the full lesson across, the mill boss reported to the "workers" that demand for tea towels was down and cuts had to be made. So she fired one person on each line. Even so, the speed had to remain the same and that meant someone would have to do the work of two without additional pay or time to do the job well. In the photo below, the girl who has to advance the paper first has to stamp the last part of the pattern! You can see the frustration on the two kids to the farthest right in each line..."Why isn't the paper advancing faster? Who's messing things up down there?"

Later, the mill boss began paying people different amounts and showing them what they could and couldn't afford at the "store" that was set up nearby. Wages were dropping and it became clear that they couldn't afford to provide for their families but also couldn't afford to quit completely. During a discussion time that followed, the mill boss became guide again and talked them through how a union would be likely to develop when they realize that one-on-one negotiations don't work--everyone is expendable as individuals.

In the end, the level of learning about life in a mill was amazing! This was one of the best visual/hands-on tours I've ever been on. Our guide sent us home with a fresh bolt of fabric from the mill and memories that would last a lifetime.

This trip holds a special place in my heart because my grandparents worked in the mills in Lawrence, just nearby. In our home we have flying shuttles from where my grandfather worked. To think of the conditions they actually worked in is difficult...I am humbled by their work ethic and their dedication to family.