Women At Work: 
Work History of Women in America

Factories and Unskilled Wage Labor

In the mid-19th century factories became an integral part of the economy of Connecticut and the rest of New England. Self-sufficient agricultural systems, for example family farms, gave way to manufacturing systems that depended on labor. Women took advantage of this demand for labor by going to work in factories for wages. Some factories even educated the women by providing them with classes and libraries. Women who worked in the factories played a major role in the struggle for labor rights.

< A desire for greater independence away from the control of fathers and brothers and the promise of a steady wage led many girls to work and sometimes live in factories. However, there are many accounts of the less than ideal living conditions, including cramped quarters, long hours, and low wages. These women in the picture might have stood for ten or eleven hours a day, six days a week.

Interior of Mill:
Women Grading Silk
Manchester, ca. 1918
Photo CD: 3153 File: Img0073.pcd

< Despite the fact that these jobs offered some independence and opportunity for education, the jobs themselves were unskilled. As the anonymity of this photograph suggests the workers were interchangeable and there was little job security if the factory’s owner found cheaper labor. The Cheney Mills, unlike most factories where job security was minimal, were very secure until the Great Depression in the 1930s.

Women Tobacco Workers
Hartford County, ca. 1920
Photo CD: 0552 File: Img0087.pcd

< The tobacco industry was very important in Connecticut. It was in many ways similarly to factory work, with long hours and low wages. Owners often hired women to work on tobacco farms during harvest seasons to earn extra money for their families.

Link to other essays in this Journey:

>> Introduction: Women At Work
>> Women on Farms
>> Church and Charities
>> Domestic Service
>> Women as Educators
>> Improved Educational Opportunities for Women
>> White Collar Employment
>> Women in War
>> Women in Music, Art, Literature

>> Guideposts
>> Suggestions for further reading