Every Voice Counts: Mill Girls & The Suffrage Movement

Allison Horrocks, Ph.D.
Park Ranger, Lowell National Historical Park

This webinar took place on Tuesday, October 13, 2020.

A is available.

We can trace the origins of women鈥檚 civic activism in Lowell to the early 1830s. They staged walkouts and later, wrote petitions to fight for better work conditions, including shorter days. In this same period, women became involved with other social causes including temperance and abolition. Nevertheless, how far could women take a social movement without the right to cast ballots? By the early 20th century, Massachusetts was a major battleground in the fight for suffrage. Horrocks will share the connection between Lowell鈥檚 mill girls and the suffrage movement, and how their actions helped support women鈥檚 suffrage in Massachusetts and nationally.

Remote Learning Modules: Document Collections

With these primary source collections, companion questions, and writing prompts, high school students take an in-depth look at a topic, analyze documents, draw conclusions, and find relevance. These modules fit right into Google Classroom, or any learning management system, so teachers can collect students鈥� work.

The Struggle for Women鈥檚 Suffrage in Massachusetts

This webinar addresses the following standards from the new MA Social Studies Curriculum Frameworks:

  • Topic 4.12. Examine the role of political protest in a democracy.
  • Topic 5.2. Explain the historical context and significance of changes in the Constitution, including key amendments. Examples of amendments include the:
    • b. 19th Amendment (1920): women鈥檚 right to vote in federal and state elections