In 1826 a group of Boston cloth merchants founded the town of Lowell, Massachusetts.  It was the nation's first planned manufacturing community, and by 1850, it was largest concentration of manufacturing in the U.S.  By design, most of the workers in these cloth mills were young women from New England farms who worked in Lowell for a few years and then left to continue their lives elsewhere.  The Lowell community and experience was an "incubator" that nurtured some to become leaders in the rising women's rights movement.

      We will explore these questions. Why did women choose to come to Lowell?  What was the new cloth production technology the women managed?  What were their workday, working conditions, and free time like?  What were the educational, religious, cultural, and social activities in Lowell?  How did the Lowell experience change many of these women? What did the women do after leaving Lowell?  What became of Lowell, and what can be seen there today?