Oberlin Digital Commons at Oberlin Honors Papers Student Work 1991 The Politicization of Maternal Care: The Lawrence Textile Strike of 1912 Mary-Beth Moylan Oberlin College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.oberlin.edu/honors Part of the History Commons Repository Citation Moylan, Mary-Beth, "The Politicization of Maternal Care: The Lawrence Textile Strike of 1912" (1991). Honors Papers. 572. https://digitalcommons.oberlin.edu/honors/572 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Work at Digital Commons at Oberlin. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Papers by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons at Oberlin. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. The Politicization of Maternal Care: The Lawrence Textile Strike of 1912 Mary-Beth Moylan History Honors Thesis April 27, 1991 Table Of Contents Introduction Page 1 Chapter 1: The City Page 5 Chapter 2: The Strike Page 17 Chapter 3: The Women Page 36 Chapter 4: The Aftermath Page 59 Bibliography Page 71 *Per mia nonna* The Progressive era saw a series of social reforms and mass movements for better living and working conditions. Middle-class women emerged as the "housekeepers" of the public arena. Women like Jane Addams started these trends and acted as benevolent organizers for the immigrant people, who were entering the United States only to find crowded conditions and hostile cities. Strikes over dangerous work environments became pressing concerns. A history of related actions began to develop with the Triangle Fire disaster in New York City, the Lawrence strike in Massachusetts, and then the strikes in the mid-teens in Passaic and Patterson, New Jersey.