The first thing you notice when you arrive in Lawrence, Massachusetts, are the mills — picturesque five- and six-story red brick buildings that stretch into the distance along the Merrimack River. A ...

PITTSFIELD -- They loom over the landscape as symbols of the Berkshire's once potent textile and paper industries. Some of these enormous structures are still used by industry, but many are vacant.

What was it like for the operatives (people who operated the machines) in Lowell’s textile mills? Every worker had a different experience. While earning cash wages for long hours, some workers found ...