Other Social Issues

Industrial workers in Lowell shared a number of other social commitments outside of labor reform. The vast majority stood against slavery, denouncing it the many letters, articles and poetry in Voice; indeed, the women of Lowell became known as the “Pretty Friends of the Slave”, and the Lowell Female Labor Reform Association participated officially in several antislavery meetings (“Should We Keep Quiet about Slavery?” is illustrative).

Many women were also involved in the movement to abolish capital punishment, writing critically in the Voice about the effectiveness and morality of the death penalty  (See, for instance, “Capital Punishment”).

Alongside their demands for institutional change, they also shared a commitment to the ideas of the “Self-Help” tradition, which urged workers to improve their characters through hard work and individual initiative.