The Factory Girls. by FONER, Philip S. (editor).:

Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1977.. 1st edition. A collection of writings on life and struggles in the New England factories of the 1840s by the Factory Girls themselves, and the story, in their own words, of the first trade unions of women workers in the United States. "Until the emergence of these vocal dissidents in the 1840s, the 'factory girls' status had been pictured in glowing terms of nice evenings, pianos, lectures, literary meetings, and selfless devotion to duty and the mill. But the flowery myth of the 'beauty of factory life' began to wilt as many women became fully committed to improving their working conditions...These women, in voicing their discontent over mill conditions, spearheaded formation of the first trade unions of industrial women in the United States." Pp.xxvii/360, light spotting to closed page edges not affecting margins internally. Purple cloth, dustwrapper rubbed with edge tears with small losses to top edge and spine. VG/G+.