CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES

The following slide shows can be downloaded for classroom use. They cover a wide range of topics related to the history of the textile industry in Connecticut and the United States.

Children of the Cotton Industry

This presentation examines the lives of southern children who grew up picking cotton for Connecticut factories.

Child Labor, 1870s – 1930s

Child Labor presents the lives of children who worked in factories during the  heyday of the textile industry.

The Story of My Cotton Dress

My Story of Cotton Dress explores all of the work children had to do to make a single garment, from growing and picking the cotton to selling the finished product.

The Boss Family

The Boss Family looks at the privileged lives of a Connecticut mill manager’s children verses the children of working-class families.

Life of a Mill Worker’s Family – 1893

This is the story of one poor Irish immigrant family and how they came to Connecticut to start a new life.

Here All Along:
African Americans in the Windham, CT Area, 1688-1910

African Americans have lived in Connecticut since the 1630s. This is the story of African Americans in Windham, CT, and neighboring towns, and how they helped shape the Connecticut we live in today.

Mill Memories: Photographs of Mill Workers

A look at the lives of Connecticut textile workers through the photography collection at the Windham Textile and History Museum.

Willimantic, 1882-1909

Using old maps and images, a story is told about a Connecticut textile mill city at the turn of the 20th century.

Swift Waters, Hot Steam, Electric Motors

A presentation on different types of power used by the mills at Willimantic Falls, CT, 1822-2015.

The Civil War: Connecticut’s Cotton Connection

This presentation was created for the Mill Museum’s Civil War exhibit in 2011-2012. It examines the connections among slavery (including its history in Connecticut), Southern cotton plantations, textile manufacturing in Connecticut, and the Civil War.

A Gneiss Prospect: Shaping an Early Industrial Ecosystem in Connecticut’s Lower Willimantic River Valley, 1820-1920

How both environment and industrial history helped shaped eastern Connecticut.

If Walls Could Talk: Researching the History of Your House: A Guide for Beginners

Resources for Local African American History: The Case of Windham, CT

Local history resources designed especially for teachers.