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

ChildrenoftheCottonIndustryPP / ChildrenoftheCottonIndustryPDF / GlossaryForChildrenoftheCottonIndustryPDF

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

 

Child Labor, 1870s – 1930s

ChildLaborPP / ChildLaborPDF / GlossaryforChildLaborPDF

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

 

The Story of My Cotton Dress

TheStoryofMyCottonDressPP / TheStoryofMyCottonDressPDF / GlossaryforMyCottonDressPDF

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

BossFamilyPP / BossFamilyPDF / BossFamilyGlossaryPDF

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

LifeofaMillWorkerFamilyPP / LifeofaMillWorkerFamilyPDF / GlossaryforMillWorkerFamilyPDF

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

Mill Memories: Photographs of Mill Workers

MillMemoriesPDF

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

 

Willimantic, 1882-1909

WillimanticConnecticut1882and1909PP / WillimanticConnecticut1882and1909PDF 

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

Swift-Waters-Hot-SteamPDF

A presentation on different types of power used by the mills at Willimantic Falls, CT, 1822-2012.

 

The Civil War: Connecticut’s Cotton Connection

CIVIL-WAR-Connecticut-ConnectionPDF

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

GNEISS-PROSPECTPDF

How both environment and industrial history helped shaped eastern Connecticut.

 

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

IF-WALLS-COULD-TALK-2PDF