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Windham Textile and History Museum – The Mill Museum
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America’s Best-Known Textile: The Star-Spangled Banner
Swift Waters:
Swift Waters or Cedar Swamp?
Preindustrial Mills
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Down Sodom
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What the Jillsons Ate
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Irish in Connecticut
The Puerto Rican Experience
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Unraveled Threads
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Betty Tianti
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Caesar Hall
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Orrin and Jerusha Robinson
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John A. Conant
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Historical Atlas of Windham
Murals of a Mill Town
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Built to Last
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South Park Street Plant
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A Fairy at School
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CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
The following materials cover a wide range of topics related to the textile industry in Willimantic from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Children of the Cotton Industry
ChildrenoftheCottonIndustryPP
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ChildrenoftheCottonIndustryPDF
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GlossaryForChildrenoftheCottonIndustryPDF
This presentation examines the lives of southern children who grow up picking cotton for northern US factories.
Child Labor 1870s – 1930s
ChildLaborPP
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ChildLaborPDF
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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
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TheStoryofMyCottonDressPDF
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GlossaryforMyCottonDressPDF
My 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
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BossFamilyPDF
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BossFamilyGlossaryPDF
The Boss Family
looks at the privileged lives of a mill manager’s children verses children of working class families.
Life of a Mill Worker’s Family – 1893
LifeofaMillWorkerFamilyPP
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LifeofaMillWorkerFamilyPDF
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GlossaryforMillWorkerFamilyPDF
This is the story of one poor Irish immigrant family and how they came to Willimantic to start a new life.
Mill Memories: Photographs of Mill Workers
MillMemoriesPDF
A look at the lives of mill workers through the photography collection at the Windham Textile and History Museum.
Willimantic 1882 – 1909
WillimanticConnecticut1882and1909PP
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WillimanticConnecticut1882and1909
Using old maps and images, a story is told about the town of Willimantic at the turn of the 20th century.
Swift Waters, Hot Steam, and Electric Motors
Swift-Waters-Hot-Steam
A presentation on different types of power used by the mills at Willimantic Falls, 1822-2012.
The Civil War: Connecticut’s Cotton Connection
CIVIL-WAR-Connecticut-Connection
This lecture was given during the Mill Museum’s Civil War exhibit in 2011-2012.
A Gneiss Prospect: Shaping an Early Industrial Ecosystem in Connecticut’s Lower Willimantic River Valley, 1820-1920
GNEISS-PROSPECT
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-2
A 2011 lecture given by the WTHM director, Dr. Jamie Eves.
FIELD TRIPS TO THE MUSEUM ARE EXPLAINED ON THE FOLLOWING PAGE
FIELD TRIPS
WE CAN ALSO ARRANGE A VISIT TO YOUR SCHOOL FOR A FEE