Among Lowell Mill-Girls: A Reminiscence
One of the most famous mill girls recalls
THE LOWELL MILL GIRLS
Despite punishing working conditions, these early factory workers were literate and literary.
Smashing: Women’s Relationships before the Fall
Intense and passionate friendships among women in the 19th century were considered normal and healthy. This was, of course, before the spectre of homosexuality changed everything.
The Intense Friendships of Girls
The ecstatic girl lover greets her [friend] with a rapturous kiss and a close embrace. Bad manners, my dear girls, bad manners!
The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon IV: the Report of our Secret Commission
W. T. Stead, (The Pall Mall Gazette, July 10, 1885) INTRODUCTION The watchword with which we started, Liberty for Vice, Repression for Crime, is the only safe keynote for the Legislature in dealing with this question. The Criminal Law Amendment Bill, as framed by Sir W. Harcourt, was not so much a bill for raising…
The Truth about our Secret Commission
W. T. Stead (The Pall Mall Gazette, July 9, 1885) Some people are denying the accuracy of our Report. That I hope may before long be subjected to the crucial test of a judicial investigation. Pending the arrival of the hour when I shall be able to testify on oath before the judges of the…
The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon III: the Report of our Secret Commission
W. T. Stead, (The Pall Mall Gazette, July 8, 1885) INTRODUCTION The advocates of the Criminal Law Amendment Bill are constantly met by two mutually destructive assertions. On one side it is declared that the raising of the age of consent is entirely useless, because there are any number of young prostitutes on the streets…
The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon II: the Report of our Secret Commission
W. T. Stead (The Pall Mall Gazette, July 7, 1885) INTRODUCTION I described yesterday a scene which took place last Derby day, in a well known house, within a quarter of a mile of Oxford-circus. It is no means one of the worst instances of the crimes that are constantly perpetrated in London, or even…
The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon I: the Report of our Secret Commission
INTRODUCTION In ancient times, if we may believe the myths of Hellas, Athens, after a disastrous campaign, was compelled by her conqueror to send once every nine years a tribute to Crete of seven youths and seven maidens. The doomed fourteen, who were selected by lot amid the lamentations of the citizens, returned no more….