CHILD LABOR PLAY BASED ON REAL EVENTS IN LAWRENCE, MA IN 1912

Textile Mills of Lawrence, MA

Start of the 1912 Lawrence Strike On January 1, 1912, a new Massachusetts law had gone into effect that cut the maximum work week to 54 hours. On Friday afternoon, January 12, 1912, workers received their pay and found it to be an average of 32¢ short, representing the fewer hours that the they hard worked. On Friday, January 12, 11,000 of Lawrence’s 28,000 mill workers walked off their jobs immediately; by the next day, the strike had grown to 13,000 workers. As the strike worsened in the cold winter weeks, and as food supplies dwindled, Margaret Sanger and others took the children of the striking workers to host families in New York City.

Child Labor Play: Characters Child Labor Play: Characters First NarratorSecond Narrator Chairman: R.L. Henry Cong. Edward PouCong. David FosterCong. CampbellCong. Wilson Nurse SangerCamelia TeoliJohn BoldelarCharles Dhooghe

Margaret Sanger with Lawrence Children

Camelia Teoli

John Boldelar

Charles Dhooghe

WHAT’S YOUR REACTION? “POWER WRITE” IN YOUR NOTEBOOK FOR ___ MINUTES.