Mangled in the Mills

Who would have ever thought that video chatting would become popular for not only talking to friends but for education too? In class this week we had a live video chat with Jamie, a museum curator at the Museum of Science & Industry (MOSI) in Manchester, England. This was a fun class activity that we did a lot of prep work for. We did a web investigation in which we took notes about what we learned from textile gallery on the museum's website. From this activity I learned that the water frame was the first water powered spinning machine, Platt Bros. was once the leading manufacturer of textile machines, and World War II effected the production of designers' work. To prepare we also watched a video of Jamie explaining the spinning process from start to finish. During the video we wrote down new vocabulary and later used google keyword searches to find their definitions. To finish off our preparation for the live video chat we drafted some questions about the textile process, the impact on families, and museum curating.

I found the whole chat to be exciting and interesting, but I was really drawn in by what Jamie told us about the children in the mills and the accidents they faced. Before the factory act in 1933, children started working in the mills as young as five years old. Jamie told us that many mills purchased children from orphanages to do tough labor and dangerous jobs, such as cleaning the machines. In the chat he explained that the smallest children were chosen the climb under the thread on a working machine to wipe off oil and dust. This job was extremely dangerous because it moved very quickly. Another one of the other dangers Jamie explained to us involved the environment they worked in. The fibers from the cotton filled the air and were breathed in. The fibers would get in your lungs and cause diseases. The most interesting and slightly terrifying accident Jamie told us about was due to the leather straps that went through the machines and up to the ceiling. If those needed to be fixed, metal pieces were added to the straps. People would get caught on the metal tabs and carried to the ceiling where they were mangled in the machine. Jamie's stories about mill accidents were very graphic but also very intriguing.

I really enjoyed having a live discussion with an expert. I thought it was especially cool that Jamie was not from the United States. I learned a lot from this activity because I found it easier to focus and stay engaged in the activity than it is to read an article. I think it would be great to do this with other xperts throughout the year. Though, I enjoyed it, I found it confusing sometimes due to the slow camera. Sometimes it was hard to follow what he was talking about or explaining because we couldn't see what he was looking at. Overall I think this was a fun way to learn about the mills.