Waltham-Lowell system

The Waltham-Lowell system was an early 19th-century labor model used in American textile mills. It combined centralized factory production with a system of employing young, often farm-based women and girls who lived in company-owned housing. These workers received education and moral instruction alongside their wages, fostering a disciplined, relatively self-contained community. This approach aimed to improve worker productivity and morality while maintaining social control. The system was innovative for integrating work, living, and social life within the factory complex, reflecting a structured approach to industrial labor that influenced labor practices and urban development.