Good Girl Work

Children's Literature - Judy Silverman

The title "good girl work" actually means "good work for girls." This book about the beginning of the women's labor movement begins tracking the movement in 1897, although it skips around a lot. Before the movement, wives were often considered to be indentured servants. With the coming of the Industrial Revolution, though, children became useful as factory workers. As early as 1836, young girls sang, "Oh, isn't it a pity that such a pretty girl as I/ should be sent to the factory to pine away and die." Songs and parades to fight poor working conditions and low wages did no good for the girls. In fact, girls who protested were no longer considered "good girls" and might be let go from their jobs. But in the later part of the century, the rise of labor unions, at first restricted to men, gave many women hope. Courley uses photographs of girls and women at work in what seem to be intolerable conditions, combined with quotations from these girls, as well as from men and women of the time. The struggle to bring decent wages and working conditions to this neglected half of the work force was hard and lengthy. Even the terrible Triangle Fire in 1911 wasn't enough to change the system that had been so good to so many (owners). A year after the fire, Margaret Hinchey, a protester who was arrested and sent to the New York prison called the "Tombs," wrote to Leonora O'Reilly of the Women's Trade Union League, "Use me in any way you can for the good of the cause. I am yours to the end." A highly recommended book.

School Library Journal

Gr 4-8-A carefully researched look at female labor in the early 19th and 20th centuries in this country when the workforce of the textile mills, shoe factories, and sweatshops was comprised of unskilled "girls" of all ages. Grossly overworked and underpaid, they slowly realized the truth of their exploitation, organized, and eventually changed the workplace. Gourley uses letters, diaries, and other primary sources to give personal glimpses into the feelings and thoughts of these heroines. While these excerpts enrich the text, they are not always readily identified in the notes. Black-and-white photographs and reproductions show girls and women at their jobs. This compelling title would be an excellent accompaniment to Katherine Paterson's Lyddie (Lodestar, 1991), Emily A. McCully's The Bobbin Girl (Dial, 1996), Barry Denenberg's So Far from Home: The Diary of Mary Driscoll, an Irish Mill Girl (Scholastic, 1997), and Victoria Sherrow's The Triangle Factory Fire (Millbrook, 1995).-Eunice Weech, M. L. King Elementary School, Urbana, IL Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.