Museum L-A

We recently went on a field trip to Museum L-A, which "...documents and celebrates the economic, social and technological legacy of Lewiston-Auburn and its people."  The museum is housed in what was once a fully functioning textile mill (in the Bates Mill complex) whose origins date back to the 1850s.   As part of the tour we were able to see how shoes are made, discuss the history and origins of the industrial revolution, explore child labor issues, and see actual spinning and textiles machines.  

My hope is that by actually visiting the mill and seeing it first hand, the students will have a better grasp on what the industrial revolution was all about, particularly here in Maine, and will remember these concepts far longer than if we had simply read and discussed them during class!

The tour started with an explanation of how shoes were constructed in the mill...

We then had a round table discussion about the industrial revolution, cotton, and textile mills...

If you look closely at the right in the picture above, you can see the many 'shoe lasts' that remain in the mill...here they are from another angle:

Here we are touring what was once the main floor of the spinning and weaving workshop.  Most of the workers were French-Canadian and Irish immigrants...

We saw where they hid the child laborers when the inspectors came! They would put the children in the tall barrels and place piles of cotton over them...

Our guide explained how the spinning and weaving machines worked and the students got to explore a bit...

A special THANK YOU to the staff and volunteers at Museum-LA.  It is clear how passionate you are about keeping Maine's history alive and sharing your knowledge with young people!  We had a great time!