Last updated: December 4, 2024
Article
Lyddie: Glossary
- Chapter 1
- Sleeping Loft
- An elevated area in the cabin, just below the roof.
- Debt
- Something, typically money, that is owed or due.
- Chapter 2
- Antebellum
- The time period before the Civil War and the end of slavery in the United States.
- Potash
- Fertilizer made from ashes.
- Chapter 3
- Stagecoach
- A horse-drawn coach for passengers and goods running on a regular schedule between established stop.
- Homespun
- Coarse, handwoven cloth, made at home, instead of factory-made store-bought.
- Chapter 6
- Enslaved person
- Someone who is held in the institution of slavery and forced to work against their will. In this case, people of African descent.
- Enslaver
- Used instead of “owner” to more accurately describe the actions of white people who held Black people in bondage.
- Dismisses
- Orders or allows to leave; fire from a job.
- Preacher
- A Christian religious leader.
- Literacy
- Being able to read and write.
- Clergy
- The body of all people ordained for religious duties, especially in the Christian Church.
- State-sanctioned
- Behavior that is legally allowed by local, state, or federal governments.
- Deportment
- A person’s behavior or manners.
- Chapter 7
- Boardinghouse
- Corporation-owned building where mill workers lived together under the care of a boardinghouse keeper.
- Arabian Tales
- Refers to a famous centuries-old set of folktales from Persia, India, and Arabia. These tales include characters like Aladdin and Ali Baba.
- Chapter 8
- Keeper
- The woman who ran a boardinghouse, cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the workers who lived there.
- Concord Corporation
- The Concord Corporation is a fictional company that is based on the mill corporations in Lowell.
- Weaving Room
- The weaving room is filled with machines called looms that weave threads together to make cloth.
- Dam
- A structure built across a stream or river to hold the water back.
- Chapter 9
- Overseer
- The supervisor, responsible for daily operations of part of the mill.
- Radical
- Someone who favors extreme change in existing conditions.
- Female Labor Reform Association
- An organization formed by mill workers to fight for a shorter workday.
- Women's sphere
- The realm of domestic life, focused on childcare and housekeeping.
- Upward Mobility
- The ability to rise to a higher social or economic position.
- Chapter 10
- Dinner
- The largest meal of the day was the noon-time meal, while supper, served in the evening, was a lighter meal, often consisting of leftovers from dinner.
- Chapter 12
- Poorhouse
- A government-run facility to support and provide housing for the dependent or needy.
- Ten-hour Petition
- A paper sent to the Massachusetts government asking for a ten-hour workday in the state, signed by many mill workers.
- Chapter 13
- Lyceum
- A place where educational talks were given to the public.
- Chapter 14
- Wracking
- Painful, difficult, or excruciating.
- The Acre
- A real settlement in the suburbs of Lowell where many Irish immigrants lived in the 1830s and 1840s.
- Papist
- An unkind way of referring to someone who is Roman Catholic.
- Montreal
- A city in Canada where many formerly enslaved people sought freedom.
- Bank Note
- A promissory note issued by a bank payable to bearer on demand and acceptable as money.
- Chapter 15
- Doffer
- Someone who removes ("doffs") bobbins, or spindles holding spun fiber such as cotton or wool from a spinning frame and replaces them with empty ones.
- Chapter 17
- Phrenologist
- Someone who studied and measured bumps on a person’s skull in order to predict personality and other mental traits.
- Bobbin
- A cylinder or cone holding thread, yarn, or wire, used especially in weaving, machine sewing, and lacemaking.
- Chapter 18
- Apprentice
- A person who works for another in order to learn a trade, often for low wages for a fixed period of time.
- Chapter 19
- Curfew
- A regulation requiring people to remain indoors between specified hours, typically at night.
- Chapter 20
- Idle
- Not running; lacking motion.
- The Great Hunger
- Also called the Irish Potato Famine, this was a period of starvation in Ireland after a disease affected the potato crop. During this period, 20-25% of Irish citizens either emigrated elsewhere or died of starvation/disease.
- Chapter 21
- Agent
- The highest official in the mill.
- Chapter 22
- Turpitude
- Vile or shameful character; base, depraved.