Dover Mill Women’s Strike (1828)

Fri Dec 26, 1828

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Image: Women workers of the Dover Cotton Factory who earned 42 cents per day, lived in company boarding houses, and worked 11-hour shifts, six days each week. (from the Dover Public Library)

On this day in 1828, the first women’s only strike in U.S. history took place when hundreds of Dover Mill workers walked out in protest of their working conditions. In the early 1800s, young women were often employed in textile mills and garment factories. Unmarried Dover mill girls lived in dorms managed by the mill company, worked eleven hour days, and were fined for being late.

After the factory’s ownership changed hands in 1828 and wages were reduced for women employees only, hundreds of the workers decided to strike. They formed a procession over a half mile long, complete with “artillery and martial music”.

Despite the energetic protests, their strike was not successful and the women returned to work at reduced wages three days later.