Factory Gothic / Bridget Marshall
@factorygothic.bsky.social
Sharing 19th-century Gothic industrial research
Dr. Bridget Marshall (she/her), Professor of English, University of Massachusetts, Lowell
Book: http://tinyurl.com/h79c3epk
Dr. Bridget Marshall (she/her), Professor of English, University of Massachusetts, Lowell
Book: http://tinyurl.com/h79c3epk
Pinned
Very exciting mail today: actual physical copy of my new edition of Mary Elizabeth Braddon's The Factory Girl (1863), via Wales University Press: www.uwp.co.uk/book/mary-el.... Available in the US in June: press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo... It includes all the original illustrations!
Reposted by Factory Gothic / Bridget Marshall
Hey if you're into energy, environment, pipelines, Great Lakes, Indigenous rights, or just a habitable planet, checkout this webinar about how we can start to dismantle the infrastructure that sustains fossil capitalism. It's a great panel that happens to include me. @billmckibben.bsky.social
Join OWDM and partner organizations for a information-filled virtual event on November 18 about the steps you can take to shut down North America's most dangerous fossil fuel pipeline.
RSVP: www.oilandwaterdontmix.org/big_oil_vs_b...
RSVP: www.oilandwaterdontmix.org/big_oil_vs_b...
Big Oil vs. Big Water Webinar
Discover the risks associated with the threats posed by Line 5 and the proposed tunnel project.
www.oilandwaterdontmix.org
November 13, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Hey if you're into energy, environment, pipelines, Great Lakes, Indigenous rights, or just a habitable planet, checkout this webinar about how we can start to dismantle the infrastructure that sustains fossil capitalism. It's a great panel that happens to include me. @billmckibben.bsky.social
Sure there was a lot of news yesterday, but don't miss this story: "Gummy sharks lay scattered among the rubble" after a truck hit a wall & flipped at a notoriously terrible intersection in #Lowell. Photo w/ shark-strewn rubble was taken TWO DAYS after the accident.
www.lowellsun.com/2025/11/12/n...
www.lowellsun.com/2025/11/12/n...
November 13, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Sure there was a lot of news yesterday, but don't miss this story: "Gummy sharks lay scattered among the rubble" after a truck hit a wall & flipped at a notoriously terrible intersection in #Lowell. Photo w/ shark-strewn rubble was taken TWO DAYS after the accident.
www.lowellsun.com/2025/11/12/n...
www.lowellsun.com/2025/11/12/n...
Reposted by Factory Gothic / Bridget Marshall
The children’s picture book, “Strega Nona, An OldTale,” celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Author and illustrator Tomie dePaola penned the book about the Italian “grandmother witch.” (via @mprnews.org)
Strega Nona turns 50 — and her art lives in Minneapolis
The University of Minnesota’s Kerlan Collection is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Tomie dePaola’s beloved picture book “Strega Nona,” showcasing the original illustrations and highlighting Minnesota’s unique role in preserving the warmth, artistry and enduring cultural impact of this classic story.
n.pr
November 12, 2025 at 7:26 PM
The children’s picture book, “Strega Nona, An OldTale,” celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Author and illustrator Tomie dePaola penned the book about the Italian “grandmother witch.” (via @mprnews.org)
Reposted by Factory Gothic / Bridget Marshall
ALA 2026 CFP from the Society for the Study of American Women Writers now posted! See CFP details at americanliteratureassociation.org/ala-conferen...
Societies’ Call for Papers – The American Literature Association
americanliteratureassociation.org
November 12, 2025 at 5:03 PM
ALA 2026 CFP from the Society for the Study of American Women Writers now posted! See CFP details at americanliteratureassociation.org/ala-conferen...
Reposted by Factory Gothic / Bridget Marshall
If you or anyone you know would be interested in a GREAT Victorian studies conference in the spring, here's the CFP. Proposals due Dec 6. Especially let anyone within driving distance of Cincinnati know! The lovely @nathankhensley.bsky.social will be keynote speaker. midwestvictorian.org/conference/
Conference
“The Underground: Prohibition, Abolition, Expression”2026 Call for Papers April 10-12, 2026, hosted by Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio. Baker Street Station on the Metropolitan Railway, 1863 &#…
midwestvictorian.org
November 10, 2025 at 9:31 PM
If you or anyone you know would be interested in a GREAT Victorian studies conference in the spring, here's the CFP. Proposals due Dec 6. Especially let anyone within driving distance of Cincinnati know! The lovely @nathankhensley.bsky.social will be keynote speaker. midwestvictorian.org/conference/
Reposted by Factory Gothic / Bridget Marshall
Thrilled that Kelly Wisecup and Christopher Pexa will present at the next meeting of the Am Lit & Culture seminar at the Mahindra Center at Harvard, Nov 12, 6pm. This event is co-sponsored with the Native Cultures of the Americas Seminar. Join us if you are in town!
November 7, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Thrilled that Kelly Wisecup and Christopher Pexa will present at the next meeting of the Am Lit & Culture seminar at the Mahindra Center at Harvard, Nov 12, 6pm. This event is co-sponsored with the Native Cultures of the Americas Seminar. Join us if you are in town!
Sharing a few of my favorite historical images of when women started ruining the workplace.
November 6, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Sharing a few of my favorite historical images of when women started ruining the workplace.
MA Emergency Mgmt map shows over 2500 people without power in Lowell but National Grid's map shows nothing and website reporting of outage doesn't seem to work. mema.mapsonline.net
October 31, 2025 at 8:15 PM
MA Emergency Mgmt map shows over 2500 people without power in Lowell but National Grid's map shows nothing and website reporting of outage doesn't seem to work. mema.mapsonline.net
Aaand the power is out! Just to add some extra spooky to the day. @nationalgrid.bsky.social Neighbor and I both tried to report outage on the web form but it doesn't seem to be working!
October 31, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Aaand the power is out! Just to add some extra spooky to the day. @nationalgrid.bsky.social Neighbor and I both tried to report outage on the web form but it doesn't seem to be working!
Happy Halloween! Free #costume ideas from archives! Why not be:
1. The witch from this beautiful edition of Gaskell's Lois the Witch (1861-ish)
2. Thomas Cooke as Frankenstein's creature (1832?)
3. "The Nemesis of Neglect" from a Punch cartoon (1888)
4. Group costume: Broom ladies (1850?)
1. The witch from this beautiful edition of Gaskell's Lois the Witch (1861-ish)
2. Thomas Cooke as Frankenstein's creature (1832?)
3. "The Nemesis of Neglect" from a Punch cartoon (1888)
4. Group costume: Broom ladies (1850?)
October 31, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Happy Halloween! Free #costume ideas from archives! Why not be:
1. The witch from this beautiful edition of Gaskell's Lois the Witch (1861-ish)
2. Thomas Cooke as Frankenstein's creature (1832?)
3. "The Nemesis of Neglect" from a Punch cartoon (1888)
4. Group costume: Broom ladies (1850?)
1. The witch from this beautiful edition of Gaskell's Lois the Witch (1861-ish)
2. Thomas Cooke as Frankenstein's creature (1832?)
3. "The Nemesis of Neglect" from a Punch cartoon (1888)
4. Group costume: Broom ladies (1850?)
Looking for something else but found this great stereograph @historicnewengland.bsky.social of the Making-up room, Lawrence Hosiery Co., #Lowell, Mass., ca. 1865. A lot of early images of the mills only feature machinery, so it's lovely to see the workers. www.historicnewengland.org/explore/coll...
October 30, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Looking for something else but found this great stereograph @historicnewengland.bsky.social of the Making-up room, Lawrence Hosiery Co., #Lowell, Mass., ca. 1865. A lot of early images of the mills only feature machinery, so it's lovely to see the workers. www.historicnewengland.org/explore/coll...
Reposted by Factory Gothic / Bridget Marshall
The country’s largest food assistance program is set to lapse on Nov. 1 if the federal government shutdown continues. That will affect almost 1.1 million people in more than 655,000 households across Massachusetts.
By the numbers: Who will be affected in Mass. if food aid program SNAP goes unfunded
The country’s largest food assistance program is set to lapse on Nov. 1 if the federal government shutdown continues. That will impact almost 1.1 million people in more than 655,000 households across ...
www.wbur.org
October 29, 2025 at 7:24 PM
The country’s largest food assistance program is set to lapse on Nov. 1 if the federal government shutdown continues. That will affect almost 1.1 million people in more than 655,000 households across Massachusetts.
Made another donation to the Merrimack Valley Food Bank mvfb.org/resources/ to support their work.
I noticed that I haven't been hearing anything from the likes of Market Basket or Stop & Shop about the impact of SNAP cuts on their businesses. Would be nice if they'd stand up for their customers.
I noticed that I haven't been hearing anything from the likes of Market Basket or Stop & Shop about the impact of SNAP cuts on their businesses. Would be nice if they'd stand up for their customers.
Resources - Merrimack Valley Food Bank
If you, a family member or friend are in need of food please refer to the appropriate links below for a food pantry and meal program near you. All Locations Pantry & Meal Program Schedule (English) Gr...
mvfb.org
October 29, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Made another donation to the Merrimack Valley Food Bank mvfb.org/resources/ to support their work.
I noticed that I haven't been hearing anything from the likes of Market Basket or Stop & Shop about the impact of SNAP cuts on their businesses. Would be nice if they'd stand up for their customers.
I noticed that I haven't been hearing anything from the likes of Market Basket or Stop & Shop about the impact of SNAP cuts on their businesses. Would be nice if they'd stand up for their customers.
Just a taste of both the best and the worst thing: Harriot Curtis apparently had a lot to say and not enough paper. In letters like this one, written from Lowell on 12 May 1838, after filling the page, she turned it upside down and wrote a "second page" upside down between the lines of the first.
October 28, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Just a taste of both the best and the worst thing: Harriot Curtis apparently had a lot to say and not enough paper. In letters like this one, written from Lowell on 12 May 1838, after filling the page, she turned it upside down and wrote a "second page" upside down between the lines of the first.
So excited to begin my day in an archive (Smith College Special Collections) where I've just paged the letters of former Lowell mill girl Harriot Curtis. My usual archive is closed due to the federal shutdown. This is a beautiful, sun-drenched reading room on a gorgeous western Mass October day.
October 28, 2025 at 2:43 PM
So excited to begin my day in an archive (Smith College Special Collections) where I've just paged the letters of former Lowell mill girl Harriot Curtis. My usual archive is closed due to the federal shutdown. This is a beautiful, sun-drenched reading room on a gorgeous western Mass October day.
Reposted by Factory Gothic / Bridget Marshall
This morning in WBUR Today: Lowell's own 'Citgo sign' will turn on tonight for the first time in nearly a decade
Plus:
— More than a million in Mass. at risk of losing SNAP benefits
— Cambridge's 14-month path closure
www.wbur.org/news/2025/10... @wbur.org
Plus:
— More than a million in Mass. at risk of losing SNAP benefits
— Cambridge's 14-month path closure
www.wbur.org/news/2025/10... @wbur.org
Lowell's own 'Citgo sign' will shine Monday night for the first time in years
For the first time since 2017, the 91-year-old "Sun" signs atop the Lowell Sun Building will turn on Monday night, with new LED lights.
www.wbur.org
October 27, 2025 at 11:58 AM
This morning in WBUR Today: Lowell's own 'Citgo sign' will turn on tonight for the first time in nearly a decade
Plus:
— More than a million in Mass. at risk of losing SNAP benefits
— Cambridge's 14-month path closure
www.wbur.org/news/2025/10... @wbur.org
Plus:
— More than a million in Mass. at risk of losing SNAP benefits
— Cambridge's 14-month path closure
www.wbur.org/news/2025/10... @wbur.org
Honestly, watching Toogle destroy this orange orb is as much enrichment for me as for Toogle. I'm going to try to approach today's to-do list with this energy.
Toogle loves carving pumpkins! 🎃
Come see him and other Zoo Boise animals receive Halloween treats, plus trick or treat stations, costume contests, and lots more fun on Saturday, Oct. 25 and Sunday, Oct. 26 for Boo at the Zoo, presented by Delta Dental of Idaho.
🎥: So. ground hornbill enrichment
Come see him and other Zoo Boise animals receive Halloween treats, plus trick or treat stations, costume contests, and lots more fun on Saturday, Oct. 25 and Sunday, Oct. 26 for Boo at the Zoo, presented by Delta Dental of Idaho.
🎥: So. ground hornbill enrichment
October 22, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Honestly, watching Toogle destroy this orange orb is as much enrichment for me as for Toogle. I'm going to try to approach today's to-do list with this energy.
Reposted by Factory Gothic / Bridget Marshall
Hundreds turned out for the No Kings rally in Lowell. Speakers, music, and then a march downtown. A car full of young men drove by the rally multiple times to yell, “F&@% liberals,” among other things. Peaceful beyond that. Story from the events there and in Chelmsford later at lowellsun.com.
October 18, 2025 at 9:44 PM
Hundreds turned out for the No Kings rally in Lowell. Speakers, music, and then a march downtown. A car full of young men drove by the rally multiple times to yell, “F&@% liberals,” among other things. Peaceful beyond that. Story from the events there and in Chelmsford later at lowellsun.com.
Reposted by Factory Gothic / Bridget Marshall
This is why we will peacefully come together on Saturday, October 18 for our #NoKings Rally, to show support for our friends, neighbors, Greater-Lowell community, and the country we so proudly love.
www.lowellsun.com/2025/10/13/i...
www.lowellsun.com/2025/10/13/i...
ICE arrests Afghan man with brain cancer living in Lowell, despite work authorization
LOWELL — When Ihsanullah Garay came to the U.S. from Afghanistan in spring 2021, he brought with him dreams of obtaining his doctorate in finance. Now, amid treatment for brain cancer, Garay has be…
www.lowellsun.com
October 15, 2025 at 9:52 AM
This is why we will peacefully come together on Saturday, October 18 for our #NoKings Rally, to show support for our friends, neighbors, Greater-Lowell community, and the country we so proudly love.
www.lowellsun.com/2025/10/13/i...
www.lowellsun.com/2025/10/13/i...
Dealing with an unfortunate halt to progress. Because the Center for Lowell History is in a National Parks building, it is closed, so a chunk of my current research project is on hold. Their digital collections libguides.uml.edu/archives/dig... are great but not quite what I need right now.
October 10, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Dealing with an unfortunate halt to progress. Because the Center for Lowell History is in a National Parks building, it is closed, so a chunk of my current research project is on hold. Their digital collections libguides.uml.edu/archives/dig... are great but not quite what I need right now.
10 October 1893 a Boston Daily Globe headline asked "Who is Waterproof Man?" who was haunting the young women of Exeter, NH, assaulting them, and tearing off pieces of their clothing. Factory girls and shop girls were terrified. Rumors claimed it was a prank by students at Phillips Exeter.
October 10, 2025 at 11:06 AM
10 October 1893 a Boston Daily Globe headline asked "Who is Waterproof Man?" who was haunting the young women of Exeter, NH, assaulting them, and tearing off pieces of their clothing. Factory girls and shop girls were terrified. Rumors claimed it was a prank by students at Phillips Exeter.
Reposted by Factory Gothic / Bridget Marshall
If you are a supporter and reader of @contingent-mag.bsky.social one of the biggest things you can do to help us at the moment is get this CFP to the NTT folks in your life. The fracturing of social media has made it very difficult to get the word out esp. to adjuncts and VAPs.
CFP: A Time of Monsters
The monster has been here all along. It is a historical constant that manifests in wildly different ways across time, place, and culture. Whatever form it takes, the monster claws at categories; it un...
contingentmagazine.org
October 5, 2025 at 9:41 PM
If you are a supporter and reader of @contingent-mag.bsky.social one of the biggest things you can do to help us at the moment is get this CFP to the NTT folks in your life. The fracturing of social media has made it very difficult to get the word out esp. to adjuncts and VAPs.
Some gravestone rubbings from the collection at the Center for #Lowell History. Augusta H. Locke (the rubbing omits the "E" at the end) and Susan E. Parker worked in Lowell's mills. Augusta's age is listed as "17 years, 4 months, 10 days," a specificity that surprised me. Each day is precious.
October 3, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Some gravestone rubbings from the collection at the Center for #Lowell History. Augusta H. Locke (the rubbing omits the "E" at the end) and Susan E. Parker worked in Lowell's mills. Augusta's age is listed as "17 years, 4 months, 10 days," a specificity that surprised me. Each day is precious.
I encountered this thread from @midnightpals.bsky.social and thought it was hilarious -- just delightful to imagine a Hellman's garlic aioli-scented book. Then like 10 minutes later, I discovered from another post that this promotion is real and I don't even know what to say. Hellman, WTF?
Jennifer Armentraut: Submitted for the approval of the midnight society, i call this the tale of the scone of stone and bone
King: what's that smell?
Armentraut: oh you mean that garlic smell?
Armentraut: that patented Hellmans original mouth-watering garlic aioli smell?
King:
King: yeah that smell
King: what's that smell?
Armentraut: oh you mean that garlic smell?
Armentraut: that patented Hellmans original mouth-watering garlic aioli smell?
King:
King: yeah that smell
October 2, 2025 at 5:14 PM
I encountered this thread from @midnightpals.bsky.social and thought it was hilarious -- just delightful to imagine a Hellman's garlic aioli-scented book. Then like 10 minutes later, I discovered from another post that this promotion is real and I don't even know what to say. Hellman, WTF?