Created by UMass Lowell graduate student/Methuen High School social studies teacher Stephanie Turmel under the supervision of UMass Distinguished Professor of History Robert Forrant and Lawrence History Center staff (2019).
Lesson 3: Who is to blame for the Pemberton Mill Tragedy?
Lesson Summary: Students will learn about the aftermath of the Pemberton Mill Disaster. During the lesson, students will watch a documentary called “The Case Against Captain Bigelow ” that will explores whether or not the man who designed and built The Pemberton Mill should have been responsible or not.
Lesson Overview:
- Opener/Warm Up Activity: Political Cartoon Analysis (Resource #8) - Students will analyze a political cartoon published in Vanity Fair magazine. Students will respond to the question, “ What does this cartoon reveal about who people believed was to blame for the Pemberton Mill Tragedy?”
- Students will watch “The Case Against Captain Bigelow”
Teacher can introduce movie - The movie you are about to watch is a documentary about a mill that collapsed back in the 1800s, in Lawrence, MA. While watching the movie, you should think about whether or not the man who designed and built it should be held responsible or not for its collapse.”
- Writing Assignment: “The Case Against Captain Bigelow” ( Resource #8) Students will complete debate sheet to prepare for the writing assignment where they have to respond to the following question. “Should the Captain Bigelow, be held responsible for the collapse of the Pemberton Mill?”
Lesson Resources: The Case Against Captain Bigelow (Movie available for free on youtube)
Lesson Extensions: Instead of assigning a writing prompt, have a class debate on the following question. ““Should the Captain Bigelow, be held responsible for the collapse of the Pemberton Mill?”
Summative Assignment: Currently there is no monument to commemorate the lives lost during the Pemberton collapse. Students will work in groups to create a potential monument to commemorate the victims of the Pemberton Mill collapse.
- A possible civic engagement extension would have students research the steps for creating a monument and perhaps design one as a small group activity.
- Students can write letters to Lawrence local officials, making the case for why a monument should be created.
Additional Reading and Resources for Teachers
Alvin Oickle, Disaster in Lawrence: The Fall of the Pemberton Mill.
Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, The Tenth of January, a tale of the Pemberton Mill
Amazon Description: “Andover author and feminist, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps (1844 - 1911) was an early advocate of clothing reform for women, urging them to burn their corsets. Inspired by the Lawrence Pemberton Mill Tragedy of 1860, Phelps wrote this story based upon one of the actual workers, Asenath S. Martin. It originally appeared in The Atlantic Monthly in 1868. Preface to this edition by Louise Sandberg, Special Collections, Lawrence Public Library, author of Lawrence in the Gilded Age. "The story is sentimental, but the events of that night are very real." Louise Sandberg