Eliza Jane Cate facts for kids

Eliza Jane Cate (born 1812, died 1884) was an American writer. She worked in cotton mills in New England. She wrote many stories and books about factory life. Her stories appeared in magazines like The Lowell Offering. She is famous for her book Lights and Shadows of Factory Life in New England. This book shared stories about the lives of women who worked in mills.

About Eliza Jane Cate

Eliza Jane Cate was born in 1812. Her hometown was Sanbornton, New Hampshire. Her father worked as a carpenter and a builder. He also fought in the War of 1812.

When she was older, Eliza went to work in cotton mills. She worked in cities like Manchester, New Hampshire and Lowell, Massachusetts. She is known as one of the "Lowell mill girls". These were young women who worked in the textile mills. Eliza wrote a lot about what factory life was like. She passed away in 1884.

Her Writing Career

While working in Lowell, Eliza Jane Cate wrote for The Lowell Offering. This was a magazine created by and for the mill girls. She used different pen names, which are fake names writers use. Some of her pen names were "D," "Jennie," "Jane," "E. J. D," and "Frankin, NH."

One of her articles was "Leisure Hours of the Mill Girls." It appeared in The Lowell Offering in 1842. People believe she wrote this piece.

Famous Works

Eliza also wrote for The New England Offering. This magazine took over from The Lowell Offering. One of her articles there was "Rights and Duties of Mill Girls."

Her most well-known work is Lights and Shadows of Factory Life in New England. This was a series of stories. They first appeared in a newspaper called The New World in 1843. The stories follow three made-up women. Their names were Emma Hale, Helen Gould, and Kate Kimball. Each woman came to work in the mills for different reasons. An advertisement for another of Eliza's books said that Lights and Shadows sold 20,000 copies. That's a lot of books!

Besides the Offering magazines, she wrote for others. These included the Olive Branch, Godey's Lady's Book, and Peterson's Magazine. In 1859, a newspaper in New Hampshire mentioned her. It said she was "favorably and widely known" as "The Author of Susy L.'s Diary." This was another one of her pen names.

A writer named Harriet Hanson Robinson said that Eliza's fans called her "the Edgeworth of New England." This was a compliment. They were comparing her to Maria Edgeworth. Maria was a very popular Irish writer at that time. In 1889, Eliza Jane Cate was listed as a "prominent American literary woman." However, her books are not as well-known or read today.

Books by Eliza Jane Cate

• A Year with the Franklins: Or, To Suffer and be Strong (1846)
• Lights and Shadows of Factory Life (1848)
• Rural Scenes in New England (1848)
• Jenny Ambrose; or, Life in the Eastern States (1866)