Harriet Hanson was a Lowell mill operative in the 1830s and 1840s when she wrote "Loom and Spindle." In 1848, she married William Stevens Robinson, editor of the "Lowell courier." After the Civil War both Harriet and her husband became steadfast supporters of woman suffrage. This book by Robinson deals with the woman suffrage campaign in Massachusetts from 1774 to 1881. The writing is rather dry, but it includes a very good 88-page appendix containing a detailed description of the Lowell Mill; accounts of various attempts by women to gain limited access to voting rights; and statistical information on women's employment.