Waterworks Wednesday Book Group

Join the monthly Waterworks Wednesday Book Group for discussion of The Belles of New England: the Women of the Textile Mills and the Families Whose Wealth They Wove by William Moran. Even if you have not read the selected book you are invited to join the group for lively conversation about Boston history. All you need to bring is your curiosity – and maybe your coffee!

The Waterworks Wednesday Book Group will meet Wednesday, February 8th, at 10:00 a.m. in the museum’s upstairs Overlook Gallery. There is no admission fee. Book group meetings occur on the first Wednesday of each month.

After the book group, you are welcome to explore the museum on your own or join a guided tour. You will be able to view massive steam engines, learning about the history of Industrialization and its impact on Boston’s water supply.

About the book:

The Belles of New England is a masterful, definitive, and eloquent look at the enormous cultural and economic impact on America of New England’s textile mills. The author, an award-winning CBS producer, traces the history of American textile manufacturing back to the ingenuity of Francis Cabot Lodge. The early mills were an experiment in benevolent enlightened social responsibility on the part of the wealthy owners, who belonged to many of Boston’s finest families. But the fledgling industry’s ever-increasing profits were inextricably bound to the issues of slavery, immigration, and workers’ rights.

William Moran brings a newsman’s eye for the telling detail to this fascinating saga that is equally compelling when dealing with rags and when dealing with riches. In part a microcosm of America’s social development during the period, The Belles of New England casts a new and finer light on this rich tapestry of vast wealth, greed, discrimination, and courage.