On Wednesday evening a tumultuous crowd filled the streets, led by the most unprincipled and disorderly part of the village, and made an excessive noise — they visited successively the houses of the manufacturers, shouting, exclaiming and using every imaginable term of abuse and insult. The window in the yellow mill was broken in. . . . The next day the manufacturers shut their gates and the mills have not run since.

So read Pawtucket, Rhode Island’s Journal in late May 1824 as it detailed the beginnings of the United States’ first factory strike, and the country’s first strike of any kind led by women.

One hundred two young women textile workers organized the action — at the time called a “turn-out” — which lasted through early June and successfully won concessions from mill owners. These young women deserve to be recognized as central to the early US militant labor tradition.