Answer: The Lowell Mill girls
The Lowell Mill girls were young female workers who worked in Lowell, Massachusetts during the Industrial Revolution. Women who worked at Lowell were economically independent, which helped challenge gender stereotypes of the time.
However, women were only paid half of what men earned and the conditions of factory work were less than ideal. Many women joined the labor movement, and in 1845, organized a series of protests and strikes. They also formed the first union of working women in the United States: the Lowell Female Labor Reform Association.