Pemberton Mill Relief Committee Records

The Pemberton Mill, built in 1853, was a five-story building 280 feet long and 84 feet wide. Its chief engineer was Charles H. Bigelow and its construction was financed by John A. Lowell and his brother-in-law J. Pickering Putnam. During a financial panic in 1857, Lowell and Putnam sold the mill to George Howe and David Nevins, Sr. for a loss. In an attempt to boost profits, the new owners placed more machinery into the mill than the structure could support. On January 10, 1860, the building collapsed without warning. During rescue efforts after the collapse, a lamp was accidentally knocked over, causing a fire to errupt on the site and spread quickly. The combined disaster killed an estimated 88-145 workers and injuring 166, many critically, many of the them young immigrant women.

The collapse was found to have been caused by a number of factors including the additional machinery that had been added to upper floors as well as insufficent building construction standards allowing for brittle iron columns and improporly supported brick walls. The mill was rebuilt after the disaster.

In the time before Workers Compensation laws, the Pemberton Mill Relief Committee was formed after the collapse with the purpose to investigate the victims' condition and to administer and distribute funds received for their aid. It's interesting to note the different ways the contributions were distributed based on gender and family status. Committee included Daniel Saunders, Charles S. Storrow, Henry K. Oliver, William C. Chapin, John C. Hoadley, John Rollins and George P. Wilson. A temporary hospital, the Pemberton Home, was established in the aftermath in order to treat the victims. The committee was disbanded in February 1861.