ENGL 2323- British Lit 1780-Present

The journalist and politician Edward Baines (1800-90) succeeded his father as editor of the Leeds Mercury and as MP for Leeds. From a dissenting family, he was a social reformer but passionately believed that the state should not interfere in matters such as working hours and education. In this 1835 work, he sees the cotton industry as an exemplar of the unity of 'the manufactory, the laboratory, and the study of the natural philosopher', in making practical use of creative ideas and scientific discoveries. He surveys cotton manufacture from its origins to its 'second birth' in England, and focuses on the current state of machinery, trade and working conditions in all aspects of the business, and its outputs, including cloth, lace, stockings and cotton wool. This comprehensive work was important for its detailed analysis of a vital commercial activity, and remains so today for the historical information it contains.

In When the Air Became Important, medical historian Janet Greenlees examines the working environments of the heartlands of the British and American cotton textile industries from the nineteenth to the late twentieth centuries. Greenlees contends that the air quality within these pioneering workplaces was a key contributor to the health of the wider communities of which they were a part. Such enclosed environments, where large numbers of people labored in close quarters, were ideal settings for the rapid spread of diseases including tuberculosis, bronchitis and pneumonia. When workers left the factories for home, these diseases were transmitted throughout the local population, yet operatives also brought diseases into the factory. Other aerial hazards common to both the community and workplace included poor ventilation and noise. Emphasizing the importance of the peculiarities of place as well as employers' balance of workers' health against manufacturing needs, Greenlees's pioneering book sheds light on the roots of contemporary environmentalism and occupational health reform. Her work highlights the complicated relationships among local business, local and national politics of health, and community priorities.