March 1, 2026

By Alexandra Mazza

Photograph Courtesy of Torrington Historical Society

During the early 20th century, Connecticut’s mills depended on immigrant labor, particularly from Eastern Europe, Italy, and Ireland. As mass immigration accelerated, Southern and Eastern Europeans arrived in large numbers, joining earlier Irish communities that had entered industrial work in the 19th century. Italians, the largest immigrant group in Connecticut during this period, often began in unskilled factory and construction jobs, including dangerous mill labor with long hours and low pay. French Canadian immigrants followed, while Polish, Russian, and Lithuanian arrivals came later, driven by political unrest in Europe, settling in textile and brass mills across Hartford, New London, and surrounding counties. Most women, initially employed as domestic servants for wealthy industrialists, increasingly joined men in factories as home work declined during the 1930s.

Working conditions were harsh. Mills were crowded, poorly ventilated, and dangerous. Employers frequently exploited immigrants’ economic vulnerability, paying them low wages that could barely support their families. Many depended on relatives or ethnic networks for housing and basic support. 

Cultural hostility added to these struggles. As foreign residents reshaped Connecticut’s population, American-born workers often viewed immigrants as threats. Anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic, and anti-Jewish movements gained strength, intensified by the Red Scare and the Great Depression. When immigrant mill workers requested safer conditions or higher wages, their efforts were branded “un-American.” Police and government officials arrested many as supposed radicals, which intensified cultural oppression. Despite exploitation and discrimination, immigrant labor remained central to Connecticut’s industrial growth.