Sarah George Bagley (shown left), born on this day in 1806, was a U.S. labor leader and author who played a key role in organizing the Lowell Mill Girls in the 1840s. After working as an organizer, she established a sliding-scale medical clinic.

Bagley advocated for shorter workdays for factory workers and mechanics and campaigned to make ten hours of labor per day the maximum in Massachusetts. She also opposed the Mexican-American War, demanded prison reform, and later in life established a sliding-scale medical practice in Albany, New York.

"When our rights are trampled upon and we appeal in vain to our legislators, what are we to do? Shall not our voice be heard?"

- Sarah Bagley