Kassie Jo Baron is a PhD candidate in English, studying 19^th-century American literature. Her dissertation project examines the literary representation of female textile factory operative’s bodies during the industrial revolution and the ideologies projected onto them by fiction and nonfiction writers. These “mill girls” became symbols for the health of the United States; by looking at this example, Kassie’s research provides insight into the consequences of the continued use of women’s bodies as political symbols. She is planning on defending her dissertation this spring. Recently, Kassie inherited a counterbalance floor loom built by her great-great-grandfather. A real heirloom, if you will.