Textile Institute, Lowell
Kerouac wrote about the then ‘Lowell Textile Institute’, which is now part of the University of Massachusetts, in a number of his books, especially ‘Maggie Casssidy’ – no wonder, since he had to pass it on the way from the house on Phoebe Avenue the family lived in for some time, on the way to downtown Lowell.
Retracing Jack Kerouac 
Was there a direct connection between the Textile Institute and the mills?
Yes, apparently (if the Wikipedia entry is to be believed) the first courses offered when the institute was founded in 1985 were in wool manufacture, design or textile chemistry and dyeing.