Intertsectionality and Irish Identity in Lowell, Massachusetts, Past and Present

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)", at the 2024 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Arriving in the early 19th century, Irish laborers built the first canals and mills of Lowell, Massachusetts. Recently completed excavations at the former site of the Patrick Keyes Store in Lowell – a collaborative project between the Fiske Center of the University of Massachusetts Boston, Queens University, Belfast Northern Ireland, the College of William and Mary, and the College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Science at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell – unearthed parts of the ancillary structures associated with the store and as a rear yard area of a tenement building. All these structures are connected to the Acre – the city’s Irish community during the 19th century and nearby St. Patrick’s Church. This paper summarizes the results of this research through the lens of intersectionality. It compares the materiality of the 19th century Acre with other groups of workers in Lowell, that raise questions concerning notions of Irish American identity.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2024   •
• Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow