Digging Lowell: Immigrants, Urbanity, and Ethical Practice in an Industrial City

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Cities on the Move: Reflecting on Urban Archaeology in the 21st Century", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Drawing from decades of archaeological research in the industrial city of Lowell, as well as a recent excavation in the heart of Lowell's 19th century Irish enclave, we consider practicalities, ethical challenges, and research insights from these urban excavations. A recently completed project at the former site of the Patrick Keyes grocery in Lowell has aided understandings of the immigrant Irish experience, and the transition made by individuals from a rural to an urban lifestyle. Yet pursuing questions about one 19th century group of immigrants in a city that today is made up of many other immigrants, new and old, demands reflection over what stories to tell, and how to tell those stories. Furthermore, the excavation of the Keyes site was rapid, selective, and subject to the consent of a developer. Yet the project provided a valuable opportunity to engage with the contemporary urban population.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Cities on the Move: Reflecting on Urban Archaeology in the 21st Century   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2025

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow