Opening of Event Coincides with Kickoff of Summer Walking Tours
05/31/2016
Media contacts: Nancy Cicco, UMass Lowell, 978-934-4944 or Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu
Phil Lupsiewicz, Lowell National Historical Park, 978-275-1705, Phil_Lupsiewicz@nps.gov
LOWELL, Mass. – UMass Lowell, Lowell National Historical Park and RichardHowe.com are teaming up to offer “Lowell Walks,” a pictorial exhibit celebrating the on-foot urban experience the city offers.
Building on the popular “Lowell Walks” tours series that returns this summer, the exhibit opens on Saturday, June 11 at 11:30 a.m. at the Patrick J. Mogan Center, 40 French St., Lowell. The opening follows the first Lowell Walks tour of the summer, “Preservation Success Stories,” which is being led by local historian Fred Faust.
The exhibit is a joint effort of UMass Lowell Libraries and the Office of University Relations in partnership with the national park and the popular local blog, RichardHowe.com. Howe, who writes about local history and politics, is scheduled to speak at the June 11 opening event along with Sue Andrews, LNHP’s director of communication and collaboration, and Lowell writer Paul Marion. The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments and snacks will be served.
The exhibit is curated by UMass Lowell Libraries archivist Tony Sampas with guidance from National Park Museum Specialist Jack Herlihy and Acting Chief of Cultural Resources Laurel A. Racine. Research assistance was provided by UMass Lowell students Nhu Pham and David Zhong, as well as UMass Lowell Libraries Director George Hart, library staff members Janine Whitcomb and Mehmed Ali, Lowell City Librarian Sean Thibodeau and retired UMass Lowell librarian Martha Mayo. Christopher Wilkinson, community relations coordinator in UMass Lowell’s Office of University Relations, designed materials for the exhibit, which also features the work of local photographers Jim Higgins, Joseph Marion, Jennifer Myers, and Roxane and Dick Howe. Vintage images were provided by the Lowell Historical Society.
The idea for the exhibit grew out of the “Lowell Walks” phenomenon that began in 2015 with a series of walking tours through the city led by local experts. Tours focused on topics ranging from the history of abolitionism in Lowell to how public sculpture transformed the downtown. All of the tours drew high attendance.
“The exhibit also marks the important era beginning in 1978 when Lowell National Historical Park was established, offering its walking, canal and trolley tours as a key park experience,” Sampas said. “‘Lowell Walks’ reaches back in history to provide background on how public walking venues such as the Northern Canal Walkway were a part of the city’s planning from early on and have continued with the creation of such venues as the Riverwalk and the Vandenberg Esplanade.
“Other topics covered by the exhibit include the walkathons that began in the 1970s, for which locals stepped out for causes such as ending hunger or raising awareness for public health issues. ‘Lowell Walks’ also documents the tours about Lowell native son Jack Kerouac, devised and led by local scholar Roger Brunelle for the last three decades,” Sampas added.
More information on “Lowell Walks” can be found at www.richardhowe.com/events/. For exhibit hours, call 978-970-5000.
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