The Lowell National Historic Park preserves and interprets the historical and cultural sites
in Lowell, Massachusetts, the most significant planned industrial city in the United States.
At the Boott Cotton Mills Museum we reconceptualized and redesigned the museum's final
three galleries, which recount the ongoing changes to Lowell following the decline of
the textile industry. The stories in the existing galleries had quickly become outdated
and the Park wanted to find a way to tell the story of Lowell's decline and rebirth
in way that would seem relevant years from now. A key part of the process involved
working with Park staff to determine which major stories these final galleries
should tell and how to tell them.
In these new galleries, the effect on the city and on the people of Lowell are told
through first person accounts from Lowell residents, strong visual imagery, and
artifacts. Several hands-on interactives, prototyped and evaluated with the Park
audience, were designed for both drop-in visitors and Ranger-led school groups.
