Fragmented Histories, Recovered Voices: Black Women and Children in the Tewksbury Almshouse Digital Archive, 1854–74

From the colonial period onward, Massachusetts communities recognized a mutual obligation to care for the poor and sick within their borders. Towns established almshouses to provide for those in need, but this support had limits—especially for outsiders. Strangers were often “warned out,” and if admitted to a town’s almshouse, their home community was billed for their upkeep. By the mid-19th century, local relief efforts were overwhelmed thanks to a population boom fueled by industrialization and immigration combined with systemic racism and increasing poverty. Recognizing that individual towns could no longer manage these growing demands all on their own, Massachusetts established state-run institutions such as the Tewksbury Almshouse in 1852. However, even from its opening, the Tewksbury Almshouse was plagued by overcrowding, disease, abuse, and allegations of corruption. Despite these conditions, it remained a haven of last resort for thousands of impoverished and sick individuals from all over New England and the world.

Remarkably, a vast collection of the original Tewksbury Almshouse records survives at the Public Health Museum of Massachusetts. In collaboration with the Lowell History Center and the University of Massachusetts Lowell, 41,000 intake records were digitized and made publicly available on a Digital Commonwealth Omeka site. These records offer critical insight into 19th-century poverty, disability, domestic violence, pregnancy, sexual assault, and racial discrimination. With particular interest in Black women and children's experiences in mid-19th century New England, the author of this project obtained the metadata (including names, ages, gender, birthplace) of these digitized intake records and created a custom database of approximately 200 Black women and children who entered the almshouse between 1854 and 1874. An image of each intake record includes a short firsthand account of the incoming resident, which includes information (such as genealogy, residences, employer or enslaver's name, husband's name, personal circumstances, etc.) that was not included in the Omeka site's metadata. The author of this project transcribed each of these biographies and employed digital humanities methodologies—including visualizations of text analysis and mapping techniques drawn from a custom-built database—to examine the mobility and lived experiences of Black women and children who were admitted to the Tewksbury Almshouse. This poster highlights the value of almshouse public health records in reconstructing the lives of marginalized individuals and argues that public history and digital humanities tools are critical to recovering voices often excluded from traditional historical narratives by piecing together fragments of biographical and public health information situated in the context of relevant academic historical scholarship. To accomplish this, the poster will include visually accessible sections titled "Research Questions," "Research and Digital Methodologies," "Historical Background and Images of the Tewksbury Almshouse," "Images of Intake Records," and bulleted sections on "The Anatomy of an Intake Record," "Historiography of Caring for the Poor and Sick," and "Takeaways and Ideas for Future Research and Teaching." The poster will also include several colorful printed visualizations of the text and map analysis and visitors will have access to an iPad that displays a custom website with interactive features of the project.