This post begins with a look back to September 1, 1987. That’s when the teenagers above were skateboarding in Merrimack St. parking lot, Lowell, Massachusetts. Who were they then and where are they now?
Further down you’ll see older faces set beneath thatches of whipped hair hanging out at Central Plaza. Car windscreens are decorated with marque-loyal sun visors. Tyres are fat. Whitesnake are on the tape deck. Life is loud, in your face, free from cynicism and driven by the pursuit of straight-talking fun and fulfilment.
Ethnicity is a theme. Those of Greek heritage are supporting Mike Dukasis’s bid for the presidency and dancing in Hellenic school. The Puerto Ricans are on a parade. Cambodian newlyweds Sopheap and Pen are at her mother’s house. Pen’s lighting a cigarette her husband holds clenched between his lips. They look happy. The Portuguese are dancing to Fado music at the IV Seasons Restaurant. The Franco-Americans are playing cards and remembering. Jack Kerouac’s old house is a local tourist attraction. Jesus is celebrated in church and street displays. Everywhere is music, food and big hair.
The pictures were taken for the Lowell Folklife Project, conducted in 1987-1988 as a cooperative project of the American Folklife Center and the Lowell Historic Preservation Commission, with support from the Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities. They show us the everyday.
Central Plaza, Lowell, Massachusetts by John Lueders-Booth – September 5, 1987
Cosmopolitan Market, 491 Market St., Lowell, Massachusetts
Carnaval celebration, St. Anthony Parish Hall, Lowell, Massachusetts
Jerry’s Shu-Tap, 319 Westford St., Lowell, Massachusetts.
West End Gym, Middlesex St., Lowell, Massachusetts
Wang Laboratories Assembly Plant, Pawtucket Blvd., Lowell, Massachusetts
Jack Kerouac’s birthplace, 9 Lupine St., Lowell, Massachusetts
Paylin Market, 6 Branch St., Lowell, Massachusetts
Puerto Rican Festival parade, Lowell, Massachusetts
George Hapsis coffee house, “The New Democratic Club” on Broadway in the Acre, Lowell, Massachusetts
Wedding of Sopheap Kuth and Pen Hing at the home of Pen Hing’s mother, Mrs. Chounn Chen, Lowell, Massachusetts
Hellenic American School, Lowell, Massachusetts . Date: 1987-12-09
Graffiti
Fado musicians, IV Seasons Restaurant, Lowell, Massachusetts
Central Plaza, Lowell, Massachusetts – September 5, 1987
Ray Gagnon, of Ray’s Flies, in his fly-tying shop, located at 12 1/2 Third Ave., Lowell, Massachusetts
Carnaval celebration, Holy Ghost Society, Lowell, Massachusetts
Franco-American picnic, Westford, Massachusetts – August 22, 1987
West End Gym, Middlesex St., Lowell, Massachusetts
Puerto Rican Festival, Lowell, Massachusetts
Franco-American band at Leo Dufresne’s home, Dracut, Massachusetts
Battambang Market, Merrimack St., Lowell, Massachusetts
Via: Library of Congress
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