Living on the Boott: Health and well being in a boardinghouse population

Abstract

Documentary and archaeological evidence provides a view of conditions of sanitation, hygiene, and nutrition under the boarding house system in Lowell, Massachusetts. The evidence is sometimes complementary but more often contradictory. Archaeological evidence, for example, reveals that public expression of corporate concern for worker welfare often failed to be followed by actions that would improve living conditions in the boarding houses. The archaeological record further reveals that even well‐intentioned efforts by the corporations to improve worker living conditions may have resulted in the inadvertent addition of new hazards to an already unhealthy environment.