Tsongas Industrial History Center

10/15/2026

Today is the Tsongas Industrial History Center’s 35th Anniversary! To celebrate our anniversary, we are announcing the winner of our inaugural Dorrie Kehoe Educator Award. Congratulations to Hailee Attorri, Social Studies teacher from Lunenburg High School!

The Dorrie Kehoe Educator Award was created this year to honor Dorrie Kehoe, one of the TIHC’s founders. From 1987 – 1998 Dorrie was the Center’s School Liaison. She was instrumental in setting up the Tsongas Industrial History Center before its official opening in 1991. She visited various sites and museums to observe engaging, multidisciplinary school programs and, most importantly, met regularly with local educators to learn how the TIHC could best meet their needs. Much of what she established, with the help of other staff and teacher-advisors, is still in place today, 35 years after our opening.

Dorrie was a passionate supporter of the TIHC well beyond her retirement. Upon her passing earlier this year, the TIHC chose to honor her contributions and legacy with this award.

Attorri’s nomination stood out to the committee because of the many examples and connections she makes for students across disciplines and the support and resources she consistently shares with others in the education field. One nominator stated, “Hailee uses place-based and place-conscious learning as a way to connect students to their community and have them form emotional, social, and political connections to their surroundings.”

Upon learning she received the award, Attorri stated, “I hope that what I do in my classroom captures and continues Dorrie Kehoe’s legacy because, like her, I truly believe hands-on and place-based learning are so important for our students”.
The award will be presented at our 35th Anniversary Celebration of the Tsongas Industrial History Center happening on October 29th. Please join us!

10/01/2026

Are you interested in part-time teaching? We are looking for a few new Museum Teachers to fill out our team as we look forward to a busy 2026-2027 season of field trip programs. Our Tsongas Industrial History Center Museum Teachers engage students (grades 2-12) in active learning, effective questioning, participatory activities, and relevant age-appropriate discussions while on field trips to visit our hands-on workshops and the unique resources at Lowell National Historical Park. Please see the link to apply through the UMass Lowell HR website (in the comments) for more information.

09/29/2026

There are just a few days left to nominate an educator for our inaugural Dorrie Kehoe Educator Award. We will be closing nominations on October 1st. As a reminder, the award is a $1000 prize and will be presented at our 35th Anniversary Celebration of the Tsongas Industrial History Center happening on October 29th.

Do you know an educator who is passionate about hands-on, experiential, multidisciplinary teaching and helping other educators learn too? The Tsongas Industrial History Center has established an Educator Award to recognize Dorrie (Bonner) Kehoe, one of the founders of the TIHC and its School Liaison from 1987 to 1998. Dorrie was instrumental in setting up the Tsongas Industrial History Center before our official opening in 1991. She visited various sites and museums to observe engaging, multi-disciplinary school programs and, most importantly, met regularly with local educators to learn how TIHC could best meet their needs. Much of what she established at the Center—with the help of other staff and teacher-advisors—is still in place today, 35 years after our opening.

Dorrie was a passionate supporter of the TIHC well beyond her retirement. Upon her passing earlier this year, the TIHC chose to honor her contributions and legacy with this award.

The award winner will receive a $1000 gift, courtesy of the College of Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at UMass Lowell and Dorrie Kehoe's family for the purchase of educational supplies.

Nomination deadline: October 1, 2026
Note: This award will be presented at the in-person 35th anniversary celebration on October 29th at the Tsongas Industrial History Center in Lowell. We will celebrate our UMass Lowell/ School of Education at UMass Lowell and Lowell National Historical Park partnership.

To nominate (or self-nominate) an educator, please see the link in the comments.

(Photo: Dorrie Kehoe is in the back row on the right of this TIHC staff photo from the early 1990's.)

09/24/2026

Greetings educators: As we continue our strategic planning for the Tsongas Industrial History Center, we are looking for help with a survey. We are planning for the TIHC’s future, and we can’t do it without input from educators like you. Even if you don't know us and our programs well, your responses to our short survey will be helpful. Please fill out the survey here: https://umasslowell.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6hZRCpavr2boke2

As a small incentive, one randomly selected respondent will receive a $25 gift card.

09/22/2026

To get ready for teaching our field trips, our staff always participates in staff development days because we all love learning and increasing our knowledge for our visiting school groups. This year we had the opportunity to visit the Moody Street Feeder Gatehouse, St. Anne's Church, and get a very detailed tour of the weave room at the Boott Cotton Mills Museum. It was all great and helpful information!

09/17/2026

We had a great time today with showing off our UMass Lowell and Lowell National Historical Park partnership at the UMass Lowell South Campus Fall Fest today! We talked to lots of UML students who remembered being here on field trips when they were younger, and lots who are looking forward to visiting for our upcoming Hands-On History programs on the 2nd Saturday of every month. Did you see us there? If you are a UML student student who came here on a field trip, let us know!