A 19th century mill girl intently working her power loom, weaving the cloth that built a city; the iconic Boott Mills clock tower visible through her window.
Designed by Joel Iskowitz and sculpted by Phebe Hemphill, it is the image by which Lowell will be known by baristas, butchers, bakers, candlestick makers, customers, and numismatists across the nation and around
It was an historic day in Lowell and the Commonwealth as the Lowell Quarter was officially launched by the United States Mint at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium Wednesday morning. The Lowell Quarter is the first issued of 2019 and 46th overall to have been released as part of the U.S. Mint’s America the Beautiful Quarters Program, a 12-year program that honors 56 national parks and sites.
“The depiction of the mill girl takes us back to the past at the forefront of America’s Industrial Revolution,” Marc Landry, the Mint’s Acting Associate Director of Numismatic and Bullion Directorate said in a statement. “The physical coin takes us to the present day manufacturing processes; and finally, the coin in its entirety takes us into the future – inspiring tomorrow’s innovators, workforce, and generations to follow.”
Sen. Kennedy, along with Mayor Bill Samaras, and City Councilor Vesna Nuon were among hundreds of Lowellians in the audience for the big reveal, but the day, like the quarter was all about the women.
Following the Presentation of Colors by the Lowell High School Air Force Junior ROTC Honor Guard, Pledge of Allegiance led by LHS Senior Class President Eunice Tabea, and National Anthem performed by the LHS Chorus, Lowell National Historical Park Superintendent Celeste Bernardo welcomed the crowd.
Remarks were made by City Manager Eileen Donoghue and former Congresswoman Niki Tsongas, as well as UMass Lowell Chancellor Jacqueline Moloney, and National Park Service Northeast Region Deputy Regional Director Rosalyn Fennell. Coalition for a Better Acre Executive Director Yun-Ju Choi and Community Teamwork, Inc. Executive Director Karen Frederick served as emcees.
City Manager Eileen Donoghue 
Former Congresswoman Niki Tsongas 
UML Chancellor Jacquie Moloney
Bernardo singled-out Ellen Anstey, Manager of Administration and Engagement at UML’s Tsongas Industrial History Center, who has led the charge to make the Lowell quarter a reality for 10 years. LNHP was one of 100 options to represent Massachusetts. Anstey rallied enough support in the region for Lowell to beat out iconic sites like Boston’s Freedom Trail and Lexington’s Minuteman National Historical Park.
Anstey teamed up with LNHP Supervisory Park Ranger David Byers to work on the project the last several years, whittling down options and tweaking the design to perfection.
A trio of students from Lowell Middlesex Academy Charter School spoke about the design of the quarter and how it came to be and the incredible Lowell High School band playedMills on the Merrimack to accompany a video depicting a historic dramatization of 19th century life in the Lowell mills.
Bernardo, Tsongas, Fennell, and Landry participated in a traditional “coin pour” tailored to Lowell, to officially launch the quarters into circulation. Tsongas dumped cloth bags of quarters into a “water wheel” like those that once powered the mills. The coins were then dropped into a trunk resembling the old steamer trunks many immigrants brought with them to Lowell from their homelands.
Following the program, 1,500 school-aged children from the Lowell area who were in attendance to celebrate, were each granted a quarter to take home. And hundreds of adults lined up to purchase freshly minted $10 rolls of Lowell quarters, including Sen. Kennedy, who will be gifting one quarter to each of his 39 Senate colleagues.
