Luke Nicosia M'24 recently published an article in Westmoreland History based on his thesis research in the Applied Archaeology MA Program. Luke's research used archaeology and historical research to understand how the damming of the Loyalhanna River affected the town of New Alexandra, PA.
A significant portion of New Alexandria was condemned when the US Army Corps of Engineers built the Loyalhanna Creek Dam in the 1940s. These homes and businesses were in the flood pool of the new dam. The Loyalhanna Dam, and others in western Pennsylvania, were constructed to benefit cities and industries further downstream and negatively affected New Alexandria and other small communities. Luke's research is some of the first to document how the people of New Alexandria, and his other research site—Smicksburg—responded to these changes. It is an interesting study in western Pennsylvania's resiliency.
Luke won an IUP Outstanding Graduate Research Award, and we are thrilled to see his scholarship reaching a wider audience.