PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Colonial-era houses along Elfreth’s Alley, the nation’s oldest residential street, have well-researched histories that document the names of nearly every homeowner over the past three centuries, as well as their occupations.

What’s less well-known are the backgrounds of the impoverished immigrants who lived in tenements behind those brick rowhouses in Philadelphia. Discovering their stories has become the mission of archaeologist Deirdre Kelleher, who is excavating two courtyards on the passageway.

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