This thematic collection is long overdue. The pandemic has been a time of struggle, loss, and grief for many, its disruption and loss incalculable. This publication was also set back by the unexpected loss of its coeditor, Dr. Mary C. Beaudry (Fig. 1), who passed away in October of 2020. I thank our contributors for their patience and, most of all, for their participation in the original session, held in New Orleans in January 2018.

Fig 1.
figure 1

Mary C. Beaudry (1950–2020), at Glymur, Iceland, in 2019.

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I would like to dedicate this collection to Mary, whose many contributions to the field of historical archaeology include recognizing the power of sensory experience to shape the ways humans use material culture, experience landscapes, and perceive the world around them. While she did not finish revising her paper on meals served in Mrs. Fox’s boardinghouse at the Boott Mills, Lowell, Massachusetts, Mary’s influence is nonetheless evident throughout the thematic collection. She pushed us to allow a sensory perspective to inform our research, even as we were just beginning to comprehend that our own work as archaeologists is influenced by the senses, despite assertions of objectivity. I think Mary would agree that the articles in this collection are excellent examples of what we archaeologists can accomplish if we think about and accept different ways of knowing and experiencing the past.

To Mary.

KBM