We are fast approaching the second anniversary of the publication of “Tout nous serait possible”: Une histoire politique des Franco-Américains, 1874-1945, the first full-length regional synthesis of Franco-Americans’ political involvement. I am very grateful for the support of the Presses de l’Université Laval, generous reviews, and readers’ willingness to give it their time and attention. […]
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Voting While Franco-American: The View from Plattsburgh
Franco-American political candidates do not earn the same easy acclaim from their own heritage community they once did. This is especially clear in Maine, where Paul LePage seeks to return to the governor’s office. By virtue of his policies and his remarks on his ethnic background, LePage has alienated many compatriots. His opponent, by contrast, […]
Continue readingFrench Canadians 100 Years Ago: September to December
Franco-Americans—and a larger community of French Canadians—were visible in 1921. This is the third part of a year-long tour of major stories concerning Quebec and its diaspora. See the second installment here. September Biddeford’s French-language newspaper runs a profile of a now-forgotten Franco-American known as “Mr. Zero.” The nickname belongs to a Mainer named Urbain […]
Continue readingChalifoux, Part II: The Franco-American Who Won Boston
See Part I here. As it still does, commercial prominence translated into political influence. In the spring of 1891, the Chalifoux family welcome William Eustis Russell, the Bay State’s young Democratic governor, then visiting Lowell for the first time since his election. Former Lowell mayors, prominent businessmen, and editor Benjamin Lenthier of Le National were […]
Continue readingA Political History of Franco-Americans: The Book
As many of you know, my first academic book, John F. Kennedy and the Politics of Faith, is now available from the University Press of Kansas. I am touched by the expressions of interest and support I’ve received in the last few weeks. As readers might suspect, the book is drawing attention due to its […]
Continue readingA Political History of Franco-Americans
A week ago, I submitted my second book manuscript to a university press.[1] And yes, this one is about Franco-Americans. The amount of Franco-related political items I have shared on this blog and on Twitter since the beginning of the year is in fact closely related to this research project. The struggle for survivance and […]
Continue readingMr. Dubuque Goes to Nashua
We could write a lengthy treatise on the French-Canadian “national” convention held in Nashua, New Hampshire, in June 1888. Some unusual moments and distinguished visitors set it apart. Still, it remains significant partly because it did not mark a major departure from prior congresses; its speeches and resolutions offer a microcosm of late nineteenth-century Franco-American […]
Continue readingFranco-American History in Ten Documents, Part II
See the first installment on important Franco-American documents here. A Man and His Dream (1909) Félix Albert had a tale to tell—with some false modesty, his own. In the early twentieth century, after a turbulent life, he had someone, perhaps a local priest, write down his experience as an immigrant and a man of many […]
Continue readingThe Long Life of the Wright Report
It has become a rite of passage for any scholar of Franco-American history to address the report issued by the Massachusetts Bureau of Labor Statistics in 1881. The Bureau was one of many publicly-funded agencies created in the late nineteenth century to provide policymakers with information on industrialization, urban life, the workforce, and general economic […]
Continue readingAmerican and French: Robert Desty (1827-1895), Part II
Please see Part I here. By the mid-1870s, Robert Desty’s life was apparently more settled. He began the work that considerably eased the burden of generations of American attorneys and scholars, and through which his became a household name in the legal community. He compiled and indexed laws and court cases; he wrote digests; he […]
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