This summer, Query the Past will be offering occasional glimpses of Franco-focused archival collections from northern New England. The University of Vermont’s Special Collections Library is the first stop in this digital journey. * * * Readers of “Tout nous serait possible” and this blog may recall Joseph Denonville Bachand (1881-1970), the dentist whose long […]
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Les Franco-Américains et le Québec
Pour une mise en contexte par rapport à l’histoire franco-américaine, consultez mon billet détaillant les grandes lignes de ce passé ou encore mon survol du parcours politique des « Francos ». Mon dernier billet présente l’idéologie de survivance dans les grands centres franco-américains suite à la Deuxième Guerre mondiale. On ne saurait exagérer la complexité et la diversité du monde francophone […]
Continue readingFree Online Books on Franco-American History
Did someone say free? That’s right, folks, not only free, but also accessible online. It goes without saying that Franco-American history in its many forms has never been so broadly available. We have blogs and podcasts. Primary sources are only a click away thanks to the digitization efforts of platforms like Archive.org, HathiTrust, and Bibliothèque […]
Continue readingInternet Resources on Acadian History
As many of you know, I will be teaching a course on Acadian history this fall. In the process of building the curriculum, I have been discovering an immense amount of trustworthy educational resources online. Although this blog focuses primarily on the French-Canadian diaspora, Acadians merit considerable attention in the larger story of transnational North […]
Continue readingJoseph Denonville Bachand: French Vermonter and Statesman
In her first memoir, former Vermont governor Madeleine Kunin discussed her experience as a young reporter in Winooski, a predominantly French and working-class city abutting Burlington. Mayor Armand Rathe was then at the helm of Winooski; for a time, in the 1950s, he was deemed politically invincible. Kunin had her journalistic trial by fire when […]
Continue readingAccentuating Difference: Francophones in the United States
The French language has two expressions about those who come from afar or leave their home country. The first is “Nul n’est prophète en son pays”: one is not a prophet in his or her own land. The implication is either that one’s society will refuse to hear cold hard truths or that modern-day prophets […]
Continue readingLa Journée de la Francophonie in Exeter, N.H.
Yesterday, in celebration of Francophonie Day at Phillips Exeter Academy, I was invited to deliver the event’s keynote address. I gladly share my prepared remarks here. Thank you, all, for your presence here. I salute your interest in this language that bring us together—not merely today, I hope, but throughout the year. Thank you especially […]
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