One cannot tell the story of the northeastern Franco-Americans without discussing survivance. This was an ideology of cultural survival in which the French language and the Roman Catholic faith were mutually supportive, with the loss of the first entailing earthly perdition and eternal damnation. These were the two pillars of French Canadians’ identity, the primary […]
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A 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 readingFranco-American Clippings
I never tire of jumping into newspaper archives in search of one item, only to find something far more eye-opening, or intriguing, or informative. I am always happy to share those findings, but seldom do my press clippings fit in perfectly with one of my regular blog posts. Since the beginning of the year I […]
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 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 readingJean Rivard: American and Catholic
See Part I here. Themes In my edition of Jean Rivard, the editor establishes the influence of Don Quixote and Robinson Crusoe on Gérin-Lajoie’s novel. But the parallels that struck me first and foremost—parallels that will be familiar to American readers—involve Walden and Horatio Alger novels. Both Henry David Thoreau and Rivard go into the […]
Continue readingJean Rivard: A Pioneering Novel
How easily we overlook what was happening in Lower Canada in the early 1860s. While bloody conflict wrecked Mexico, the American giant was embroiled in a devastating civil war that would claim 700,000 lives and lead to “a new birth of freedom.” For a time, it seemed that the winds of war would sweep over […]
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 readingFranco-American History in Ten Documents, Part I
No history as rich and complex as that of Franco-Americans can be reduced to small vignettes. But what would a survey of iconic Franco-American documents and moments—perhaps destined to a neophyte—would look like? As a fun experiment, I propose the following. It is hoped that these texts (some well-known, some less so) will encourage readers […]
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