See Part I here. Others emigrate freely with their families, driven by poverty or despair, as, in fact, has been done for many years despite the efforts of governments and friends of domestic colonization. All of this owes to causes that are separate from what we are presently discussing; we only mention it to highlight […]
Continue readingTransnational Tales of the Civil War, Part I
Private Sylvester Turner’s experiences during the War of the Rebellion are probably lost to time. But those experiences were undoubtedly trying, complex, and sobering. The Second Vermont Infantry with which Turner served fought in some of the bloodiest engagements of the war, including Antietam and Gettysburg. In fact, the Vermont Brigade had an unequalled casualty […]
Continue readingFamilies of the Diaspora
Again has commenced and closed the annual migration of the French Canadians.—Daily have we seen them pass in companies, loaded with knapsacks and covered with the dust of travel; all dressed alike, with Canada gray trousers, homespun shirt, straw hat and moccasins. Every year just before haying, thousands of the French inhabitants of Canada come […]
Continue readingThomas Cottrell : Légende canadienne
Les longues soirées d’hiver nous donnent l’occasion de faire revivre les contes et légendes d’antan. Je vous propose ici une légende de la Côte-du-Sud qui rappelle un chapitre difficile de l’histoire du Québec. Les lecteurs et lectrices anglophones apprécieront peut-être, dans le même registre, A French-Canadian Christmas Carol et The Clever Woman. Je vous invite […]
Continue readingFinding Acadian Migrants in New England
The latest issue of Le Forum, published by the Franco-American Centre in Orono, carries my article on Hattie LeBlanc, an Acadian migrant accused of murder in Waltham, Massachusetts, in the early twentieth century. We know of Hattie from the extensive press coverage of her trial. Yet, in many respects, she is an exception, for the […]
Continue readingLesson Plan: Early Franco-American History
Regular readers have heard the refrain: there are many ways in which we can deepen our knowledge of Franco-American history, many paths we have yet to take in our field of research. That is not all, however. We can broaden and discuss; we must also seek out opportunities to disseminate our findings. Many teachers and […]
Continue readingThe French-Canadian Farm in 1860, Part II
This follows the earlier excerpt of letters published in the Windsor-based Vermont Journal concerning rural life in Lower Canada. See Part I here. This post is based on letters published June 23 and July 21, 1860. * * * The grain-harvest treads close upon the heels of haying. It is astonishing how rapidly vegetation advances […]
Continue readingThe French-Canadian Farm in 1860, Part I
Beginning in 1858, an American correspondent signing “S. M.” shared his impressions of life in Lower Canada for readers back home in Vermont. “Having lived many years in the midst of the French population, and being familiar with their manners, customs and language,” the author explained, “I propose to drop you a line now and […]
Continue readingYouth in Franco-American History
We are less than two weeks away from the third Young Franco-Americans Summit, an initiative launched by the Franco-American Centre in Orono, Maine, in 2021. This year’s YFAS will be held at Rivier University in Nashua, New Hampshire, and, like prior installments, it will connect Franco-Americans in their teens, twenties, and thirties around common cultural […]
Continue readingObstacles to Naturalization: The Case of Connecticut
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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