In preparation for the first regional National History Day (NHD) competition in Aroostook County, the Acadian Archives provided a set of primary documents to organizers and teachers. These documents, some drawn from the Archives’ own collections, showcase the history and experiences of French-heritage communities in far northern Maine.

I am pleased to expand access to these documents by sharing them here alongside an introductory bibliography and assessment questions. Teachers and professors are encouraged to use and disseminate these materials, though always while crediting the Acadian Archives.

Naturally, any curated set of historical documents is arbitrary in some measure. Even large documentary collections can fail to do justice to the experiences of communities and peoples. Were it not for the cap placed by the NHD workshop (or the theme of citizenship, broadly defined), we might also include the petitions signed by Acadian families in the Fredericton era in the 1780s; the observations of outside visitors, from Bishop Plessis to John Deane and Edward Kavanaugh; financial transactions from the eastern half of Aroostook County; Catholic parish censuses; newspaper reports of community activities and cultural organizations; and a wide array of photographs depicting St. John Valley residents, their setting, and their material world. An even more comprehensive lesson plan would include audiovisual materials, particularly oral interviews.

This document set complements the lesson plan on French-Canadian migrations that previously appeared on this blog, providing a wider view of French North America in the long nineteenth century. That page includes links to other teaching resources on Acadians and French Canadians in the United States.

The sources can serve document-based questions for high school and undergraduate students; although questions are also included here, teachers and professors should feel empowered to develop their own or to use other documents to establish different connections to their course material.

Primary Documents:

Questions:

Bibliography: