This year will start with back-to-back posts on Honoré Beaugrand’s Jeanne la Fileuse, the classic Quebec novel on late nineteenth-century emigration. Although a fairly conventional love story drives the plot, Beaugrand did not hide his own politics. My blog posts will cover his treatise on emigration—and those he deemed responsible for the mass exodus.

Moving forward in time, I’ll return to the Frank Foster controversy, which I briefly discussed last summer. Quebec’s provincial legislature responded to the nativism of the 1880s by sending a delegation to Boston. This was not your typical embassy.

More controversy? You got it. I’ll be sharing tidbits from a larger project on Franco-Americans in U.S. politics and taking a close look at Major Edmond Mallet, the Civil War veteran who was unceremoniously fired from the Department of the Interior in 1889.

Several years later, under a different administration, it was Benjamin Lenthier’s turn to bear the consequences of partisan jockeying in Washington, D.C. In February, I will take a look at his ever-so-brief tenure as an American consul in Canada. Lenthier has been forgotten as a figure of significance in the Franco community and I will share possible explanations.

I intend to provide context for the major historical anniversaries that are coming up in early March. Readers may also get a sense of my experience in Nova Scotia as I teach in Canadian history and Canada–U.S. relations for the first time. I have a book on John F. Kennedy under contract and will share updates in that regard, too.

Last but not least…

Before Christmas, I announced plans to host a Q&A session on this blog. I invite readers to send me questions about

• My experience, my work in the field of Franco-American studies, and why I do this;

• Readings that I would recommend or issues I would like to see discussed in this field;

• People, places, and events in Franco-American history that you wish to learn more about (in other words, I can answer substantive questions about the past, since apparently as a historian I am qualified to do this);

• Anything else that may be relevant to me, to the blog, and to this area of research.

Once I have received enough questions, I will schedule a post and may try my hand at a video recording. Feel free to submit yours through the contact form on this website, on Twitter, or by any other means you fancy.

Much, much more to come.