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Le FORUM Journal Franco-American Centre Franco-Américain

Summer 2020

Le Forum, Vol. 42 No. 2

Lisa Desjardins Michaud, Rédactrice

Robert B. Perreault

Ronald G. Héroux

Leslie Choquette

Julien Oliver

See next page for additional authors

Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/francoamericain_forum

Recommended Citation Michaud, Rédactrice, Lisa Desjardins; Perreault, Robert B.; Héroux, Ronald G.; Choquette, Leslie; Oliver, Julien; Coulombe, Gerard; Vick, Sandra; Gauvin, Marie-Anne; Myall, James; L'Heureux, Juliana; Martineau, Jesse; Pinette, Susan; Marion, Paul; Lacroix, Patrick; Beaulieu, Tim; Langford, Margaret; Beebe, Suzanne; Michaud, Holly; Guignard, Michael; Perry, Maureen; Daigle, Phillip; Larson, Denise; and Bélanger, Jim, "Le Forum, Vol. 42 No. 2" (2020). Le FORUM Journal. 95. https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/francoamericain_forum/95

This Book is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UMaine. It has been accepted for inclusion in Le FORUM Journal by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UMaine. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Authors Lisa Desjardins Michaud, Rédactrice; Robert B. Perreault; Ronald G. Héroux; Leslie Choquette; Julien Oliver; Gerard Coulombe; Sandra Vick; Marie-Anne Gauvin; James Myall; Juliana L'Heureux; Jesse Martineau; Susan Pinette; Paul Marion; Patrick Lacroix; Tim Beaulieu; Margaret Langford; Suzanne Beebe; Holly Michaud; Michael Guignard; Maureen Perry; Phillip Daigle; Denise Larson; and Jim Bélanger

This book is available at DigitalCommons@UMaine: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/ francoamericain_forum/95 Le FORUM “AFIN D’ÊTRE EN PLEINE POSSESSION DE SES MOYENS”

VOLUME 42, #2 SUMMER/ÉTÉ 2020 See story: One Chilly Ce numéro de Morning on page 35 Le Forum est dédié à la douce mémoire de Dr. Claire Quintal et Gérard Brault

This Issue of Le Forum is Dedicated in Loving Memory of Dr. Claire Quintal Dr. Claire Quintal and Gerard J. Brault April 28, 1930- Gerard Brault November 7, 1929- April 30, 2020 February 5, 2020

Voyage parmis nous ressentis... Deeply Felt Journeys...

(See pages 3-13/Voir pages 3-13)

Websites: Le Forum: http://umaine.edu/francoamerican/le-forum/ https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/francoamericain_forum/ Oral History: https://video.maine.edu/channel/Oral+Histories/101838251 Library: francolib.francoamerican.org Occasional Papers: http://umaine.edu/francoamerican/occasional-papers/ Résonance, Franco-American Literary Journal: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/resonance/vol1/iss1/ other pertinent websites to check out - Les Français d’Amérique / French In America Calendar Photos and Texts from 1985 to 2002 http://www.johnfishersr.net/french_in_america_calendar.html Franco-American Women’s Institute: http://www.fawi.net $6.00 Le Forum Sommaire/Contents

Dedication/Dédié...... 3-13 What did you do during COVID-19 Quarantine?...... 30 L’État du ME...... 14-25 by Margaret Langford Le Centre Franco-Américain Stories from My French Canadian Université du Maine Childhood...... 14-16 L’État du MA...... 31-32 Orono, Maine 04469-5719 by Gérard Coulombe Staying Franco - Is French the Key? [email protected] by Suzanne Beebe Téléphone: 207-581-FROG (3764) True Story...... 16 by Sandra Vick Volume 42 Numéro 2 Cutts Street, Biddeford, ME 1931-1934 L’État de VA...... 31-44 SPRING/PRINTEMPS 2020 ...... 17-18 Henry Prunier Franco-American Veteran Publishing Board ...... 33-35 Don Levesque by Gérard Coulombe Paul Laflamme La Pie Bavarde...... 19 by Michael Guignard Lin LaRochelle by Marie-Anne Gauvin Saint André’s Home of Louella Rolfe Fear, Prejudice, and Vaccinations...... 20-22 Biddeford, Maine: A History Kent Beaulne by James Myall ...... 35-44 Rédactrice/Editor The Haunting of French Louis...... 22-23 by Michael Guignard Lisa Desjardins Michaud by James Myall “Doing Our Best” is good advice From POETRY/POÉSIE...... 45 Mise en page/Layout Pépère Was a Teamster..by Suzanne Beebe Lisa Desjardins Michaud Susan Poulin...... 23-24 by Juliana L’Heureux Tablier...... by Maureen Perry Composition/Typesetting Franco-Americans living at home with Lisa Desjardins Michaud Kindness...... 24-25 BOOKS/LIVRES...... 46 The Acadian...... byPhillip Daigle Aide Technique by Juliana L’Heureux Lisa Desjardins Michaud Why Do We Judge?...... 31 by Holly Michaud GENEALOGY...... 47-49 Tirage/Circulation/4,500 Anglo-Normans - Bilingual French of Norman Descent...... 47 Imprimé chez/Printed by L’État du NH...... 26-29 Centre Franco-Américain, Orono, Maine French-Canadian Legacy Podcast by Denise Larson Publié 4 fois l’an par le Centre Franco‑Américain. Invited guest writers: Susan Pinette Our Acadian Roots...... 48-49 Le Forum est distribué surtout aux Franco‑Américains Paul Marion by Jim Bélanger des États‑Unis. Les énoncés, opinions et points de vue formulés dans Le Forum sont ceux des auteurs et ne Patrick Lacroix COIN DES JEUNES...... 50 représentent pas nécessairement les points de vue de l’éditeur ou de la rédactrice, ou du Collège des arts et 2020 NH PoutineFest Event Update...... 29 LETTRES/LETTERS...... 51 des sciences libéraux à l’Université du Maine. by Tim Beaulieu Le Forum is published 4 times a year by the Franco‑American Center. Le Forum is distributed in particular to Franco‑Americans in the United States. Statements, opinions and points of view expressed are not necessarily those of the editor, the publishers or the Abbonement au Le FORUM Subscription College of Liberal Arts & Sciences of the University Si vous ne l’êtes pas abonnez-vous –– s.v.p. of Maine. –– Subscribe if you have not Tous les textes soumis doivent parvenir à —For- ward all submitted texts to: Lisa D. Michaud, Rédac- NOTICE! trice-en-chef/Editor-in-chief, Le Forum, University of Nom/Name: Maine, Orono, Maine 04469-5719, U.S., au plus tard quatre semaines précédant le mois de publication—at Adresse/Address: least four weeks prior to the month of publication. Les lettres de nos lecteurs sont les bienvenues— Please Métier/Occupation: Letters to the Editor are welcomed. check your La reproduction des articles est autorisée sans mailing la- Ce qui vous intéresse le plus dans Le FORUM section which interests you the préavis sauf indication contraire—Our original articles bels, new most: may be reproduced without notice unless otherwise format for indicated. Je voudrais contribuer un article au Le FORUM au sujet de: L’équipe de rédaction souhaite que Le Forum soit subscrip- I would like to contribute an article to Le FORUM about: un mode d’expression pour vous tous les Franco‑Amér- tion ex- icains et ceux qui s’intéressent à nous. The staff hopes piration. that Le Forum can be a vehicle of expression for you Month/ Tarif d’abonnement par la poste pour 4 numéros Franco‑Americans and those who are interested in us. Year. Subscription rates by mail for 4 issues: Le Forum et son staff—Universitaires, gens de la États-Unis/United States –– Individus: $20 communauté, les étudiants -- FAROG, Ailleurs/Elsewhere –– Individus: $25 Organisation/Organizations –– Bibliothèque/Library: $40 Le FORUM Centre Franco-Américain, Orono, ME 04469-5719 2 DEDICATION/DÉDIÉ SUMMER/ÉTÉ 2020

Ce numéro de Le Forum est dédié à la douce mémoire de Dr. Claire Quintal et Gérard Brault

WORCESTER - Dr. Claire Quin- from the University of Paris. tal of Worcester died on April 30th in St. She taught at the secondary school Vincent Hospital, two days after her 90th level in Central Falls, RI and at the college birthday following a brief decline in health. and university levels in Paris at the Amer- She was renowned as a French schol- ican College, in Worcester at Assumption April 28, 1930 - April 30, 2020 † ar, internationally and nationally known College, where she also served as Dean of speaker, author, editor, and translator. the Graduate School and at Clark University and writing and was a consultant to former In her academic career, she was a col- in Worcester. colleagues and French academics in need of lege and university professor and Founder, She has received honorary degrees her wide expertise. emerita, of the French Institute at Assump- from Assumption College in Worcester, her It has been written that it would take tion College, alma mater, Anna Maria College in Paxton a 500 page biography to do justice to Claire Dr. Quintal was born in Central and St. Michael’s College in Winooski, VT. Quintal. Claire Quintal was a loving, Falls, RI, to Armand and Helene (Messier) Claire Quintal is a Chevalier of supportive, mentoring and encouraging big Quintal and was the eldest of six children. France’s Legion of Honor and is also an sister to her siblings, and a role model to She was predeceased by her parents, her Officer in its National Order of Merit. the next generations and extended family. brother, Armand and her sister, Marcelle She stood proudly among the first She was loyal and devoted, a generous and (Quintal) Arthur. She leaves her sister, Sis- group of Americans to be awarded the Con- endearing friend, a proud Franco-American ter Rollande Quintal, Sisters of St. Anne, of gressionally-sponsored Ellis Island Medal of woman who enjoyed life and her death will Worcester, her brother Henry and his wife Honor in 1986. be grieved as a major loss. Marilyn Quintal of Florida and her sister Claire worked on the creation and ded- In accord with current restrictions Cecile Quintal of Albuquerque, New Mex- ication of the Franco American Monument due to the pandemic, funeral services were ico; nieces and nephews; grandnieces and in . The monument was erected for private. Family and friends will gather in grandnephews; cousins and other extended the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Claire’s memory at a later time. In lieu of family members. city and celebrates the strong cultural and flowers, donations may be made to the Dr. With an endless love for learning, economic ties between Quebec and New Claire Quintal Memorial Scholarship Fund Claire earned academic degrees with highest England. at Anna Maria College, Paxton, MA. Ar- honors: a B.A. degree in French from Anna In retirement as in her more active rangements are in the care of Rice Funeral Maria College, an M.A. degree from the years, idle was not in her vocabulary. She Home, 300 Park Ave. Worcester, MA. University of and a PhD degree turned her attention to translating, lecturing, (See page 4)

Gerard J. Brault, 90, Edwin Erle the direction of Dr. William Roach. Sparks Professor Emeritus of French and In June 1948, while he was still in col- Medieval Studies at the Pennsylvania State lege, he joined the Massachusetts National University, died at Foxdale Village in State Guard and, on Dec. 31, 1951, during the College February 5, 2020. Born in Chi- Korean War, he enlisted in the U.S. Army. copee Falls, Mass., on November 7, 1929, During basic training at Fort Dix, N.J., he he was the son of the late Philias J. and was awarded the Expert Shooting Badge in Aline (Rémillard) Brault. His parents were rifle. After 14 weeks schooling at Fort Hola- immigrants of modest means from Lacolle, bird, Md., he proudly served 11 months in Quebec, in 1921. Europe as a special agent in the 66th Counter He was a graduate of Assumption Prep Intelligence Corps, mostly in its field office and College in Worcester, Mass. He always in La Rochelle, France. For his Army service believed that his ethnicity and education he received the National Defense Service exerted a very positive influence on his and the Good Conduct medals. life. He earned a master's degree in French On Jan. 23, 1954, he married Jeanne cum laude from Laval University, Quebec L. Pepin in Assumption , City, in 1952. He played varsity basketball Chicopee, Mass. They celebrated every day Gerard J. Brault in college and graduate school. In 1958 he of their 66 years as a married couple. November 7, 1929 - February 5, 2020 was awarded a Ph.D. in romance languages Gerard taught French at Bowdoin † from the University of Pennsylvania under (Continued on page 4) 3 Le Forum DEDICATION/DÉDIÉ socioculturelles destinées à l’avancement du SOUVENIRS PERSONNELS D’UNE peuple franco-américain vers le XXIè siècle. Cependant, de façon soignée mais aussi CHÈRE AMIE : CLAIRE QUINTAL franche et directe, Claire a trouvé moyen de par remplir sa tâche avec respect et diplomatie, Robert B. Perreault ce qui m’avait beaucoup impressionné. En juillet de l’année suivante, parmi Le 30 avril 2020, soit deux jours colloque, je prenais mes premiers pas dans les activités du festival franco-américain « après son 90e anniversaire de naissance, une le monde de l’activisme franco-américain. C’est si bon » à Lewiston, Maine, on avait championne de la langue et de la culture en Jeune—j’avais 25 ans—et naïf quant aux organisé un débat littéraire dont le thème Amérique française, Claire Quintal, nous a débats auxquels j’allais être témoin, j’étais était « En quelle langue doit-on écrire ? » été enlevée par la Covid-19. Plutôt qu’offrir choqué par l’explosion de colère que j’ap- Comme auteur de mon premier essai d’une une notice nécrologique traditionnelle—car pellerais une version franco-américaine de longueur considérable, One Piece in the on peut lire à propos de la vie et de la carrière la querelle des « Anciens et des Modernes Great American Mosaic : The Franco-Ame- de cette grande dame dans « Claire Quintal » en France vers la fin du XVIIè siècle, ricans of New England (1976), on m’a se raconte »—je préfère partager avec les début XVIIIè. C’était donc pour moi ce que invité à participer au débat avec un petit lecteurs du Forum quelques souvenirs per- je considère mon « baptême de feu » dans groupe d’écrivains plus âgés que moi, dont sonnels à son sujet. le monde de l’activisme franco-américain. Claire faisait partie. Puisque le débat visait J’ai fait la connaissance de Claire Malheureusement pour elle, Claire exclusivement entre l’écriture en français Quintal lors d’un colloque, maintenant avait accepté, comme elle le disait elle- standard vis-à-vis celle du parler populaire légendaire, intitulé « Les Franco-Améri- même, « la tâche de résumer et de réagir franco-américain, j’ai proposé—avec un de- cains : La promesse du passé et les réalités aux discours […] et aux commentaires […] gré d’appréhension, ne voulant pas relancer du présent », organisé par le National Ma- » du colloque qu’elle trouvait « à la fois mé- la querelle de l’année précédente—l’ajout de terials Development Center de Bedford, morables et déplorables ». Âgée alors de 46 l’anglais comme langue d’expression litté- New Hampshire, en juin 1976. À l’époque, ans, elle se sentait sans doute coincée entre la raire franco-américaine. J’ai donc défendu comme bibliothécaire-archiviste de l’Asso- génération des « anciens » avec leurs idées ma position en rappelant que mon essai en ciation Canado-Américaine de Manchester conservatrices datant de l’époque de la « sur- anglais avait eu du succès parmi plusieurs depuis un an et demi, ainsi que représen- vivance française », et celle des « modernes Franco-Américains unilingues anglophones. tant-observateur de cette institution au » qui favorisaient de nouvelles structures (suite page 5)

(Gerard J. Brault continued from page 3) scendants in the Northeast, and is treasured Welsh (Timothy) of Erie, Pa., and Suzanne by his family. E. Dannenmueller (fiancée of Ned Brokloff) College, then at the University of Pennsyl- He was awarded France's Ordre des of State College, Pa.; a sister, Sister Evelyn vania in Philadelphia, where he also was Palmes Académiques and Ordre National R. Brault, S.A.S.V., of Worcester, Mass.; and vice dean of the graduate school. In 1965, du Mérite, both with the rank of officer. eight grandchildren: Kara W., Rena Marie he was appointed professor and head of the In 1976, Assumption College conferred an Brault, Erin Brault, Emily (Evan) Holwick, Department of French at Penn State, where honorary degree on him, and at Penn State, Alice Welsh, Bryan Welsh, Carly (Leland) he enjoyed the rest of his career. He was he was elected a Fellow of the Institute for Hollensbe and Zoe Dannenmueller. Two named Distinguished Professor of French the Arts and Humanities in 1976. other sisters, Irene G. Harrell of Seattle, and Medieval Studies in 1990, then Sparks He was deeply devoted to his wife, Wash., and Cecile T. Brault of Chicopee Professor later the same year. He retired children and grandchildren, all of whom Falls, Mass., predeceased him. from Penn State on Dec. 31, 1997. survive him. He loved to travel with Jeanne, Friends and relatives will be received He wrote numerous books and articles especially to France, and after his retirement, from 10:30 to 11:30 am at Our Lady of Vic- about medieval French literature and, from they spent 12 happy winters in Green Valley, tory Church, 820 Westerly Parkway, State 1985 to 1988, served as president of the Ariz. He enjoyed working out, lap swim- College, on Saturday, February 8, followed Société Rencevals, an international organi- ming, walking and reading both fiction and by a Mass of Christian burial held at OLV at zation for the advancement of romance epic non-fiction. He was among Penn State's most 11:30 am. Inurnment and graveside services studies. Among his most important works devoted football fans. On June 12, 2013, he will follow at Centre County Memorial Park, were his two-volume edition of the "Song of survived a cardiac arrest while doing laps in 1032 Benner Pike. Roland" (1978), a landmark literary analysis the Welch Pool thanks to the rescue efforts In lieu of flowers, memorial contribu- and modern English translation of the poem; of three alert young lifeguards. tions may be made to the French Institute, "Early Blazon," (1972); and his 1997 "The A devout Catholic, Gerard was a pa- Assumption College, 500 Salisbury St., Rolls of Arms of Edward I (1272-1207)." rishioner of Our Lady of Victory Parish in Worcester Mass., 01609. The latter earned him the Riquer Prize of State College, where he served, early on, as Arrangements are under the care of the Académie Internationale d'Héraldique a religious education instructor, a lector and Koch Funeral Home, State College. Online and the Bickersteth Medal of the Institute a Eucharistic minister. In 2008, he wrote the condolences and signing of the guest book of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies. His parish history for OLV's centennial booklet. may be entered at www.kochfuneralhome. book, "The French-Canadian Heritage in Gerard is survived by his beloved com. New England," (1986) demonstrated his wife, Jeanne; his son Francis (Suzanne) of great interest in his forebears and their de- Eldersburg, Md.; two daughters, Anne-Marie 4 DEDICATION/DÉDIÉ SUMMER/ÉTÉ 2020 (SOUVENIRS PERSONNELS D’UNE jour le jour, Claire et moi avons eu maintes traduire volume après volume du français à CHÈRE AMIE : CLAIRE QUINTAL suite discussions à propos d’une variété de sujets l’anglais afin de les rendre accessibles aux de page 4) touchant nos vies professionnelles et per- Franco-Américains unilingues anglophones, Certains d’entre ceux-ci, étant enfin capables sonnelles, jusqu’au point où, malgré notre ainsi qu’au public en général. de comprendre un texte portant sur notre différence d’âge, nous sommes devenus de Le 2 juin 2015, à la demande de la histoire, m’avaient écrit des lettres de re- bons amis et futurs collègues. revue québécoise d’ethnologie, Rabaska, je merciement. À mon grand soulagement ainsi Par conséquent, au cours d’une me suis rendu à Worcester où, dans une salle qu’à ma joie, Claire m’a appuyé à 100%, quinzaine d’années suivantes, Claire m’a de l’Institut français, j’ai interviewé Claire disant à l’assistance que j’avais écrit un essai invité, à cinq reprises, à donner des confé- à propos de sa vie et de sa carrière. Pendant « assez sérieux » qui avait touché une partie rences sur des thèmes franco-américains deux sessions d’une heure et demie chacune de la population qui n’avait pas accès facile à divers aux colloques annuels de l’Institut le matin et l’après-midi—avec une pause notre littérature puisque celle-ci était écrite, français d’Assumption College à Worces- pour un repas à ses propres frais dans son pour la plupart, en français. De nouveau, ter, Massachusetts, dont elle était la fon- restaurant préféré de Worcester—Claire m’a Claire m’avait beaucoup impressionnée, et datrice et directrice. De plus, en publiant parlé presque sans s’interrompre, tellement de plus, je lui étais fort reconnaissant. les actes de ces colloques, Claire m’offrait a-t-elle été généreuse avec son temps et ses Au printemps de 1978, Claire et moi un moyen de faire mieux connaître mes souvenirs remontant jusqu’à son enfance. avions fait partie d’un assez grand groupe écrits en Amérique française. Nous avons Pour moi, ayant fait des entretiens en his- de Franco-Américains qui s’est rendu à toire orale avec des centaines de personnes Lafayette, Louisiane, pour assister à la « depuis 1974, c’était un plaisir sans effort, car First Annual Franco-American Conference une seule question pouvait provoquer une ». Pendant une réception qui précédait réponse qui allait durer sans cesse pendant la projection d’un extrait d’un film de la un quart d’heure ou au-delà. Le résultat de pièce théâtrale La Sagouine de l’auteure cette conversation de trois heures a paru en acadienne Antonine Maillet, celle-ci, en 2016 dans la revue Rabaska sous le titre « apercevant Claire dans la foule, l’a saluée Claire Quintal se raconte ». et l’a embrassée en l’appelant par son pré- * * * nom. À son tour, Claire lui a répondu en Sur un ton moins officiel et un peu s’adressant à « ’Tonine ». Complètement plus personnel, je voudrais maintenant part- ignorant que Claire et Antonine Maillet ager quelques précieux souvenirs de Claire se connaissaient aussi intimement, je suis que je chéris. resté étonné devant cette scène. Ensuite, Par contraste avec l’atmosphère for- sans hésitation, Claire m’a présenté à Mme melle qui régnait aux colloques de l’Institut Maillet comme « un de nos jeunes écrivains français, on peut juxtaposer l’ambiance franco-américains qui promet », et celle-ci a relaxe des nombreux « Rassemblements signé mon programme-souvenir de la soirée. » annuels d’artistes et d’écrivains fran- Grâce à Claire, ce moment est devenu le clou co-américains. Je n’oublierai jamais, au de mon séjour en Louisiane. Par la suite, Claire Quintal et Robert B. Perreault tout premier Rassemblement, qui avait eu lorsque j’ai rencontré Mme Maillet à deux dans le parc Lafayette, Manchester, New lieu dans l’île Mackworth près de Portland, reprises—l’été suivant à Québec, et douze Hampshire, devant la statue de Ferdinand Maine, en août 1982, avoir vu Claire y ar- ans plus tard à Paris—en me voyant, elle Gagnon, fondateur du premier journal de river vêtue en jeans ! D’après la condition m’a reconnu de visage, tout en s’excusant langue française de cette ville, La Voix du toute neuve de ce pantalon, il était évident d’avoir oublié mon nom. Cependant, elle Peuple, en 1869. Photo par Ronald Héroux, qu’elle se l’était procuré tout spécialement se souvenait très bien que Claire me lui le 7 août 2003. pour l’occasion. Quand je l’ai taquinée à ce propos—« Toi, Claire Quintal, en jeans ? avait présenté comme Franco-Américain. également collaboré au Dictionnaire des Là, j’aurai tout vu ! »—elle m’a répondu Encore une fois, je me retrouvais redevable auteurs franco-américains de langue fran- qu’il lui fallait bien s’adapter à la situation. à Claire pour sa générosité d’esprit et son çaise publié en ligne par l’Institut français, D’après son commentaire, instinctivement, encouragement. pour lequel Claire m’a invité à rédiger les je savais que nous allions avoir une fin de Pendant trois semaines vers la fin juin, biobibliographies d’une douzaine parmi la semaine hors pair. début juillet 1979, Claire et moi étions parmi centaine d’écrivains qui y paraissent. Sans Ayant toujours à la fois plusieurs une demi-douzaine de Franco-Américains doute, avec le passage du temps, mes dettes projets en marche, Claire pouvait facilement invités par le Ministère des Affaires étran- de reconnaissance envers elle accumulaient passer entre une heure et demie et deux gères de France à visiter Paris, la Bretagne de plus en plus rapidement ! heures au téléphone avec n’importe qui et la Bourgogne. Le but de ce séjour était C’est aussi pendant nos années de parmi ses nombreux collaborateurs. Parce de prendre contact avec quelques fonc- collaboration que j’ai appris à quel point qu’elle possédait un téléphone fixe ainsi tionnaires gouvernementaux, mais surtout que Claire se dévouait à son travail en qu’un portable, je ne peux plus compter le avec des directeurs de musées, de centres faveur des Franco-Américains. Je me suis nombre de fois, pendant nos conversations culturels, de maisons d’édition et de divers vite rendu compte qu’elle ne dormait que téléphoniques, que nous nous faisions inter- médias, afin d’établir des rapports et des quelques heures, passant des nuits blanches échanges. Vivant et voyageant ensemble au à lire, à faire de la recherche, à écrire et à (suite page 6) 5 Le Forum DEDICATION/DÉDIÉ (SOUVENIRS PERSONNELS D’UNE de résidence et de studio. Fabriquée de bois, bien fait plaisir, Claudette et moi. En lui CHÈRE AMIE : CLAIRE QUINTAL suite ses murs intérieurs ressemblant à ceux d’un disant au revoir, nous envisagions encore de page 5) camp au fond d’une forêt, elle était à la fois plusieurs autres visites chez elle dans son rustique avec un décor artistique, remplie nouvel environnement joyeux. rompre par un appel sur son autre appareil. de tableaux et de rayons de livres, en plus Toutefois, qui aurait deviné, ce jour-là, Cela me causait toujours de rigoler lorsque d’un balcon qui regardait sur le salon. Cette que ce serait non seulement notre première Claire disait à l’autre personne qu’elle la maison reflétait bien le caractère de sa pro- visite, mais aussi notre dernière ?—car en rappellerait sous peu—ou bien qu’elle me priétaire. Soit dehors dans le jardin, soit dans moins de six mois, Claire n’y serait plus. revenait pour me dire qu’elle devait me cet environnement intérieur qui inspire la Claire me manque énormément, mais quitter pour prendre l’autre l’appel. Dans créativité, nous discutions d’une variété de au moins, je garde sur mes propres rayons chaque instance, selon sa décision, je savais sujets—nos projets littéraires et culturels, ses écrits et ses traductions, que je peux lire laquelle des personnes à l’autre bout de ses nos amis et collègues et leurs propres projets, et relire. Et dans mon esprit vivent mes bons deux téléphones Claire considérait la plus la vie franco-américaine en général et nos souvenirs d’elle. importante ! familles respectives. Et ensemble, au cours À quelques reprises, lors d’un des années, Claire nous avait fait goûter aux événement franco-américain quelconque fruits de mer et aux poissons dans plusieurs Adieu, chère amie. qui l’emmenait à Manchester, Claire nous de ses restaurants préférés sur la côte près a rendu visite, mon épouse, Claudette, et de chez elle. moi, chez nous. Elle a souvent complimen- Il y a quelques années, un été entier té Claudette pour ce qu’elle considérait le s’est passé sans que l’invitation annuelle bon sens avec lequel Claudette offrait ses de Claire nous soit lancée. Par la suite, opinions sur la vie en général et la façon nous avons appris qu’elle était atteinte dont elle organisait une bonne partie de d’un cancer. Étant grave à n’importe âge, notre vie quotidienne. Claire reconnaissait cette maladie pose davantage des com- bien que j’avais la tête perdue dans mes plications et des dangers pour quelqu’un pensées à propos de mes projets culturels et d’un âge avancé. Toutefois, femme forte et littéraires—c’est-à-dire, que j’étais souvent courageuse comme nous l’avions toujours « dans la lune ». connue, Claire a lutté en faveur de la vie pour « Robert t’a bien choisie comme conquérir le cancer et s’en sortir victorieuse. épouse, Claudette », disait Claire, avec un Comme institutrice, Claire encoura- petit sourire taquin. « Il reconnaissait qu’il geait les parents et les grands-parents qui avait besoin d’une femme pratique comme prenaient un intérêt tout particulier envers toi pour tâcher de le garder en ligne ». l’éducation de leur progéniture, surtout en Si je pouvais faire sourire Claire, je matières linguistique et culturelle. Pendant pouvais aussi l’exaspérer, comme la fois notre dernière visite à son chalet d’été, elle qu’elle nous attendait chez elle à une cer- nous avait félicités après avoir écouté à un taine heure et que nous y sommes arrivés enregistrement de notre petite-fille, alors au-delà d’une heure en retard. âgée de six ans, qui récitait par cœur « La « Claudette, je sais que ce n’est pas cigale et la fourmi » de La Fontaine, et notre ta faute ». Ensuite, elle s’est tournée vers petit-fils, âgé de quatre ans, nommant, éga- moi. « Et Robert, il faut que tu guettes ton lement de mémoire, tous les présidents des heure » ! m’a-t-elle dit, pointant le doigt États-Unis en ordre chronologique. comme une mère qui gronde sa petite ca- En 2018, pour des raisons de santé, Robert B. Perreault et Claire Quintal devant naille d’enfant. Claire avait déménagé à la résidence Notre- la statue intitulée Mill Girl représentant Mais, je pouvais aussi la toucher de Dame du Lac de Worcester, un ancien « » les femmes qui ont travaillé dans les filatures son côté sensible. Après avoir lu un de couvent converti en appartements pour per- de coton et de laine. Amoskeag Millyard, mes contes, « Les mains du père et du fils sonnes à la retraite. Nous lui y avons rendu Manchester, New Hampshire. Photo par », Claire m’a avoué qu’à la conclusion, « visite en novembre 2019. À part plusieurs Ronald Héroux, le 7 août 2003. Robert, tu m’as fait pleurer ». heures de discussion dans son appartement, Presque annuellement pendant ses an- toujours entourée de ses livres et de ses nées de retraite—c’est-à-dire, comme direc- objets d’art, elle nous a fait le grand tour de trice de l’Institut français, mais certainement la résidence, ceci en dépit du fait qu’elle de- pas comme auteure et traductrice, car elle a vait maintenant utiliser une marchette. Elle poursuivi ce genre d’activité presque à sa nous a aussi invités à dîner avec elle dans dernière heure—Claire nous invitait à passer la salle à manger commune, où la nourriture une journée entière avec elle à son chalet était excellente et où les autres résidents la d’été près de la côte du Maine à York Harbor. saluaient, un par un, comme une bonne amie. Elle nous a révélé que cette maison avait déjà Certes, Claire était bien logée et elle appartenu à une artiste qui s’en était servie semblait en être heureuse, ce qui nous a

6 DEDICATION/DÉDIÉ SUMMER/ÉTÉ 2020 with success among several monolingual PERSONAL MEMORIES OF A DEAR anglophone Franco-Americans. A few of FRIEND: CLAIRE QUINTAL them, now finally capable of understanding a by text dealing with our history, had written me letters of thanks. To my great relief as well Robert B. Perreault as my joy, Claire supported me 100%, tell- ing the audience that I had written a “rather On April 30, 2020, two days after her the advancement of the Franco-American serious” essay that had touched a portion of 90th birthday, a champion of the language people toward the 21st century. However, the population who didn’t have easy access and culture of French , Claire in a careful yet frank and direct manner, to our literature since it was, for the most Quintal, was taken away from us by the Claire found a way to fulfill her task with part, written in French. Once again, Claire Covid-19 virus. Rather than offer a tradi- respect and diplomacy, which had greatly had greatly impressed me, and moreover, I tional obituary notice, I would rather share impressed me. was most grateful toward her. a few personal memories about her with In July of the following year, among In the spring of 1978, Claire and I readers of Le Forum. the activities of the Franco-American festi- were part of a large group of Franco-Amer- I first met Claire Quintal at a col- val called “C’est si bon”—“It’s so good”— icans who went to Lafayette, Louisiana, to loquium, now legendary, whose title in in Lewiston, Maine, was a literary panel attend the First Annual Franco-American French translates to “Franco-Americans: discussion featuring the theme “In what Conference. During a reception prior to the The Promise of the Past and the Realities language should we write?” As the author of screening of a film version of the theatrical of the Present,” organized by the National my first essay of a considerable length,One production entitled La Sagouine by Acadian Materials Development Center in Bedford, Piece in the Great American Mosaic: The writer Antonine Maillet, the author herself, New Hampshire, in June 1976. At the Franco-Americans of New England (1976), upon spotting Claire in the crowd, greeted time, as librarian-archivist of the Associa- I was invited to be on the panel with a small her with a hug and called her by her first tion Canado-Américaine name. In turn, Claire in Manchester for a year responded by addressing and a half, as well as rep- the author as “ ’Tonine.” resentative-observer of Completely ignorant of that institution at the col- the fact that Claire and loquium, I was taking my Antonine Maillet were first steps in the world of on such friendly terms, Franco-American activism. I was stunned by what I Young—I was 25—and had just witnessed. And naïve with regard to the then, without hesitation, debates that I would wit- Claire introduced me ness, I was shocked by the to Madame Maillet as explosion of anger that I “one of our young Fran- would characterize as a co-American writers Franco-American version who shows promise,” of the quarrel between the after which the author “Ancients and the Mod- autographed my copy erns” in France toward the of the evening’s sou- end of the 17th century, be- venir program. Thanks ginning of the 18th. I have to Claire, this moment always considered this col- became the high point loquium to have been my Featured writers at “Meet the Authors Day,” Franco-American Centre/Centre of my stay in Louisi- “baptism of fire” into the franco-américain, Manchester, N.H., June 29, 1991. Front row, left to right: ana. Subsequently, when world of Franco-American Robert B. Perreault, Jacqueline Giasson Fuller, Steven Riel, Susann Pelletier, I again met Madame activism. Paul Marion. Back row: Denis Ledoux, Armand Chartier, Claire Quintal, Gérard Maillet on two occa- Unfortunately for Robichaud, Richard Belair, Arthur L. Eno, Jr., E. Annie Proulx. Not pictured: sions—the following her, Claire had accepted, as Ernest Hebert. Photo by Gary Samson. summer in Québec City she said it herself, “the task of summarizing group of writers older than myself, one of and twelve years later in Paris—upon and reacting to the speeches […] and to the whom was Claire. Since the panel members seeing me, she recognized me facially but commentaries […]” of the colloquium that were focusing exclusively on writing in expressed her regret at having forgotten my she found “simultaneously memorable and standard French versus Franco-American name. Nonetheless, she indeed remembered deplorable.” At age 46, she undoubtedly French, I proposed—with a degree of appre- that Claire had introduced me to her as a felt caught between the generation of the hension, not wishing to revive the previous Franco-American. For yet another time, I “ancients” with their conservative ideas that year’s quarrel—the addition of English as a found myself indebted to Claire for her gen- dated back to the era of “French survivance,” language of Franco-American literary ex- erosity of spirit and for her encouragement. and that of the “moderns” who favored pression. I defended my position by recalling For three weeks toward the end of new sociocultural structures dedicated to the fact that my essay in English had met (Continued on page 8) 7 Le Forum DEDICATION/DÉDIÉ (PERSONAL MEMORIES OF A DEAR nearly without interruption, so generous was considered the more important! FRIEND: CLAIRE QUINTAL continued she with her time and with her memories A few times, whenever a Fran- from page 7) dating all the way back to her early child- co-American event drew her to Manchester, hood. For me, having conducted oral-history Claire would pay my wife, Claudette, and June, beginning of July 1979, Claire and I interviews with hundreds of persons since me a visit. She often complimented Clau- were among a half-dozen Franco-Ameri- 1974, this was a pleasure without effort, as dette for what she considered the common cans whom France’s Ministère des Affaires a single question could provoke a response sense with which Claudette expressed her étrangères—equivalent to the U.S. State that would last constantly for a quarter-hour opinions about life in general and in the way Department—invited to visit Paris and the or more. The result of this three-hour conver- she organized a good portion of our daily provinces of Brittany and Burgundy. The sation appeared the following year, 2016, in lives. Claire easily recognized that I let my purpose of this stay was to meet with a few the journal Rabaska under the title “Claire mind wander about thoughts of my cultural government officials, but especially with Quintal se raconte”—“Claire Quintal in her and literary projects—in other words, I was directors of museums, of cultural centers, of own words.” often somewhere in outer space. publishing houses and of the various media, * * * “Robert did well to choose you as in order to establish ties and exchanges. Liv- In a less official, slightly more per- his wife,” Claire would say with a teasing ing and traveling together on a daily basis, sonal tone, I’d like to share a few precious grin. “He realized that he needed a practical Claire and I had many discussions about a memories of Claire that I cherish. By woman like you to try keeping him in line.” variety of topics relative to our professional contrast with the formal atmosphere that If I could make Claire smile, I could and personal lives, to the point where, de- reigned at the French Institute’s colloquia, also exasperate her, such as on one occasion spite our age difference, we became good one can juxtapose the relaxed ambiance of when she was waiting for us to arrive at her friends and future colleagues. the numerous annual “Rassemblements” of home at a certain time, but we did so more Consequently, over the following Franco-American artists and writers. I’ll than an hour late. fifteen years or so, Claire invited me, on never forget, at the very first Rassemblement “Claudette, I know it’s not your fault.” five occasions, to lecture on various Fran- that took place on Mackworth Island near She then turned toward me. “And you, Rob- co-American themes at the annual colloquia ert, you’ve got to pay attention to the time!” of Assumption College’s French Institute in “And you, Robert, she said to me, pointing her finger at me as Worcester, Massachusetts, of which Claire would a mother scolding her mischievous was the founder and director. Moreover, you’ve got to pay attention child. by publishing the texts of these colloquia, to the time!” she said to me, But I could also touch her sensitive Claire offered me a way to make my writ- pointing her finger at me as side. Having read one of my short stories, ings better known in French North America. “Les mains du père et du fils,” Claire admit- We also collaborated on the Dictionnaire would a mother scolding ted to me that, at its conclusion, “Robert, you des auteurs franco-américains de langue her mischievous child. made me cry.” française published online by the French Almost annually during her retire- Institute, for which Claire invited me to write Portland, Maine, in August 1982, having ment years—that is to say, as director of the bio-bibliographies of a dozen among the seen Claire arrive wearing jeans! By the the French Institute, but certainly not as hundred or so writers included in this work. brand new condition of these slacks, it was author and translator, as she engaged in Undoubtedly, with the passage of time, my obvious that she had bought them especially this genre of activity nearly up to her final debts of gratitude to her were accumulating for the occasion. When I teased her about hour—Claire would invite us to spend an more and more rapidly! this—“You, Claire Quintal, in jeans? Now entire day with her at her summer chalet It was also during our years of collab- I’ve seen it all!”—she responded by saying by the coast of Maine at York Harbor. She oration that I learned to what extent Claire that she might as well adapt to the situation. revealed to us that this home had once be- dedicated herself to her work in favor of the By her comment, instinctively, I knew that longed to a woman artist who used it as both Franco-Americans. I quickly became aware we were about to have a marvelous weekend. a residence and a studio. Made of wood with that she slept for only a few hours, burning Forever having simultaneous projects interior walls resembling those of a camp the midnight oil into the wee hours reading, in the works, Claire could easily spend an deep in the forest, it was simultaneously doing research, writing, and translating vol- hour and a half to two hours on the telephone rustic yet with an artistic décor filled with ume upon volume from French into English with any one of her numerous collaborators. paintings and bookshelves, not to mention in order to render them accessible to mono- Because she had both a land line and a cell a balcony that looked down over the living lingual anglophone Franco-Americans, as phone, I’ve lost count as to the number of room. This house well reflected its pro- well as to the general public. times, during our telephone conversations, prietor’s character. Whether outside in the On June 2, 2015, at the request of the that we were interrupted by a call on the garden or within the interior environment Québécois ethnological journal Rabaska, I other line. It always caused me to chuckle that inspired creativity, we would discuss a went to Worcester where, in a room at the whenever Claire told the other person that variety of topics—our literary and cultural French Institute, I interviewed Claire about she would return his or her call in a bit—or projects, our friends and colleagues and her life and her career. During two 90-min- when she would come back to tell me that their own projects, Franco-American life in ute French-language sessions, one in the she needed to end our call so as to be able to general, and our respective families. And forenoon, the other in the afternoon—with take the other one. In each instance, based together, over the years, Claire would have a break for lunch, her treat, at her favorite on her decision, I knew which of the people us enjoy the seafood and the fish in several restaurant in Worcester—Claire spoke to me at the other end of her two telephones she (Continued on page 9) 8 DEDICATION/DÉDIÉ SUMMER/ÉTÉ 2020 PERSONAL MEMORIES OF A DEAR « Je Me FRIEND: CLAIRE QUINTAL continued from page 8) of her favorite restaurants along the coast Souviens » de near her home. A few years ago, an entire summer Claire went by without Claire’s annual invitation having come our way. Eventually, we Par learned that she had cancer. As serious as Ronald G. Héroux, it can be at any age, this illness poses more complications and dangers to someone at an Middletown, RI advanced age. Nonetheless, as a strong and courageous woman whom we had always Je connais Claire Quintal depuis 1952, known her to be, Claire fought in favor of lorsque nous nous sommes rencontrés à life in order to conquer the cancer and to Notre Dame, l’école paroissiale franco-amé- come out the victor. ricaine de notre ville natale, Central Falls, As an educator, Claire encouraged RI. J’étais en 5e année et c’était la première parents and grandparents who took an ex- année de Claire à Notre Dame (et son pre- tra-special interest in the learning process of mier emploi) en tant que professeur de lycée their offspring, especially in the linguistic en latin et en anglais. Elle a été la première and cultural domains. During our last visit enseignante laïque embauchée par les sœurs to her summer chalet, she congratulated us de Sainte-Anne qui ont administré l’école élevés. Nous faisions fièrement référence à after having listened to a recording of our que Claire a fréquentée, où elle a obtenu son notre ville de Central Falls en la qualifiant granddaughter, at the time age six, reciting diplôme et finalement enseigné pendant cinq de petite enclave des Nations Unies en rai- by heart La Fontaine’s fable “La cigale et ans après l’obtention de son baccalauréat son des groupes multiethniques (Canadiens la fourmi”—“The cicada and the ant”—and (du Collège Anna-Maria, également sous les français, irlandais, polonais, syriens, libanais our grandson, age four, naming, equally auspices des sœurs de Sainte-Anne) . et portugais) vivant dans notre petite com- from memory, all the U.S. presidents in Bien que nos parents se connaissaient, munauté densément peuplée d’un mile carré chronological order. j’ai rencontré Claire pour la première fois le long de la rivière Blackstone. Claire était In 2018, for reasons of health, Claire dans les couloirs de l’école Notre-Dame où loin de se douter au début que sa carrière moved to the Notre-Dame du Lac residence je la saluais souvent quand on se croisait, la mènerait à Worcester, MA, où se trouve in Worcester, a former convent converted en disant poliment: «Bonjour Mademoiselle la source de la rivière Blackstone, qui ali- into apartments for the elderly. We visited Quintal». Je n’avais jamais pensé alors, étant mentait avec de l’hydro électricité un bon her there in November 2019. In addition to donné qu’il y avait 12 ans de différence entre nombre de ces usines de textile étreignant several hours of discussion in her apartment, nous, qu’elle deviendrait une amie et une ses berges; les mêmes usines dans lesquelles always surrounded by her books and her art collègue proche, et oui même mon mentor plusieurs de nos ancêtres canadiens-français objects, she gave us the grand tour of the en quelque sorte, et combien de temps nous sont venus travailler. residence, this in spite of now having to get passerions au téléphone au cours de ses J’ai commencé à communiquer régu- around with a walker. She also invited us to dernières années. lièrement avec Claire, généralement « par have lunch with her in the common dining Ma relation avec Claire a vraiment téléphone », quelque temps après qu’elle room, where the food was excellent and mûri après mes années universitaires quand eut fondé l’Institut français au collège de where other residents greeted her, one by mon intérêt pour ma culture franco-amé- l’Assomption en 1979. J’écris «par télé- one, as a good friend. ricaine m’a de plus en plus consumé. Je phone» car l’un des défauts mineurs de For sure, Claire was well lodged, and rencontrais et écoutais Claire parler lors de Claire est qu’elle n’utilisait pas le courrier she seemed happy, which pleased Claudette diverses activités franco-américaines où elle électronique, l’e-mail. Ainsi, les informa- and me immensely. We said goodbye, look- était souvent la principale présentatrice ou tions qu’elle me transmettait m’arrivaient ing toward many more visits in her new, faisait partie d’une fonction qu’elle organi- écrites à la main, envoyées par courrier happy surroundings. sait ou à laquelle elle participait. J’admirais ordinaire ou par téléphone et en personne. But who would have guessed, on that sa capacité bilingue de passer facilement de Heureusement, la sœur de Claire, Rollande, day, that this would not only be our first visit, l’anglais au français avec un accent parfait qui vivait à proximité à Worcester, avait but our last?—for, in fewer than six months, et une maîtrise des deux langues. Son en- une adresse de courriel (e-mail) à laquelle Claire would be gone. thousiasme et sa passion lorsqu’elle parlait je pouvais envoyer mes messages à Claire. I miss Claire terribly, but at least avec une connaissance encyclopédique et Le problème pour Rollande était qu’elle my own bookshelves contain her writings à sa compréhension de notre héritage fran- devait imprimer tous mes courriels pour les and her translations, which I can read and co-américain et de nombreux autres sujets donner à Claire! reread. And in my spirit, there live my fond connexes me comblaient d’étonnement. Claire et moi nous rencontrions memories of her. Nos brèves conversations en personne parfois pour le déjeuner dans la région de commençaient souvent en se rappelant (par Newport, RI où j’habitais et où elle possé- Farewell, dear friend. reconnaître et se rappeler) où nous avions été (Suite page 10) 9 Le Forum DEDICATION/DÉDIÉ Claire and Sister Eugena Poulin Remembering (Sister of Mercy and Fr teacher at Salve... unfortunately passed away a few years Claire ago) at Salve University in 2008 for the unveiling of their new book: LA GAZETTE Dedication of the Franco-American Monument By FRANÇOISE, a translation and annotation. Ronald G. Héroux Standing in a red blazer is Claire’s Québec City, July 2, 2008 Middletown, RI younger sister, Soeur Rollande Quintal ( a St Anne nun) who has been Claire’s care by Claire Quintal I have known Claire Quintal since taker, good friend, driver and overall right 1952 when we met in our city’s Fran- hand person during Claire’s senior years. I co-American parochial school, Notre Dame, am standing to the left of Sr. Rollande. in Central Falls, RI. I was in the 5th grade and it was Claire’s first year at Notre Dame consumed me more and more. I would along the Blackstone River. Little did (and her first employment) as a high school meet and listen to Claire speak at various Claire realize early on that her career would teacher of Latin and English. She was the Franco-American activities where she lead her to Worcester, MA, the source of first lay teacher hired by the Sisters of Sainte was often the main presenter or part of a the Blackstone River, the power supply Anne who administered the school where function she organized or participated in. I for many of those textile mills hugging its Claire attended, graduated and eventually admired her bilingual ability to switch with banks; the same mills in which many of our taught for five years after obtaining her BA ease from English to French with a perfect French Canadian ancestors came to work. (from Anna-Maria College, also under the accent and command of both languages. I started communicating with Claire auspices of the Sisters of Sainte Anne). Her enthusiasm and passion when she spoke on a regular basis, usually by phone, some- Although our parents knew each other, coupled with her encyclopedic knowledge time after she founded the French Institute I first met Claire in the corridors of Notre and understanding of our Franco-American at Assumption College in 1979. I write “by Dame School where I would often greet her heritage and many other related subjects phone” because one of Claire’s minor fail- as we passed each other, politely saying-- amazed me. ings was not using email. Thus, information “Bonjour Mademoiselle Quintal”. I never Our brief in person conversations from her to me was hand written sent by thought then, there being 12 years difference would often begin by acknowledging and regular mail or by phone and in person. For- between us, she would become a close friend remembering where we were raised. We tunately, Claire’s sister Rollande, who lived and colleague, and yes even my mentor of would proudly refer to our city of Central nearby in Worcester, had an email address to sorts, and how much time we would spend Falls as a little United Nations enclave which I could send to Claire. The problem on the phone in her later years. because of the multi-ethnic groups (French for Rollande was that she had to print all my My relationship with Claire really Canadians, Irish, Polish, Syrians, Lebanese, emails to give to Claire! matured after my college years when my and Portuguese) living in our small, densely Claire and I would sometimes meet interest in my Franco-American culture populated community of one square mile (Continued on page 11)

(En souvenir de Claire suite de page 9) Dans ce cas, Claire était l’érudit et j’étais bien des égards la personne qui l’a motivée dait un condo à temps partagé. Elle venait l’étudiant. Sa mémoire était phénoménale. à lire et à faire plus de recherches sur les souvent à Newport pour travailler avec Nos conversations téléphoniques nombreux Français aventuriers (Cartier, Sœur Eugéna Poulin de l’Université Salve duraient souvent des heures alors que nous Champlain, LaSalle, etc.) qui ont exploré sur leur livre La Gazette Françoise ainsi que divaguions d’un sujet franco-américain à un de vastes régions d›Amérique du Nord, pour rencontrer d’autres franco-américains autre, avec moi écoutant et posant des ques- ainsi que les nombreux Canadiens français passionnés et universitaires, comme Armand tions la plupart du temps et prenant souvent qui se sont aventurés et se sont installés en Chartier et Normand Ouellette. des notes de peur de ne pas me souvenir d’un Nouvelle-Angleterre, à New York et dans De temps en temps, nous nous pro- livre ou d’un article qu’elle recommanderait. les régions éloignées du Midwest et du Far menions par auto dans la région de Newport J’ai discuté avec Claire d’articles et de pro- West de notre pays. pour examiner les maisons coloniales où des jets que j’entreprenais concernant la préser- Passionnée par son héritage, elle a centaines de soldats français ont été canton- vation de notre patrimoine franco-américain consacré sa vie à cette aventure d’explora- nés en 1780-1 pendant la Révolution amé- alors qu’elle écoutait attentivement et me tion, d’enseignement et de promotion des ricaine; et dans le sud-est du Massachusetts guidait vers les ressources que j’avais besoin multiples facettes de son patrimoine, nos (Fall River, New Bedford, Westport, etc.) vi- d’examiner. ancêtres français et franco-américains et sitant des églises établies par des immigrants Il n’y a pas si longtemps, j’ai infor- sa langue maternelle française. «Une vraie canadiens-français qui s’y étaient installés mé Claire que j’étais intéressé à écrire un Franco-Américaine pure laine», que j’ap- pour travailler dans les usines. Ces petits article sur le Frère Wilfrid (Arthur Garneau pelais souvent Claire en français. Elle sera séjours nous offraient l’occasion de rouler d’Arthabaska au Québec, un Frère du chèrement manquer par plusieurs d’entre le long du magnifique bord de mer tout en Sacré-Cœur) qui a fondé l’Académie du nous, mais son énorme héritage continuera discutant de certains aspects de notre patri- Sacré-Coeur en 1908 à Central Falls. Elle à inspirer beaucoup de franco-américains et moine franco-américain et de ce que nous a immédiatement déclaré que Frère Wilfrid de gens intéressé à poursuivre des recherches faisions pour le préserver et le promouvoir. était un bon ami de son père et qu’il était à dans ce sujet. 10 DEDICATION/DÉDIÉ SUMMER/ÉTÉ 2020 (N.D.L.R. Claire worked on the creation and dedication of the Franco American remember who we are and from whence we Monument in Quebec. The monument was erected for the 400th anniversary of the found- have come. ing of the city and celebrates the strong cultural and economic ties between Quebec and Our forebears upon leaving Québec New England.) did not have to chop down trees to clear the forest, they instead had to strike down Dedication of the Franco-American Monument prejudice. While attempting to establish Québec City, July 2, 2008 themselves on foreign soil, they nonethe- less made an enormous effort to survive as by Claire Quintal Canadians of French stock by remaining faithful to the language of their ancestors For Franco-Ameircans, the expression Franco-Americans throughout New England and to their religion also. “Je me souviens” (I remember) is deeply to insure that this monument would see the This is how New England experienced meaningful. This monument that we are sol- light of day. Our ancestors, just like those the rise of Little surrounding a emnly unveiling today, in a ceremony church steeple and a bilingual parochi- attended by prominent leaders of both al school in most of the cities listed on Québec and the United States, is tangi- this monument. ble proof that we have taken to heart the We, their descendants, have need to give shape and substance to this sought to follow in their footsteps; we saying. By means of this monument, have aspired to honor them by offering we have sought to demonstrate - in a this monument to their mother city that form as solid and durable as possible - is also ours. our fidelity, not only to this adage, but Our fervent wish is that the fran- also and especially to the land of our cophone enclave which is Québec will ancestors, for we have not forgotten enjoy a bright future and will continue our origins. to exist for a long time to come, serving This monument, placed as it is as a protective sentinel of the French on the bank of the magnificent river language and culture on this continent. that for the last 400 years has carried May this monument stand for the dreams and hopes of those who came of today’s Québecers, contributed their generations to come as an expression of our before us, the predecessors of us all, gener- bodily strength and their own dreams for loyalty to our roots, as evidence also, that ation upon generation, also represents the the future in order to cultivate this land, from afar we continue to cherish this home- hope of those of us from the diaspora, that before crossing the border into another land whose ground was trod for generations Québec for its part will not forget us, that it country, leaving behind their farms and their by our ancestors just like your own. too will remember, for a long time to come, countrymen to settle in another nation where What has sometimes been referred those who left with heavy hearts in order to they managed to put down roots through to as “Québec down below” has answered ensure the future of their offspring. hard labor. And we, their descendants, have the call of its ancestors by returning to its To remember, never to forget, these wanted to demonstrate that even though we birthplace, to dedicate today a monument, are the motives that prompted us to unite left you, we have not forgotten you, that we worthy both of you and of us.

(Remembering Claire continued from page of our Franco-American heritage and what that Brother Wilfrid was a good friend of 10) we were doing to preserve and promote it. her father and that he was in many ways the for lunch in the Newport, RI area where I In this case, Claire was the scholar and I was individual who motivated her to read and do lived and where she owned a time share. She the student. Her memory was phenomenal. more research about the many adventurous often came to Newport to work with Sister Our phone conversations would often Frenchmen (Cartier, Champlain, LaSalle, Eugena Poulin of Salve University on their last for hours as we rambled from one Fran- etc.) who explored the vast areas of North book La Gazette Françoise as well as to co-American related topic to another, with America, and the many meet with other Franco-American activists me listening and asking questions most of who ventured and settled in New England, and scholars, such as Armand Chartier and the time and often taking notes for fear of not New York and the far reaches of our coun- Normand Ouellette. remembering a book or an article she would try’s Midwest and Far West regions. We would take drives in the Newport recommend. I spoke to Claire about articles She was smitten by her heritage area examining colonial homes where hun- and projects I was undertaking related to and consecrated her life to this adventure dreds of French soldiers were quartered in the preservation of our Franco-American of exploring, teaching and promoting the 1780-1 during the American Revolution; heritage as she carefully listened and guided many facets of her heritage, our French and and in southeastern Massachusetts (Fall me to the resources I needed to examine. Franco-American ancestors and her native River, New Bedford, Westport, etc.) visiting Not too long ago I informed Claire French language. “Une vraie Franco-Amér- churches established by French Canadian I was interested in writing an article about icaine pure laine” (A real Franco-American immigrants who had settled there to work in Brother Wilfrid (Arthur Garneau from Ar- of pure wool), I would often call Claire the mills. These little sojourns offered us an thabaska in Québec, a Sacred Heart brother) in French. She shall be missed dearly by opportunity to ride along the beautiful sea who founded Sacred Heart Academy in 1908 many, but her enormous legacy will live on shore while conversing about some aspects in Central Falls. She immediately stated to inspire others. 11

Le Forum DEDICATION/DÉDIÉ Remembering Two Franco-American Giants: Gerard Brault (1929-2020) and Claire Quintal (1930-2020)

by Leslie Choquette

Although I was born in Pawtucket, be followed by four more, plus Steeples Rhode Island, just a mile from Claire Quin- and Smokestacks: A Collection of Essays tal’s hometown of Central Falls, I grew up on the Franco-American Experience in New in a very different world from hers. My England.) I remember devouring all of them grandfather’s cousin spoke excellent French in a short stretch, fascinated by the lively and was proud of his origins, but my grand- francophone world that remained invisible father, who lost his Quebec-born mother to to most Americans. the influenza pandemic of 1918 when just Claire was unstintingly generous to thirteen, struggled to express himself in his me as a new junior colleague, including native tongue. sharing her many connections across the I started learning French in fifth grade, francophone world. Thanks to her, I had as a scholarship student at a girls’ prepa- the opportunity to interact with teachers retirement, I organized a symposium to ratory school in Providence. I am forever from francophone Africa and Haiti as well honor the 20th anniversary of the first French grateful to my French teachers—Europeans as many French and Quebecers, from diplo- Institute conference. Entitled “La situation all—for sharing with me their passion for mats and politicians to scholars to ordinary de la recherche sur la Franco-Américanie, French language and culture. folk. Through her contacts in the French 20 ans après / The State of Research on Despite not belonging to a Fran- Consulate, I obtained a fellowship at the cen- Franco-Americans, 20 Years Later,” it co-American community, I was vaguely ter for migration studies at the University of brought together veteran researchers on aware of Quebecers and Franco-Americans, Poitiers, where I began turning my unwieldy Franco-Americans including Gerry Brault and curious about them. As a French history dissertation into an English-language book. with then newly fledged scholars like Mark student in college, I decided to investigate She also introduced me to Quebec historian Richard. Gerry’s speech on the significance the original migration from France to New and publisher Denis Vaugeois, who fulfilled of Claire’s career was eloquent and mem- France, a project that eventually became a my dream of publishing a French translation orable. doctoral dissertation and a book. I also read of the book in and France. In 2004, Gerry generously donated his Jack Kerouac and loved his vivid depictions In 1994, Claire invited me to join excellent library of Franco-Americana to of Franco-American Lowell. her in Ottawa for the États généraux de la the French Institute, which was celebrating One year, in the late 1980s, I took recherche sur la francophonie à l’extérieur its 25th anniversary. That celebration began a tour of Kerouac’s Lowell, organized by du Québec. Afterwards, I drove her to with a theatrical performance by playwright local Francos Roger Brunelle and Reginald Montreal, where I visited friends and she Greg Chabot and his troupe Du Monde d’à Ouellette. Taking me under their wing, participated in the first international Dictée Côté, followed by Mass in French and a they brought me over to the museum store des Amériques, delivered by the great Acadi- gala banquet, at which it was my honor to to purchase an important new book: The an writer Antonine Maillet. (The two would bestow upon Claire, our founding directress French-Canadian Heritage in New England, once again share a stage in Jules Tessier’s emerita, the Institute’s certificat de mérite. I by Gerard Brault. That is how I first learned chapter, “Antonine, Annette [Saint-Pierre] would like to conclude these reminiscences about Brault’s alma mater, Assumption et Claire: trois vestales de l’Amérique by citing the French text of Claire’s award: College, and its French Institute, directed française,” from his book Le ciel peut donc by Claire Quintal. attendre.) The day of the televised Dictée, Ce certificat de mérite honore une Shortly thereafter, I saw a listing for I dutifully tuned in, armed with pencil and intellectuelle dont la carrière exemplaire fut a one-year job at Assumption, to which I paper. Let me tell you: that Dictée was hard! dédiée, et se dédie encore, à un idéal : celui only applied due to Brault’s book (since I Had I been an official participant, I would de transmettre à des générations futures could renew my post-doctoral lectureship not have covered myself in glory! But later, son attachement sans bornes à sa langue for two more years). It turned out there was when I checked back for the results, whom maternelle et au patrimoine culturel de ses also a tenure-tracked job, and the rest is did I see on screen but Claire, as one of three devanciers, qu’ils soient franco-américains, history. Thanks to Gerry Brault’s unwitting finalists in the category French-language canadiens ou français. Enfant de Central mentorship, I have just completed my 31st professional, working in a francophone Falls, Claire Quintal fit ses premières études year at Assumption. environment! When I congratulated her sur les bancs d’une école paroissiale et I met Claire Quintal at my Assumption on her extraordinary achievement, she continua sa formation sous la tutelle bien- interview, and she sent me home with a full modestly explained that she had no choice faisante des Sœurs de Sainte-Anne avant de set of proceedings from the annual confer- but to do well; she was representing Fran- refaire le trajet de ses ancêtres en sens in- ences she organized on Franco-Americans. co-Americans! (At that time there were six, which would In 2000, one year after Claire’s (Continued on page 13) 12 DEDICATION/DÉDIÉ SUMMER/ÉTÉ 2020 raîtrait le volume qui pour maintes personnes serait le livre de chevet du fait franco-amé- Gérard J. Brault : Professeur reconnu dont ricain : The French-Canadian Heritage in New England. Son dernier mot sur l’héritage les racines franco-américaines franco-américain serait un article dans le étaient profondes volumineux Encyclopedia of New England publié en 2005 par la Yale University Press. Julien Olivier, Barrington, N.H. En disant adieux à Gérard Brault Notre communauté franco-américaine d’eux par la société en général et les profs nous célébrons une vie bien vécue et nous a perdu un autre grand penseur. Gérard de français en particulier ont abandonné ce le remercions avec tous nos devanciers pour Brault, professeur émérite de français et qui aurait pu être un patrimoine bien pré- ce qu’ils nous ont légué. Pour nous, Gérard d’études médiévales à l’Université Pennsyl- cieux—le bilinguisme. rappèle le vœux qui terminait le mot de Eins- vania State est décédé à State College le 5 Mais le début des années 60 a vu naître tein ci-dessus : « Je dois donc faire un effort février 2020, âgé de 90 ans. une vision nouvelle : celle qui valoriserait le extrême pour donner autant que j’ai reçu. » On dit de lui que son identité fran- parler et la culture de chez nous tout en pro- co-américaine et son éducation furent les in- mouvant le « français standard ». Comment fluences maîtresses de sa vie. Fils de famille ce faire? Il faudrait un entraînement nouveau modeste émigrée de Lacolle, Quebec; athlète pour les professeurs de français. Ce fut la de jeunesse qui n’a jamais perdu le goût de vision anticonformiste de Gérard Brault. l’entrainement; militaire américain avec En 1961 Gérard conçut le premier (Remembering Two Franco-American service contre-espionnage à La Rochelle Institut NDEA (National Defense Education Giants: Gerard Brault (1929-2020) and en France; académique distingué, profes- Act de 1958) pour professeurs de français Claire Quintal (1930-2020) Continued seur de français, médiéviste et héraldiste de descendance canadienne française. Il from page 12) dont les racines s’étendait du Collège de s’en suivrait un second l’année suivante, verse, montant à Montréal pour faire sa maî- l’Assomption à Worcester, à l’Université toujours au Collège Bowdoin, puis, en 1964, trise et traversant l’Atlantique pour devenir Laval et l’Université Penn State; chercheur au Collège de l’Assomption. Mais pourquoi docteure de l’université de Paris. En 1969 et auteur prolifique; décoré de l’Ordre des cet institut? Le professeur Brault explique- elle rentra à son pays natal, répondant à Palmes Académiques et de l’Ordre Natio- rait plus tard dans un article intitulé « Some l’appel du collège de l’Assomption qui allait nal du Mérite par la République française; Misconceptions about Teaching American admettre des filles pour la première fois et membre actif de sa paroisse catholique; Ethnic Children Their Mother Tongue » qui cherchait à embaucher des professeures. époux de Jeanne Pépin, père d’Anne-Marie (The Modern Language Journal, Vol. 48, Elle servit le collège loyalement pendant dix et de Suzanne, huit fois grand-père. Voilà No. 2, Feb., 1964, pp. 67-71) : ans dans la double capacité de professeure une vie entière, riche et dévouée, mais qui Un des buts principaux des Instituts et de doyenne, mais son engagement à son fut aussi aux origines d’un mouvement qui franco-américains était de chercher de nou- héritage exigea qu’elle entrât dans une perdure. velles façons d’exploiter plus effectivement troisième voie, plus ambitieuse mais plus Il nous arrive d’oublier que nos et dans l’intérêt national l’héritage linguis- risquée aussi. Elle conçut donc l’idée, il y a propres succès résultent souvent des efforts tique d’environ un million et demi de per- vingt-cinq ans, d’un institut qui puisse assur- de nos prédécesseurs. Albert Einstein l’a sonnes de descendance canadienne-française er que l’épopée des Franco-Américains soit bien dit : « Ma vie extérieure et intérieure en Nouvelle-Angleterre. (https://www.jstor. connue et enseignée, en Nouvelle-Angleterre dépend du travail de mes contemporains et org/stable/320417?seq=1; ma traduction.) et au-delà. Elle fut même convaincue qu’un de celui de mes ancêtres. » (Comment je vois Il n’était pas seul, mais Gérard fut des tel institut se devait d’être fondé au collège le monde ,1934) premiers. En 1962 Geneviève Massignon de l’Assomption, là même où, pendant de Avant la «renaissance » franco-amé- publierait Les parlers français d’Acadie, longues années, des prêtres français, belges ricaine des années 70, avant le FORUM, le et Nornand C. Dubé proposerait d’autres et franco-américains avaient travaillé à la NMDC, l’ActFANE et même le CODOFIL, stratégies pédagogiques en 1971 dans sa formation bilingue de nouvelles générations avant les Centres franco-américains, Bon- thèse Guidelines for the Teaching of French de Franco-Américains. Nous savons tous ce jour et En Bref et bien avant le renouveau des to Franco-Americans. qui s’ensuivit de cet engagement osé. Sans poètes, romanciers, chanteurs, chanteuses, En 1975, sous la tutelle de Robert ressources propres, mais avec la volonté et des chercheurs en franco-américanie, Paris, naîtrait le Centre national pour le ferme de réussir et l’esprit toujours créateur, il y eut le départ de France des ancêtres développement de matériaux pédagogiques Claire fit de son institut nouveau un abri à vers la grande aventure du Canada, puis la en français (NMDC) dont je faisais partie. la fois intellectuel et psychologique pour le « grande saignée » d’un million et demi Pour débuter sur un bon pied, nous avons groupe franco-américain, tout en lui dotant de nos ancêtres en Nouvelle-Angleterre. voulu construire sur les fondations des d’une renommée mondiale et de solides as- De leurs traveux émergèrent les paroisses, « ancêtres ». Donc, très tôt, Gérard Brault sises économiques. En créant des liens entre les écoles, les hôpitaux, les journaux, les vint faire visite. Il nous parla des Instituts. de multiples pays sur plusieurs continents, clubs sociaux et sociétés de secours mutuel Ses idées sur le fait franco-américain avaient en assurant la survie de maintes œuvres en grand nombre. Mais la langue de nos déjà vu jour, par exemple dans son clefs de la Franco-Américanie, Claire grands-parents était celle du 17e siècle et non article “The Franco-Americans of Maine,” Quintal a su mettre en pratique, de façon celle du « bon français. » Comme résultat, publié en 1972 dans la Maine Historical spectaculaire, cette belle devise héritée de les enfants de l’époque, fatigués de faire rire Society Newsletter. Seize ans plus tard pa- nos ancêtres québécois, « Je me souviens ». 13 Le Forum MAINE MAINE Cutts. So, there was Cutts, the block with open its doors. When he sat, my grandfather the small variety shop, immediately adja- took out his pocketknife and whittle a piece Stories from my cent, headed South, to Saint Joseph’s church of wood into some trinket; out of the piece of whose front steps fronted on Elm and whose wood, maybe a branch, he might whittle and right side went along my grandfather’s half whistle. If he did, he would give it to me and French duplex and property and continued along admonish me not to run with it in my mouth. for a ways of parking lots until it reached Years later, on a trip to New Hampshire to Canadian Bradbury Street, to which my father moved visit relatives on my grandmother’s side, I us, when both he and our mom tired of her think we were in New Hampshire, maybe, sister, my aunt, who just loved me, of my two Berlin, when my sister was running in the Childhood younger sisters, and I, Therese and Julienne, yard where we were visiting, and she had By to bits. Why just me? Maybe it was because the barrel-end of a spring-loading toy gun I was the first born and male; whereas, my in her mouth. In falling, the barrel pierced Gerard Coulombe sisters were female and there had been her palate. I seem to recall the scene of my enough of those, her siblings. Several of sister, Therese, running around, crying hys- This is my third attempt at this paper whom, older by birth, but, in those years, terically, or so I thought, as the gun hung out on being Franco-American.* Our mother apparently, not survivors. of her mouth, and none of us kids thought was born of Franco Americans, here in the Antonia was around. he was my of trying to pull it out. She made enough States. Her dad was already retired when I mom’s and my aunt’s brother. He was a noise, screaming, that Mom came out, and was born in his half of a duplex, the half of butcher at the A& P market on Main Street, courageously, as mother do so well, she dealt which was like a farmhouse. The other half this side of City Hall and the entrances to with the problem. belonged to the neighbor, whomever that At, the time, as Aunt Eva favored me, might have been when I was born. she would prepare lunch for me because she I thought I had been born at home. I My grandfather also was preparing meals for my grandparents, was never disabused of that thought. It was and I was my grandfather’s best friend, now something that I believed until I was told loved to sit on lawn swing, that I was allowed to wander out doors and, that I was born at the hospital in Biddeford, and I would often join him. most importantly, into the part of the house Maine. on the first floor that was my grandparents’ My grandfather Coutu, my mom’s quarters. dad, owned the house. At the time of my the Textile Mills, The Pepperell, on Main My grandmother was blind from cat- birth, the house was managed by my live- Street. My uncle, Antonio had been married. aracts, I believe, she sat in a sturdy rocking in aunt. I never knew or learned where her I remember where his wife was buried. She chair by the window looking out into the bedroom might have been. She lived in the was in his plot which was located by the garden which was quite large, and it includ- house of her parents while everyone else cross monument in Saint Joseph’s Ceme- ed, along with a garden display of varietal had moved out once, because she was the tery, intersection of Hill and West Streets, flowers and rose bushes. I do not know one who never married and because of it or where nearly all of the Franco-Americans who had care of them. I never saw. There not, she was the one who looked after and are married. I always thought it the biggest were always many of them in season; in took care of my grandparents, her parents. cemetery of its kind, as all names in it are addition, there were two pear trees and one At the time my parents married, I Franco-Americans. Some Irish or Anglo crabapple tree. The latter was big enough guess they lived in my grandparents’ house. name might have snuck into this cemetery, to climb to a height wherein I could see the This had never occurred to me before, that but it would have been, extraordinary, a top of the heads of people walking by along after they married, they chose to live with relative of sorts, granted special dispen- the sidewalk, most frequently on a Sunday my grandparents. My sisters and I were born sation because of unlikely circumstances. when they went to and from the RCC, there, on Cutts Street. There was a block at My parent are buried there, but it is unlikely Saint Josephs’ whose length ran across our the corner of Elm Street, Route 1 through their names will be found on a tombstone, backyard and then, some. My grandfather Biddeford and Cutts Street. On the first floor as I think one of my sister’s name has suc- also loved to sit on lawn swing, and I would of that block at the corner of Cutts and Elm ceeded my parent, and her husband awaits often join him. We had enough practice to was a small grocery store. Over the years, his spot; meanwhile, he watches the Red remember how it went, getting it going, and, it was always some kind of variety store. Sox, and I do not know who he watches how I sometime stood, like a man, and gave Like my grandfather’s house, that cor- or what at other times. If it’s not about the my body the go of a hip swing pushing the ner store and the building it was in, abutted Red Sox, my brother-in-law says little else vertical wood pieces holding the platform the property of Saint Joseph’s Church, the whenever I visit. I used to listen to a Red separating the seats to the wooden dowels Franco-American Catholic Church, the only Sox radio station on my way to Biddeford, separating the two sides and the seats from one of three Catholic Churches still standing just so I would have something to repeat each other so that we swung. And when we in Biddeford. The other two, Saint Andre’s, about the team. swung, my grandfather kept the rhythm which became our parish, later, and Saint The things I recall about living with going with his back against the seat and his Mary’s, the Irish parish on a side Street be- my grandparents is that I had a run of the feet pushing on the platform separating the yond the intersection of Main, Elm, South house and the barn. The barn was where my two seats. It didn’t matter that we sat on and Elm. The next block, headed South, is grandfather sat when, mornings, he rolled (Continued on page 15) 14 MAINE MAINE SUMMER/ÉTÉ 2020 following him along the way, having lunch my aunt Eugenie’s country home, which it (Stories from my French Canadian with him, and I, favored of my aunt. no longer is, because it’s been years, and Childhood continued from page 14) Grandmother was blind and only it is owned, still, nowadays by relatives of same seat, side-by side. when told that I was near her by my aunt ours, mine, in that it is now, the home, part My grandfather ate his meals with his because I was afraid of her because she of a residential area and it is march larger I knife, mostly. That mean, I never saw him couldn’t see me and, therefore, I could not noticed than originally. use a fork. My grandmother was blind. I see her except to stare at her, which is what Furthermore, and curiously, the house don’t recall having said that. Her blindness is I did when she was sick or when she was is still in the Chabot family, my aunt, Eug- the thing I remember most about her. I recall dying, and I was there by her side, offering enie Coutu, having married, I almost cap- that she sat by one of the kitchen windows some prayers, those my mother had already tured his first name, my uncle, Chabot, who by the side door. Another entrance to their taught me, and what I already knew about with his brother who lived across the street home might have been through the barn. my grandmother, when I was growing up from them at the time, engaged themselves The bar door had been slid open most days there in her house, because, all that I had to as lumber jacks at the time, and we, I had by my grandfather who enjoyed sitting in an do that my sisters were not allowed to do was fun with the two brothers as they entertained old rocker when he had slid the barn door come down the front steps from the second us kids on Sunday, walking there, visits, open. The door itself was located to the right floor landing and into the parlor where my with the game of “HOW MANY FINGERS wall, and slid inward, toward the kitchen and grandmother’s body was exposed in her HAVE I GOT?” Each flashed a hand in turn “shed.” There was a second landing, a loft, opened casket, in those days, announced and had us guess first, before showing us, where our parent had their “shed.” Most of by the black, crowned and crepe ribbon “How many fingers?” the time, as I recall, we entered the house display at the front door for all to see. Ring As I recollect it seemed as if each time through the front door which opened onto the doorbell and be admitted to the front we saw them, my uncle and his brother, Cutt’s Street. each had fewer fingers than the last time Next door in the duplex was the I know that my mom they had had us play the game. I felt it as other half, and rather than another barn never called, as we didn’t good as watching how they got to kill the having been there, I recall that there was a chicken, which was either to wring its neck building that might have been a barn at one have a telephone, landline or more adroitly to slam its head against time; however, I do not know this. And the type, in those days. the chopping block and swinging an short backyard beyond that which was now apart- handled ax to cut the neck off and hold it ments on two floors, was looking up at the parlor where my deceased memere’s body by the legs, neck down, to let them bleed. church and its nave and chance, where the was exposed in the black, wooden casket, I was a demonstration that both shocked us building ended. The front-loaded bell-tower where, wherever she was, she could not and taught a lesson on how to prepare a live of the church rose high above Elm and its hear anything, although nearly all visitors, chicken or turkey for the pot . bells, too, like the others, could be heard even relatives on her side that I had never Every Sunday, my aunt Eugenie ringing to announce the start of services or met who came to pay their respects, some Chabot prepared two, as she never knew how the death of a male or female member of its relatives of pepere from New Hampshire. many members of the family would come congregation, as well the hour of noon. All Although, grandma was a first generation for Sunday dinner. I know that my mom in town or from elsewhere who knew the Franco-American, having been born here never called, as we didn’t have a telephone, traditions, could tell you whether a man or of Franco-American parents about whom landline type, in those days. woman had died, and along with that, in all I knew little about or hardly ever heard of Back at my maternal grandparents’ possibility, exactly who it was who had died all of the “Poirier” relatives she had had, house. I was the only one to sit at the table and who was a member of that particular although I had later met one of them who to eat with my grandfather, and, this was parish, here, in our case, it was Saint Joseph, sold RALEIGH PRODUCTS, and came to mostly for lunch, as I have indicated earlier. not Saint Mary’s. From here, it couldn’t be the house, whereupon he and mom talked It was while we lived in my grandfa- Saint Andre. about everything but the products, except ther’s house, it was never too keenly aware The booming sound could not be that she would purchase something, maybe that it was half of a duplex.. As we lived on mistaken. baking soda, of which she always had plenty the left side, and on the right, there was a My aunt Eva could be “bitchy” over of because she loved to bake cookies. neighborhood market which I did not at all the girls, as I might have said, earlier. It The above is to say that, actually, I take in, maybe it was because the market was wasn’t that they were so bad, because as they have known next to nothing about my mom’s opened after we left my grandparents’ house, were out at one at two, to crawl or walk, it relatives, or, let us say, from the beginning, in any case, at three years of age, I was still was the pulling on the flower because they and as I should have gotten to know over the allowed to wander down the street. I rarely were nice and interesting, that my aunt year of living in mother’s home, and from if ever crossed the street, because there disliked. And for good reason. It was not later when we moved out of my grandpar- was a car dealership there and automobiles my grandfather who was the center of their ent’s home, I got to know even less about all over the place, but I did meet a boy my attraction in this wonderful of a flowery my mother and her relatives, other than age who occasionally played there but who yard and a swing that you were hot allowed aunt Eugenie who had married and lived lived, most probably on South Street there. in and a grandfather who, mostly, ignored in town, almost out in the country, or so it His last name was Parenteau, I think, his you, because I was the playmate that he had looked like to me with the farm animals she firs, might have been Robert or Robert in chosen upon laying eyes on me, I, who was and my uncle had in all. There was also the French which sounds a lot better as a first living in his house and was out all day long fact that we actually visited none other than (Continued on page 16) 15 Le Forum MAINE MAINE (Stories from my French Canadian them spiral to the ground. a knock. And, then, she would have waited Childhood continued from page 15) This infuriated my aunt so, that in a for a second, to suggest she hadn’t been name. Robert! loud, tremulous voice, she was heard by my waiting, and upon opening the door, there Further down, at the corner of Cutts mother who came out to see her scolding the were the greetings, but her brother would and Bradbury Street was an escarpment girls, and my mother would have knocked never come in, he would never enter without of big rocks. It’s still there. The lot never her ouch with a solid punch of her folded an invitation, and he probably knew that he sold, I guess. And I do not know who owns hand had she thought she could have gotten wasn’t going to get one, because his sister, it. But it was there that I had fun playing away with it. But she didn’t. Instead, she to clear, my mother was not going to let as a small kid. I do not recall meeting any stopped talking to my aunt, her sister, for him in based upon an old history or his. He other kids who might have gathered there to almost all or fourteen years. I recall when had been a married man. Well, his wife had play all kinds of imaginary games because I she first allowed my aunt to be welcomed died, and she was gone, but now, her brother thought of the place as mightily fanciful and into our home, I was fourteen, and I still was still dating that woman, the one who someplace that I always enjoyed returning held images of my aunt’s pudgy face with owned that beauty shop, the one where you to that, the last of the years that I was to live glasses. I thought of it as awful. I guess had your hair done, and he hadn’t married in my grandfather’s house, on the second or I sided with mom, although my aunt had her after all these years, and they were still third floor, I do not recall, and I was allowed continued favoring me, and, all the while, seeing each other. That to my mother, Clara, the freedom that I was, probably because I had benefitted from the relationship while Fabiola, Coutu, Coulombe, was not about to my mother was busy with the two girls, my my sister never did. let her brother, this sinner in the eyes of God sisters, who were younger, and needed more On the other hand, my mom’s older and, mind you, shed was not about to let her care and watching than I did, at the time, brother wasn’t allowed to visit. Such was my brother into her apartment, not now or ever. because then, there was not the worry that mother’s way of practicing her religion. Had And, she did not. exists, today. she seen a priest about it, [Maybe she did, I recall my mother hearing him out. Of course, the church bells tolled but I never knew it.] re relationship with her The conversation, whatever it was about, regularly, in addition to the times when brother might have been a lot smoother. As was brief, I never knew why or what had a member of the parish died, and that was it was, she would not allow him to cross the brought him to the backdoor, or really why quite regularly itself, although, most times, threshold. Once she saw him at the door, she, she would not let him in. I had never clearly for me, it went unnoted. But my mother kept having opened it to his knocking. This would understood that part, as she never explained track. And, I as I write this, I recall that what be the backdoor, he, having come into the just why it was that she would not allow my I’m saying here is that I was, at the same shed, and, once inside, having turned right uncle walk over the threshold or to say, Hi! time, unaware that I had sisters, that they to face the entrance door into the kitchen, There…how are you? It never happened. existed in my life, but they were not part, knocked upon it. As, during the day, for the And as Dad was never home whenever this as of yet of my upbringing. most part, she stayed in the kitchen, as there visit of my uncle’s occurred, and I never My sisters were unwelcomed in the were always chores to do, like meals to pre- asked until much, much later, and I do not house below, my grandparents’, where I pare and some cooking on the side, maybe recall that it was she, mom, who explained was welcomed by our aunt Eva, who always cookies, she would have known who it was why it was that her brother was not allowed favored me, as I’ve expressed before, and knocking at the door because she would in the house. not my sisters because she once saw them have heard the person on porch or coming up When my father finished working for pulling at the heads of the flowers that grew the wooden steps of the stairs, and then she the W.P.A., The Works Progress Admin- alongside the walkway to the side entrance would have, first seen the top of the visitors istration, if I recall, correctly, we moved, and the barn doors. That one time, when she head who would either be going up further of a sudden, from the apartment on Cutt’s saw them pull at them and do what children the stairs to the third or fourth floor. But, Street to an apartment around the corner on do when they pulled a beautiful head off. then, she would have recognized her own Bradbury Street, in a house nearer to South My sisters peeled away at the parts of the brother and would have walked toward the Street. It was there that life took another turn. flower, starting with the petals and watched kitchen door, and she would have waited for [To be continued.]

did with all the dead. She didn’t have an True Story answer, but I can just imagine. How scared By Sandra Vick families must have been. There is no moral to this story. The government did not create My grandfather, who was born in Van this pandemic 118 years ago, and the Lord Buren, in 1900, was working in the woods did not cause it either. The government did in 1918, “yes, at 18 years old”. He had to not choose who lived or died, and whether come home because he took ill. He had no you prayed or not, the outcome was still the phone to call home to his mom and dad, or same. It was what it was, and today, it is any way of knowing how things were at what it is. We as a people of this “WORLD home or anywhere else for that matter. He WIDE EPIDEMIC” have to believe that not had caught the “Spanish Flu”. This Spanish everyone is out for evil, and there are many Flu epidemic took many lives, but his life good, honest, people on the front lines, who was spared and he survived it. My mother are working tirelessly to solve this. Be nice told me this story. I asked her what they and hold you loved ones dear. Fred Levesque 16 MAINE MAINE SUMMER/ÉTÉ 2020 was either dead or that she soon would be CUTTS STREET: or that, even, like the unknowing child that adults in the room might have thought I was, if they or whatever they were thinking, my Biddeford, Maine, grandmother was transitioning to the other side in some manner, and I was watching. 1931-1934 And, curiously, my aunt, who would have been the only one to remove me from By the “dying room,” did not remove me from Gerard Coulombe the room. Neither my Aunt Eva, nor my grandfather, the deceased’s husband, said a The move from our grandparents’ about her, about such a question, as “How word to me. No one interrupted my pres- home on Cutts Street, the half- duplex to any babies did you have, Grandma?” Of, ence by my grandmother’s bedside. It hardly the side of Saint Joseph’s Roman Catholic course, that would have been in French, as mattered to my grandmother as, remember, Church, to an apartment on Bradbury Street, that was the only language I could speak at she was blind. Meanwhile, in retrospect, my around its corner-intersection with Cutts the time. But it never occurred to me to ask, mom might not have been made aware of occurred following the death of my blind as I only knew of my “Ma Tante” Eva” who the likelihood that grandmother was dying; grandmother, my mom’s mother. cared for her parents. Come to think, I do I only knew because I was the only one in I was with grandmother Coutu when not recall what my grandmother’s first name the room. Oh! Some people who are alive she died; I was kneeling by her bedside, in was, or if I ever learned it. might try to contradict me, but none who prayer, by myself, when she died. I had If anyone doubts my recollection, I might say that are here today. I suppose, watched her die, or, so I recall; I say this can appreciate, but as to such a thing as my there might be some doubters who would now because this is exactly what I recall, not having seen my grandmother die, nobody say that, after having read this, my assertion, what others said. Besides, there is nobody ever told me to get off my knees, get up, and my contention. left to contradict my recollections, as the leave her room as she lay in her bed dying Having witnessed my grandmother’s people who would know this are all dead, in the quietude of her room, not my aunt, passing, I can truly say that at my age, she dead a long time. I want to stress that I was not my grandfather. was my first and only, and it would be for the only grandson who lived with my parents a long time before I would see another die, and two younger sisters in a second-floor ...simply kneeling down by firsthand, as I had witnessed it myself, first- apartment, that could be accessed through my dying grandmother’s bed- hand. I cannot say enough about this. Many the front door of my grandparents’ home or would deny my report now, on my grand- through the barn and up backstairs. side, watching an old lady, my mother’s passing. As my mother would So, what I recall about my blind blind grandmother, gradually have put it, if she were to hear me say this, grandmother’s dying is this: I recall her ease through her passing; I was mother would have called it all, “baloney.” dying, because I was a constant and her only Well, not in those words; I would beg to three-year-old grandson who watched it all not scared watching her die. differ with her; It was just as I described it happen, her dying. I saw every movement in great detail because of the impression of of her passing from where I was kneeling As my grandmother lay dying in her watching her die made upon me. It is what by her bedside because the other side of bedroom, all by herself, I would sneak-in, had happened. her bed was so close against the wall in and spend long periods with her unobserved, Her bedroom was dismal itself, and her small bedroom. It was located on the as she was there breathing her last. Slowly her covers were in disarray; she wore a first floor, really, opposite the sitting room but slowly, her blind eyes opened, but some- nightshirt, and I supposed that she had had where she sat by the window and looked, in times they were shut, and it seemed to me, my aunt’s help getting it on. I seem to recall her blindness, out of doors by her rocking that either way, she had really nothing to say. that it was not the winter months but how chair, where she spent all of her daytime. All that I was doing was simply the weather looked then, as it does outside I could see her very well in the dim kneeling down by my dying grandmother’s my own window now, dismal, really. The light, as an overhead bulb was dim, in bedside, watching an old lady, my blind sky was a greyish blue in the absence of those days; I think that, as I saw her still grandmother, gradually ease through her a sun. Although, at this moment, I recall breathing, I could see her struggling while passing; I was not scared watching her die. also, that all the light she had was not from her breathing was, at times, rheumy and I was very curious. [Today, would a child be a window, as there were none, as hers was noisy. Although someone, maybe my Aunt, allowed such a privilege?] I knew this much, an inside bedroom; there were no other Eva, had put her mother’s rosary into her that she was already dead or if she weren’t, kind in their duplex, as large as it was. The hands, it had been a while since I had seen she was well on the way. Even as I had no windows along the outside walls, ran from my grandmother’s fingers move down what- experience with death, I was determined to the front corner and along the left side of my ever rosary decade she had been on when she watch. Nobody in the household, not my grandparents’ half-duplex. left off to move onto another chapter in her grandfather not my aunt would deter me. Fortunately for my blind grandmother, mental review of her life. She was set in the process of her leaving, it was knowing precisely where it was in My grandmother had given birth to going, forever; I had little or no idea what the household that she could sit to “see her more children than I knew about when she that meant, but even then, I stuck to the fact died; I reminds me now, how little I knew that I had an inkling that it meant that she (Continued on page 18) 17 Le Forum MAINE MAINE (CUTTS STREET: Biddeford, Maine, building had two apartments per floor, and recall a series of these with the pictures of 1931-1934 continued from page 17) each hd. Balcony facing the street. Hollywood stars from the movie westerns LA PIE BAVARDE Mostly, it was the back of the house that we went to see at the movies to see, flowers and the trees in her small orchard- that was important to me, where, I seem to or if not at the movies, or at the church -which reminds me why it was that sitting recall, there was sand in a narrow courtyard hall on Saturday afternoons. Those were in the rocker by the window was so good for us kids to play in. I had tin, toy soldiers motion pictures that the Roman Catholic for grandmere to spend the whole of her and forts of the kind which I created from Church had figured would keep us children days when she was up; as blind as she was, boxes from a shoe shop that was nearby, and out of the movie theatre in town or across it was important for her to know that she the trash bins were accessible to kids like the river in Saco that were promoting “filth was sitting by the window by the warmth of me; and from these we were able to extract and debauchery.” Dixie cups were small the sun, during the summertime, and in the treasures, like pieces of leather, shoe nails, ice cream cups sold to kids that were half coolness of the house in winter. and cardboard. chocolate and half vanilla, and to make In the summer, just outside the win- We kids also had access to all kinds them last, we waited some till the ice cream dow where she sat were her flowers; it was of materials that were practical for a kid. melted and with the two inch, round at each my grandfather, her husband who took care There was a “Box Shop” nearby that made end, wooden spoon we mixed the two colors of the flowerbeds in season. She would have wooden boxes and I suppose other things. until it melted some before eating it. known that. What I knew, because my dad knew how to While I cannot recall the exact terms Although I do not recall, I am sure pick odds and ends, wood pieces out of the used by the “religious,” our teachers, to a priest had visited as she lay dying. She waste pile, is that we could do the same. The “criminalize” some motion pictures, we would not have been Catholic if a priest box shop was along the riverside of Saco, were pretty much well aware of the termi- hadn’t visited, given her the last rites and all. Island. That much of their waste wood was nology used to indoctrinate us into the belief The rectory and church were so close; the useful to us kids just couldn’t be believed. that some motion picture films were so vile church building itself had been literally in Dad and I found all kinds of waste that seeing one would damn us to hell for her own backyard all this time, wherein she pieces of wood that we picked up and saved all of eternity. I believe the campaign was had knelt in God’s shadow to say her prayers for our home use. There were even some mightily successful, as I recall. But all in every time the sun went down. whole pieces that my dad and I used them retrospect, we had absolutely no idea as to I do not recall visitors, but perhaps in making games; we turned whole, squared the meaning of anything “vile,” so repugnant there were members of her own family who pieces into board games, using nails. I recall it all had to be, as we came to learn later. visited in those final days. It does not make that my dad knew how to hammer nails in Church basements ,where many of sense that they wouldn’t have, but how distinct patterns, and, then, we kids used these movies were shown, were turned into would I know or even recall? I was only marbles with in these board games that Legion of Decency Halls, and Monday three, and things happened mightily fast, resembled simple pinball machines with a mornings started with an exploration of con- as far as I was concerned. I was told, but, I nail acting as a pin, a pinball machine that science, wherein an invitation to self-report do recall seeing a black crepe at the door, my father made , that I used to win marbles having violated a pledge of not to attend a as it was customary; one signified that a with, from kids who gambled and lost their local movie house presentation of a Legion household member had died. marbles to us who owned the board games. of Decency banned film was the vogue. After she died, I do not recall that her Other kids tried playing our games in The lines in grammar school were daughters, the two nuns, visited from the those days to win marbles for themselves; pretty long outside the principal’s office and Montreal schools where they served. What and, of course, we lost our marbles to kids afterward, wherein a confession of having I would later learn, when we visited them who had their own games that that they or done so [gone to the movies on a weekend] with my mother, their school was a very their dads or others had made, all with the and so, broken our pledge by seeing a large orphanage, and, in particular, even at intent of winning all of the marbles that banned film, was made to Reverend, Brother the age of whatever I was, how impressed I friends, neighboring kids and strangers So & So, the Headmaster. This was fol- was by the orphanage. I would learn, years might have been willing to risk winning lowed by an affirmation from us miscreants later, that it was not such a good idea to have more or losing all of theirs on these, our who had attended a banned film, a promise been in an orphanage. hand-made games. I thinks that, eventually, to never do so again. I extended my arm toy companies converted our ideas into outward, presented the opened hand, palm *** profitable games of their own to sell in the up, and was given the cautionary slap, or toy market slam, depending on who was administering With our move from our apartment As kids, we carried our cans and bags the punishment that Monday morning. We in our grandfather’s house on Cutts Street of marbles around for the myriad games pledged, before returning to homeroom, not to a rent on Bradbury Street, life changed invented by then for us to play at or with. to repeat the sin of going to a movie theatre altogether. Our playground was extended; Looe or win. These games were a great again. After which the passing bell sounded, mine was the greatest of all. At first, it was money maker for those companies that and we were on or way to start our studies to play in the neighborhood, which was manufactured “agates” or marbles, as we for the day. Those were the early grammar in the street in the front of our apartment kids called them. We prized agates, their school years, before there developed an ap- on the second floor, right-hand side of our variety in colors, and those marbles that we preciation that a good many of us boys were flat, with porches fronting on the street and regarded as “collectibles.” growing into big, strong boys, big enough each had a balcony, fronting the street. The “Dixie” cup lids were the same. I (Continued on page 19) 18 MAINE MAINE SUMMER/ÉTÉ 2020 (CUTTS STREET: Biddeford, Maine, LA PIE BAVARDE 1931-1934 continued from page 18) (N.D.L.R. Reprinted from Le Club Français Newsletter, Le Fanal. so that a few of us, by the time we got to Publié par Marie-Anne Gauvin dans Le Fanal (Le Club Français) sixth grade, were capable of wrestling our nen avril 2008. Soumis par Jacqueline Blesso) teacher to the ground, as much as the teacher was capable of doing the same. À tous et à chacun: A few of my classmates were not kidding when they threatened the teacher, Un envoi qui mérite d’être lu vient fait,” répondit le fermier écossait en refusant for a threat was a threat in those days, and de mon amie qui habite dans une banlieu cet offre. À cet instant le fils du fermier vint a few accepted the teacher’s challenge to de Chicago et qui a joué un role innoce- à la porte du taudis familial. “Est-ce votre come on and give it a try, and those who ment dans l’enchaînement des évènements fils?” demanda le noble. “Oui,” répondit did were expelled for their affront. But, by menant aux fonds en fidéicommi Mikesell. fièrement le fermier. Je vais vous faire un then, those boys had become old enough at L’article semble avoir été écrit en 2001 et marché. Permettez que je fasse instruire fifteen or so to work the farm or succeed in la copie sur America on Line est daté de votre fils du même niveau que mon fils. getting themselves employment in one of 2004. L’auteur m’est inconnu. Je l’ai traduit Si le jeune retient quelque chose de son the two textile mills. Some had parents who en français parce que c’est écrit en anglais. père, sans doute il deviendra l’homme approved of their boys staying home and dont nous seront fiers tous les deux.” Ce getting jobs as truck drivers or laborers, or LE TITRE: fut ce qu’il a fait. shop keepers, or milkmen. Le fils du fermier Fleming fut instruit Moment propice, Endroit *** favorable dans les meilleures écoles en finissant ses etudes à St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School à Londres. Par la suite il se fit connaître à So, my grandmother died . It was (The Right Time, The Right Place) travers le monde entier comme le célèbre time for us to move. More to the point, it Le sujet: Amitié Sir Alexander Fleming qui a découvert la was time for my mom to be on her own. She pénécilline. needed her own space with her family by her side. She hated my aunt, I think. She never Il s’’appelait Flemming ce pauvre Deux ans plus tard, le fils du même out-right said so, but she needed to be on fermier écossais. Un jour, en travaillant pour noble qui fut sauvé du marais fit une pneu- her own, away from where she had grown, faire vivre sa famille, il entend un appelle, monie. Comment lui a-t-on sauvé la vie cette and, if I’m right, away from her memories of “Au secours,” venant d’un marais tout près. fois. La pénécilline! Le nom du noble? Lord what it had been like growing up in her par- Il mit ses outils de côté et courut au marais. Randolph Churchill. Le nom du fils? Sir ents’ home. Now, being married with three Là, il trouva un garçon pris dans la boue Winston Churchill. children, still with her elderly parent living jusqu’à la ceinture. Le fermier Fleming ______downstairs, it being their house, with my sauva le jeune d’une mort lente et terrifiante. aunt, her sister, in charge, it was depressing Le lendemain, une diligence grand Rendre un service en attire un autre. for her. I had no idea what depression meant. luxe arriva à la maison du pauvre Écossais. Autrement dit, on ne sait jamais comment But I knew enough that even at three, there Un noble en vêtement élégant descenda et un service peut nous revenir. could be kids I did not like already. I might se présenta comme le père du garçon que le not or could not explain, but I knew there fermier Fleming avait secourut. “Je veux Votre pie bavarde, was danger around them, both for myself and vous payer,” dit L’aristocrate. “ Vous avez for anyone else who might stand up for me. sauvez la vie de mon fils.” “Non, je ne peut Marie-Anne pas accepter de paiement pour ce que j’ai And so it was for my mother . We moved. Maybe my father was ready to move after the WPA—The Works Progress Administra- tion for whom he worked building bridges. Things were getting better, I heard. Maybe they shared the need to move. I couldn’t have known. The time came shortly after my grand- mother died, and we moved, not all that far away. But thereafter, it was as if we had moved far away, far enough not to go back, and even if it were a small town, we had.

Marie-Anne Gauvin

(Continued on page 19) 19 Le Forum MAINE MAINE with sizable Franco-American populations: Fear, Prejudice, and Vaccinations May 1, 2019Augusta, Health, Lewiston-Auburn, Maine, In Bangor, the City Doctor visited all 69 schools in the city during October Politics, Quebec and September, vaccinating 1,180 children. By James Myall In Augusta, Dr Brickett went from house to house in the Sand Hill neighbor- Maine’s public health officials scram- a great advance in public health that saved hood, with the assistance of an interpreter, bled to respond to the threat of an epidemic. countless lives. vaccinating 515 people at the expense of They were contending with a misinforma- But in Montreal in 1885, large num- the city. He noted that he was “treated with tion over the effectiveness of vaccinations, bers of French Canadian families had not great politeness” and that the houses were and xenophobic sentiment which blamed im- been vaccinated. Eventually, 3,000 people, “in a neat and clean…and [good] general migrants for the threat. The year was 1885, overwhelmingly French-Canadian, would sanitary condition” and the threat was coming from Canada. die duding the city’s epidemic. In the spring of 1885, a smallpox As word of the outbreak reached the In Westbrook, the Board of Health epidemic had broken out in Montreal, then American press, officials were worried. In offered free vaccinations to inhabitants over a city of around 200,000 people. Ironically, states like Maine, large numbers of French the age of two, citing the “presence of so the disease came to the city from the United Canadians were immigrating to work in the large a number of Canadians in our midst” States, via a worker on the Grand Trunk state’s industrial cities or crossing the border and the “humanitarian” and “commercial” Railway on the Montreal-Chicago line. Con- to work in the logging industry contempo- consequences an outbreak would have. ductor George Longley had been diagnosed rary accounts describe new trainloads of with smallpox at Montreal General Hospital immigrants arriving in Lewiston every day. These vaccinations were generally but the facility refused to admit him, fearing It seemed quite possible that the disease given at the city’s expense, and particularly the disease would spread to other patients. would find its way into Maine. targeted children, who were most vulnerable So Longley turned to the French hospital, Officials sprang into action. The State to the disease. the Hôtel-Dieu, took him in. From there, Board of Health had been newly created Maine authorities also targeted lum- the disease, sometimes known as the “red in 1885, and coordinating the response to ber camps which employed large numbers death,” spread rapidly among the poorer smallpox became its first major task. Larger of French Canadian workers. The state set French Canadian population of the city. cities employed their own physicians and up an inspection station at Moose River, Despite its virulence, smallpox was health boards to oversee efforts, while in on the major overland route from Quebec preventable. A vaccine (the first vaccine rural areas, the state sought assistance from into Maine. All travelers were required to to be discovered) had been developed by the US Marine Hospital. be vaccinated unless they had recently had British scientist Edward Jenner in 1796. The The primary initiative was a massive one. However, there were reports that some invention of the smallpox vaccine had been vaccination campaign, particularly in towns (Continued on page 21)

Notice of Vaccinations, Scarborough, 1902. “Sanitary Precautions against a Smallpox Epidemic – An Inspector of the Image: Scarborough Historical Society & Board of Health Vaccinating Tramps in a Station House,” Leslie’s Illustrated Museum / Maine Memory Network Newspaper, April 19 ,1874. Image: New York Public Library 20 MAINE MAINE SUMMER/ÉTÉ 2020 (Fear, Prejudice, and Vaccinations There certainly was opposition to to distrust vaccines: continued from page 20) vaccination among Montreal’s French Ca- immigrants were “escap[ing] by passing in nadians. Not only was a large portion of the “I witnessed the smallpox epidemic the night.” population unvaccinated when the disease which hit Montreal in 1872. There was some The vaccination campaign seems to broke out in the Spring, but when the city opposition to vaccination, for two reasons. have been largely successful. Just a handful authorities tried to mandate vaccination, a Firstly, because two reputable doctors, one cases of smallpox were reported in Maine riot broke out, and a mob stormed city hall. of whom was a university professor, were that year. The report of the Maine State Board themselves opposed; also because the virus On the other hand, it’s possible that of Health for 1885 cited a “strange fatality used was bad; so bad that in some cases the public health scare was overblown. Le of ignorance of race” among Montreal’s arms had to be amputated.” Messager of Lewiston complained in an French Canadians, but also said that the October 14 editorial that the outbreak of “superstitious error” was due largely to the Doctor Martel also pointed to anoth- smallpox had given the English language “demagogism of charlatans” – advocates er reason that smallpox didn’t take hold press in Canada the “the eagerly-sought-af- who argued that vaccination itself was in Maine. Because very few of Maine’s ter occasion to spew its hateful bile against dangerous. The board scathingly called Francos came from Montreal, the state’s the French Canadian race which it resents.” the death of the 3,164 people in Montreal exposure to the disease was limited. In fact, The American press, they contended, was – mostly children – an “experiment on a the efforts at vaccination were somewhat “no longer hide what they really think of our gigantic scale” by “the anti-vaccinations.” duplicative: race, from whom they are perhaps already However, accounts of the trouble in thinking of relinquishing their hospitality in Montreal (then and now) also often leave out “During the year I was City Physician this country.” They also accused the Maine important historical context. Anglo-French in St-Hyacinthe, it was my duty to vaccinate press of repeating “hateful slander” without relations in Canada were particularly tense all children over six months, by going from questioning the source. in the summer and fall of 1885. The An- house to house. I don’t remember any objec- The prejudice of the disease-carrying glo authorities had arrested Franco-Métis tions or discontent. I hesitate to believe that immigrant is a long one, and one that’s been resistance leader Louis Riel in May, and I would be received with anything other than repeated in our own times. Additionally, would execute him in November, prompting open arms in presenting myself to Lewiston French Canadians had long been charac- widespread protests. The French Canadians homes with the same mission. I vaccinated terized as ignorant peasants held back by of Montreal were in no mood to have gov- more than 2,000 French Canadians in this Catholic “superstition.” On September 30, ernment mandated vaccination imposed on city, and of that number, I don’t remember the Portland Daily Press said that French them. a single adult who had not been vaccinated Canadians were “paying dearly” for their The outbreak was also largely local- at least once in their life.” “superstitious prejudice” in its coverage of ized to Montreal, as Dr Louis Martel of the outbreak. Lewiston explained. Originally of St-Hy- The 1885 smallpox scare is both simi- Another example comes from the acinthe, QC, Dr Martel had practiced in lar and different to our current conversation Gardiner Home Journal of September 16, Montreal before coming to Lewiston. Martel about vaccinations. Then, as now, immi- 1885, which wrote: gave an interview to the Lewiston Gazette grants faced prejudice and were unfairly ma- which was reprinted in Le Messager (where ligned as vectors of disease. Then, as now, “There is some advantage in us not Martel was one of the editors). In addition public health was threatened by a mistrust having cotton mills, with the accompanying to a misinformation campaign spread by of vaccinations, fueled by a misinformation French Canadian population: we are not lia- proponents of homeopathic medicine, Mon- campaign. The public health response in ble to have the small pox imported so soon.” treal’s French Canadians had some reasons (Continued on page 22)

“Immigrant Inspection Service.” Image: “An Incident of the Small Pox Epidemic in Montreal,” Harper’s National Library of Medicine Weekly, Nov 28, 1885. Image: New York Public Library 21 Le Forum MAINE MAINE I told the teacher to stop that foolishness. He said, “Louis, I’ll teach this school just The Haunting of French Louis as I please.” October 31, 2019 , Agriculture, Education, Home, Language, Maine “Now I can’t read and write myself, and I wanted my little Petey to learn those By James Myall things. The teacher said he was learning those things, but I didn’t believe it, with Petey bringing home those X’s and things You can’t always believe everything dialect is hard to read, potentially offensive, every night. So I got Baptiste and Lazarre you read. That adage is equally applicable in and probably inaccurate , I’ve provided a and Joe, and we had him turned out of the our modern internet age and when reading standard English version: school. Well, he had to go, but when he was 19th century newspapers. So the following on his way home, he passed my house and story, which appeared in the Ellsworth “You want to know about that fellow said, “Louis, I’ll be back next year, and give American, January 18, 1899, is offered with in gray who gave me the beating? Why it’s you and awful beating for this!” I laughed the caution that it hasn’t been corroborated just like this: You see, I live over there by the at him, but I wish I hadn’t. with any other sources. Whether or not it’s schoolhouse, and one fall about five years inspired by true events, this ghost story ago we had a young fellow come teach the “He wasn’t very well, and the next from Maine’s St John Valley can teach us school. I think perhaps he was smart, but you spring I heard that he was dead, and I said something. to myself, ‘you needn’t worry about The story was submitted to that beating, Louis.’ the American by Harry L. Crab- tree, a young Ellsworth lawyer “Well, one night, that fall (he was born in 1877) and future after he died I started down after judge. Crabtree claimed to have the cows. It was just after supper, heard the story directly from a and as light as day. I went to the man he calls only “French Louey” bars, and let them down, so I could (Louis). Crabtree says he spoke drive the cows through. I went down to Louis as well as his friends in the pasture and found the cows, and neighbors living somewhere and started them home. Well, we got along the St John River in north- most of the way back to the bars, ern Aroostook County. He de- and I was behind the cows, thinking scribes Louis as: about nothing in particular, when those cows gave a bellow and “A typical French Cana- turned and ran another way, and dian, short, broadfaced, with a I looked up, and there was those growth of light, curly whiskers covering his see he tried to teach my little boy something bars, put back up, and on the top one sat a face clear to his eyes.” foolish. He called it “algebra” and it’s all fellow all dressed in grey. I started to ask about letters and x’s and things, but it didn’t him what he scared my cows for, when he Crabtree related the story in his imag- teach him a thing about selling buckwheat said, ‘Louis, I told you I would come back ining of Louis’ accented English, which and potatoes. in a year, and here I am, and you’re going Crabtree said sounded “not unlike broken to take a beating.’ Then I saw it was that Dutch or Negro, perhaps.” You can read “Well, that made me mad to have my teacher who had died six months before. that version at this link, but since Crabtree’s little boy waste his time in that way, and (Continued on page 23)

(Fear, Prejudice, and Vaccinations About James Myall continued from page 21) While I currently work for an Augus- 1885 was quite different to today’s. While ta-based non-profit, I spent four years as the the question of mandatory vaccination for Coordinator of the Franco-American Col- school children has divided Mainers, there lection at the University of Southern Maine. was a consensus among the politicians In 2015, I co-authored "The Franco-Ameri- of 1885 not only that vaccination was a cans of Lewiston-Auburn," a general history public good, but that it was worth spending of that population from 1850 to the present. taxpayers’ money to improve the health of I was also a consultant for the State Legis- immigrants – quite the opposite of some of lative Task Force on Franco-Americans in the hostile rhetoric we’ve seen today. 2012. I live in Topsham with my wife and [email protected] two young daughters. http://myall.bangordailynews.com/ 22 FALL/AUTOMNE 2019

MAINE MAINE SUMMER/ÉTÉ 2020 (The Haunting of French Louis continued their children, and that the ignorant farmers Added to this was the reality that from page 22) distrusted education (in his introduction when children were at school, they couldn’t “I started to run, but he caught me, he called the Acadians “in many respects, help with work on the farm. In 1887, Maine and threw me down behind a stump and then as simple and innocent of the ways of the had passed a strict school attendance law, he gave me the worst beating that anybody world as when they first left the shores of which established town truant officers to every got. I tried to fight be he was as strong .” compel children aged 8-15 to attend schools. as the devil, and he beat me like he would a But the farmers’ anger at the school Families could be fined up to $25 (roughly baby. Then he let me up and told me to go, teacher may have had other roots. The state $700 in today’s terms) for absences. Boys and I went a little way and picked up between 10 and 15 could be sent a rock to throw at him, but he was to the state reform school if they nowhere around. Then I thought were “found to be wandering I’d had enough of ghosts and I cut about the streets…during the for home as fast as I could. I didn’t school hours.” This law was ir- dare get the cows that night, but the regularly enforced, but it sent a next day I went down and milked strong message to Mainers about the cows, and didn’t see the fellow the legislature’s intent. In this in grey. context, it’s more understandable why Louis and his neighbors re- “He didn’t bother me any sented the teacher. more until just a year from that day, If the ghostly school master when I went after the cows same as represented the forces of assimila- usual, and when I cam back, there tion arrayed against the Acadians, he was, and he caught me, and gave then his return year after year, me a worse beating than he did be- even after death, is a fitting meta- fore. And every year on that same phor. Just as the ghost in the story night, I don’t dare go after the cows, haunted Louis relentlessly, so the but after a while I go down towards Schoolhouse, Hamlin, built in 1919. Image: L’Heritage specter of assimilation returned the bars, and there he is, sitting on Vivant Living Heritage/Maine Memory Network repeatedly to injure Maine’s Aca- the top bar, waiting for me.” dians. By 1919 the state passed a of Maine had only exercised loose control law outlawing the use of French in public Crabtree made it clear that he was over public education in the St John Val- schools entirely, relegating it to foreign included to believe the story. He said that ley until 1872, when local school districts language classes only. The intent was to he had confirmed it with Louis’ family, who were established there. As part of the 1872 impose English-only education on the St confirmed that Louis had come back from law, instruction was to be given primarily John Valley (and elsewhere) In many ways, the fields one night bloodied and bruised, in English. The state also begun sending the law, which was not repealed until 1969, and that some of his neighbors had even Yankee teachers into the St John Valley to had its desired effect. Today Valley schools seen the grey spook waiting for Louis on teach in the local public schools, as well as are all Anglophone, and today children in the anniversary of the night in future years. training local residents to teach in English the region are less likely than ever to speak Setting aside the supernatural parts of the at the new Madawaska Normal School (now French. But even among the generation who tale, the events of the story are plausible the University of Maine at Fort Kent). The don’t speak the language, many still retain a enough. Crabtree implies that Louis and his state’s efforts to assimilate the Acadians strong sense of cultural identity and tradition friends chased off the school teacher because made public schools a source of tension in – elements that are most often passed along they didn’t understand what he was teaching the community. in stories and folklore. “Doing Our Best” is good advice from Susan Poulin May 29, 2020 Franco-American News and Culturepandemic By Juliana L'Heureux In my opinion, the talented Fran- into the Franco-American Hall of Fame, by co-American writer Susan Poulin represents the Maine Legislature, at the same time. the virtual image of the proverb about That’s why I am thrilled to welcome making lemonade out of lemons. Her talent her guest blog! Writing in her “Just Ask Ida” has been recognized by the fans who follow blog, Poulin gives us permission to lighten her performances and entertaining blogs. up a bit during a time when stress seems to In recognition of her writing and popular be as epidemic as the COVID-19 virus. Susan Poulin is the author of the “Just Ask monologues, Portland Magazine named Susan Poulin is a leader in bringing a Ida” blog. She and her husbnd Gordon Poulin as being among “Ten Most Intriguing female voice to New England storytelling Carlisle live in Eliot Maine. People in Maine”. She and I were inducted and humor. Be sure to check the website (Continued on page 24) 23 Le Forum MAINE MAINE (“Doing Our Best” is good advice from Susan Poulin continued from 23) Stand Behind the Line Franco- https://www.poolyle.com/ to access her ex- Joyce, down to Agway cellent TEDx Portsmouth Talk, a meaningful Always greets me with a smile Americans autobiography about being Franco-Amer- But with that mask she wears ican, titled, “Can you find your identity I haven’t seen it for a while through a heritage language?” Susan lives Now she’s strictly business living at home in Eliot, ME with her husband, artist (and It’s not that she’s unkind Charlie poem writer), Gordon Carlisle. She just would like it better with kindness Also, she is the co-presenter in the If I stood behind the line, upcoming University of Maine Fran- April 11, 2020, Franco-American News and CultureCathie Pelletier, Julia co-American Centre, free on-line program, “Stand behind that line, now Charlie Childs, Lewiston, Merci beaucoup, The on June 11, from 7-8 p.m., titled “Around the Stand behind the line Memory Network, University of Maine, Kitchen Table: Family Heirlooms. What do Come this way when it’s your turn we do with them?”, with Maureen Perry, a I’ll tell you when it’s time University of Southern Maine member of the Franco-American Collection Then you’ll stand upon that dot By board at the University of Southern Maine And for that stuff you’ll sign Juliana L'Heureux Lewiston Auburn College (USM LAC) and I’ll say when, but until then the campus librarian. Visit the website for Stand behind the line” “Something good will come of more information here. all things yet.“ It’s my pleasure to post this guest blog Some guys I know don’t wear the mask by the always entertaining Franco-American They say it’s all just hooey - Jack Kerouac (1922-1969) writer Susan Poulin! She has generously They’re still fond of burning rubber given permission to share her timely creativ- When they turn a U-ey We can share kindness by keeping ity with the Franco-Americans and followers You cannot talk to guys like that each other safe, and participating in many of this blog. The title is “Doing our Best” They’re always blowing steam free and enriching at home programs. published in Just Ask Ida. For them, there’s nothing to discuss Although the coronavirus pandem- They just wanna scream ic has impacted all of us, the quote by Doing Our Best! Kerouac is evident in all those who are Lois at Town Hall’s the one dedicated to caring for our communities, Most of us are doing are best right Who registers my truck in spite of the risks of exposure to disease. now. Sure, there are those yahoos at the But this spring it was Gladys We salute the kindness of the health care Corner Mart that don’t wear a mask, even And I was out of luck workers, the physicians, nurses, respira- though there are signs everywhere saying To try to share a joke with her tory therapists, hospital technicians, sani- you have to. These are the same folks who Would be a waste of time tation workers, the clerks who service our think “14 Items or Less” is there to make When all she wants to tell me grocery stores and our restaurant workers. the express lane faster for them and their 24 Is to stand behind the line We are all in this together and they are items or more. But for the most part, people the courageous matrix that supports our seem to be hanging in there, trying to go by “Stand behind that line, now Charlie ability to rise above the coronavirus the rules. Stand behind the line crises. They give purposeful evidence to But sometimes, you forget. Like yes- Come this way when it’s your turn Kerouac’s wise quote. Merci beaucoup to terday on my walk ‘round the neighborhood I’ll tell you when it’s time all of us who are doing what we can to help with Scamp, I saw my elderly neighbor, Then you’ll stand upon that dot others at this time. We create good will by Paul, sitting on his front porch. He’d been And for that stuff you’ll sign acknowledging the heroes who are serving failing over the winter with pneumonia and I’ll say when, but until then on the front lines to help others during this a fall and I hadn’t seen him in a dogs age. Just stand behind the line, OK? unprecedented pandemic. God bless them He struggled to his feet to say hi, and I was Stand behind the line.” and us because we are all in this together. so concerned about him falling, I completely lost my head, went up onto the porch and “Thank you.” hugged him! And I wasn’t even wearing a mask! Then I thought, Oh my God, I hope That’s it for now. Stay safe and catch I didn’t kill Paul. I’ve been worried about you on the flip side! it ever since. One of the hardest things for people We are grateful for the care givers Merci beaucoup to Susan and Gordon, is standing behind the line when they’re and the helpers! waiting to cash out. They intend to, but get for putting our stressful surreal pandemic distracted or just naturally wander forward. experiences into a real life perspective! Happens to my friend Charlie all the time. Following are some stories and (Continued on page 25) 24 FALL/AUTOMNE 2019

MAINE MAINE SUMMER/ÉTÉ 2020 (Franco-Americans living at home with UPDATE from Cathie: “We still need line links are offered to view free to movies kindness continued from page 24) people to sew health care cover GOWNS and to join the memoir writing seminars with social media sites to follow while we are for Northern Maine Medical Center in Fort Denis Ledoux on his YouTube channel, from caring for ourselves and others by sheltering Kent. Cathie Pelletier, the organizer, says on The Memory Network. in place. the group’s social media page that they have There are several links to vintage a small group forming, including an amazing photographs and free web programs on the Friends From Northern Maine follow woman in Pittsfield (west of Bangor) who Franco-American Collection at the Univer- up by Cathie Pelletier (https://www.face- wants to help northern Maine for family sity of Southern Maine social media page: book.com/groups/2226802954281142/: connections. DROP OFF for used sheets Link here. for the gowns (or 100% cotton for masks) Be sure to watch the excellent and free “Today we ordered 500 yards of 1/4 is Shop N Save in FORT KENT and SHOP Susan Poulin’s TedxPortsmouth talk. Link inch elastic for ear loops, and also 1,440 N SAVE in PRESQUE ISLE. Remember, here (be sure to click “skip ads”, although yards of cotton twill for ties. It all shipped material for gowns can be blended cotton/ you may want to watch the promo about today. Our donated fabric from Old Town polyester. GOWNS are desperately needed learning to be a chef). arrived in Fort Kent, amazing fabric. And we (we have their pattern) and also MASKS Speaking about being a chef, you can just learned another donor will give more! for all local hospitals/health facilities. We watch all of the classic Julia Child French Sheets arrived in Fort Kent too, donated for can use the elastic from fitted sheets then cooking television programs, available on the gowns. So many amazing people are for masks ear loops.” line. Link to Julia Childs here. working long hours and driving to deliver To learn more about where to locate things!” Meanwhile!- Look for the free learn- information about Franco-Americans, check ing resources we can share at home (chez out the Franco-American Portal Project at nous!): the University of Maine Franco-American Governor Janet Mills’ Executive Centre website. Link to portal here. (fran- Order to Stay Healthy at Home directive, coamericanportal.org) during the coronavirus pandemic, requires A virtual tour of Franco-American that Maine people stay at home, unless to Lewiston is available on the Franco-Amer- leave for an essential job or an essential ican Collection USM website – check activity. “Franco-American Lewiston scavenger During the Governor’s “Stay Healthy hunt” Link to tour here. at Home” directive, the University of South- More interesting free programs and ern Maine’s Franco-American Collection, movies will be made available, so please located at the Lewiston Auburn College continue to check the University of Maine (USM LAC), is closed. Although physical Franco-American Centre and the Fran- access to the building and the archives is not co-American Collection at the University allowed at this time, the FAC Board is sup- of Southern Maine websites. porting opportunities where our community S’il vous plaît! Of course, continue to and membership can continue to participate stay safe and be well! with the archives while at home. Helpful on-

St. Mary’s Hospital- Check out the Facebook page for information and educational links. https:// www.facebook.com/ search/top/?q=franco- american%20 collection%20at%20 the%20university%20 of%20southern%20 About Juliana maine&epa=SEARCH_ Juliana L’Heureux is a free lance writ- BOX er who publishes news, blogs and articles about Franco-Americans and the French culture. She has written about the culture in weekly and bi-weekly articles, for the past https://francoamerican.bangordailynews.com/author/jlheureux/ 27 years. 25 Le Forum NEW HAMPSHIRE (N.D.L.R. The following articles are reprinted with permission and are part of a series the Jesse Martineau French-Canadian Legacy is running, and may be accessed through the French-Canadian Jesse, like Legacy at fclpodcast.com.) his parents, grew French-Canadian up in Manches- ter, NH. Jes- se’s parents at- Legacy Podcast tended L’École Today, there are more than 2 million descen- Saint-Georges dants of French-Canadian immigrants living which was a bi- lingual school in New England. These are Our Stories. with instruction received in both English and French. Jesse has traced all Why do I tell the branches of his family tree back to towns in Québec. He is on the Board of Trustees of Franco-American story? the Franco-American Centre of Manchester. by Susan Pinette Jesse is a product of Manchester’s Catholic school system, having attended St. Anthony Elementary School, St. Joseph University of Maine – Franco American Programs Junior High School and Trinity High School. Am I a Franco American? Yes, of outside of Québec, Franco Americans could He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in History course I am. My mother is a Bouchard, my be defined by their lack of recognition. from the George Washington University in grandmothers were Clavettes, Bosses, and Franco Americans have been referred to as DC and a Juris Doctor Degree from Temple Michauds. I have lived the paradigmatic the Quiet Presence (Dyke Hendrickson) and University in Philadelphia. At Temple, Jesse story of generational language loss. I grew one of the Hidden Minorities (Joan H. Rol- was a member of the Temple Law Review. up surrounded by cousins, uncles and aunts, lins). Franco ­Americans are rarely included Jesse has served two terms as a State and grandparents as my parents maintained in literature dedicated to the teaching of Representative in the New Hampshire and cultivated extended familial networks. white ethnicity or in studies of white ethnic General Court. He currently works as an I can trace my family’s genealogy and have communities in the United States. Not a Academic Advisor at Southern New Hamp- visited the churches in France where my single Franco-American text, for example, shire University. ancestors were baptized and married in the is included in Werner Sollors’ The Multi- 1600s before they moved to North America. lingual Anthology of American Literature Mike Campbell I have gone with my family to pray in the even though the first Franco American text Basilica of St. Anne de Beaupré. I come from Jeanne la fileuse was published in French Mike grew a family that values work of the hands and in 1878 in Fall River, Massachusetts. And up in Laconia, spends its free time together doing manual because many Franco Americans are no NH. His Memere labor on “projects.” Yet despite this identi- longer fluently francophone and now reside would make Pork fiable ethnic life, perhaps Jacques Derrida outside Canada, Franco Americans are often Pie for the hol- articulates my experience of this “French absent from work on the “francophones idays but that fact” best, “there is no right of property over hors-Québec.” Whatever the cause, I find I was about all he inheritance. That’s the paradox. I am always am called to listen to the Franco-American knew about his the tenant of an inheritance” (Derrida, story rather than tell it. French-Canadi- Echographies of Television, 112). I live this At University of Maine in Orono an heritage. His ethnic identity, though it is not mine alone to where I work with Lisa Michaud and Jacob Mom and Me- own. Maybe it is this sense of being a tenant Albert, we have sought to make the Franco mere would speak — of “inhabiting” rather than “owning” American Centre into a place where people French when they didn’t want him or his — that draws me to listening to the Fran- are heard and seen as Franco Americans. I dad to know what they were talking about. co-American story rather than to telling it. watch my aunts and uncles; I see how differ- Mike went to Lyndon State College Or, perhaps as a Franco-American woman, ent they are with their family than the way and earned a A.S. in Television Production my reluctance to “tell the Franco-American they are public. We want to make the Franco and a B.A. in Literature and Cultural studies. story” in public is itself a deeply ethnic and American Centre into a place where Franco He married the love of his life in 2010 and gendered stance. I find I am much more Americans can come and feel at home even lives in Hudson, NH with his partner and comfortable behind the scenes, and I see this though it is a public space. Lisa organizes their son Bryce. in others as well. Or, possibly my preference events, is developing a genealogical library, Mike was honored that Jesse asked for listening is motivated by the deafness of and edits Le Forum, and we work together him to be a part of this project. It’s a great so many others. Despite constituting one of to organize each year a gathering for Franco way to learn more about part of his past he the largest concentrations of French speakers American writers and artists. Jacob Albert knows very little about and he’s excited to in the United States and one of the largest and I are working with a team of scholars get back to editing audio and maybe even French-Canadian heritage communities (Continued on page 27) video in the future. 26 NEW HAMPSHIRE SUMMER/ÉTÉ 2020 (French-Canadian Legacy Podcast con- as Franco American – even if it is written them.’ The distance he had traveled – away tinued from page 26) in English –is key to understanding them. from his French working-class family, their and archivists from Assumption College, Sometimes, writers make it easy to see farm, their land – was now so far from where St. Anselm’s, USM, and UMFK to develop how they are writing a Franco-American he’d started that he began to lose the ground a portal to Franco American documents and story. They not only take Franco-American beneath his feet. He wanted to go home” sources. As we build this web-based tool, we experience as the content but they also (54). In many Franco-American texts, ethnic want to make sure that Franco Americans write either in Franco American French or identity is signified through the intentional can access this information in culturally include it in their dialogues. Other writers, identification with a working class status; appropriate ways. We all recognize the even though write in English, still take as the refusal of upward mobility signifies an unique ways Franco Americans organize their subject matter Franco American lives. active embrace of an ethnic past and creation information and want to make sure that items Still others, though not necessarily concen- of an ethnic present. As a literary scholar, in the portal are accessible via the categories trating on the Franco American story, make I focus on the way these issues are explored that are important to Franco Americans, like space for it in various ways. In the United in literature, and I believe that literature family surnames or places. We all strive in States, for example, Franco-American eth- offers insight into the interplay between the our work to recognize the unique ways of be- nicity is conceptualized within a narrative social and the personal not available through ing of Franco Americans and provide spaces of assimilation that places the relevance of other means. where those ways of being are recognized ethnic identity into a past gone by. I think and heard. We strive to make the Franco that Franco-American writers interact with Susan Pinette a Professor of Modern American Centre a place where we can be this narrative by signifying their ethnic Languages and Literatures and Director of our ethnic selves together. identity in class terms. Alan Bérubé in his Franco American Programs at The Univer- In my scholarly work, I study Franco autobiographical essay, “Intellectual Desire” sity of Maine. She was born and raised in American writers. I read all that I can by finds his father’s ethnic agency in the active Maine and received her doctorate in French Franco Americans — from the classics like identification with a working class status: at the University of California, Irvine. Her Canuck by Camille Lessard-Bissonette and “my father was offered a low-level man- research examines contemporary Franco Jeanne la Fileuse by Honoré Beaugrande to agement position at work, which he turned American literature. the more contemporary writings written in down… But there was more to his refusal English. I think that seeing these writings than class panic over becoming ‘one of

Why Do I Tell the Franco-American Story? by Paul Marion

I believe it is important to know your a lot of answers were provided. Just mem- roots. I believe that you have a better chance orize what’s in the book. Just listen to the to know who you are if you know where priest at Mass. Just do what Sister Therese you come from, if you know how you got de L’Enfant de Jesus says. They offered a to where you are today. Why is it important lot of answers after providing the questions Paul Marion to know who you are? I believe you will as well. But in all those school days in a lead a more fulfilling life if you have a ical law changed, we were not served any French Catholic school, I don’t recall any sense of how you fit in the larger flow of meat on Fridays. Gooey mac and cheese, of the authorities telling us how the French humanity. It’s about what I call coherence, tomato-rice soup, fish sticks. We had French Canadians wound up in Dracut, Mass. There which I take to mean having a unified sense language day on Thursdays and French was no local history in school. They cus- of being, a feeling of being whole in body courses, grammar and conversation, all the toms, yes, like singing the Canadian national and soul and mind. It’s the opposite of being time. At home my parents spoke French to anthem in French, and the flag of Quebec alienated, the feeling of being disconnected my grandparents and their siblings (not all in the classroom next to the red, white, and from society. Knowing who you are and the time). We visited relatives on New Year’s blue U.S. flag. Sometimes the Mass was in knowing something about where you are Day, which is special for the French Cana- French. Early on it was in Latin in my day. gives a person a better chance of feeling a dian-Americans. The older generations told Then it was English with the priest facing the sense of community, a sense of belonging to stories about the immigrants and subsequent faithful in the pews. “Pray, pay, and obey,” something larger than your individual self. generations. My ancestors on both sides was the unspoken game plan. We had a few came to Lowell, Mass., in 1880. Despite all “French” items in the school cafeteria like Who am I? has the simplicity of the this, my generation turned out to be highly Chinese Pie or Pâté Chinois, the regional old Baltimore Catechism question, Who American in identity. concoction that is a twist on Shepherd’s Pie made me? In Catholic elementary school from Ireland and Britain. Until the canon- (Continued on page 28) 27 Le Forum NEW HAMPSHIRE I’ll keep at it. school and public high school, he graduat- (French-Canadian Legacy Podcast continued from page 27) And so, as a writer, I have a way to tell ed from the University of Massachusetts in the story of my family, my community, my Lowell (political science) and then studied As someone interested in history, people. The knowledge has added texture to in the master of fine arts program in writing I always had a sense of my past and was my experience. Embracing the identity has at the University of California in Irvine. curious but not in any extraordinary way. I opened up connections to other people in He worked as an administrator for had lost my ability to speak French fluent- New England, in Quebec, around the U.S., the U.S. Dept. of the Interior in the devel- ly, even semi-fluently, after high school or and abroad. I’m part of a larger effort to re- opment of a national park in Lowell and likely before public high school. One of my member. There’s a transcript of an interview also managed community relations and brothers attended a French Catholic high with a French Canadian-American woman cultural affairs for UMass Lowell. In 1978, school, but I chose not to. As the years went from Lowell from the 1980s, I think. In it, he established a small publishing company, on, I began to think more about my family’s she tells stories about the Lowell French in Loom Press, which still publishes work by origins. When my son was born in 1995, the her time, early 20th century, and she sings authors in his region. sixth generation of our line in Lowell, he songs. The lyrics are reproduced. Speaking He is the author of several books of came to my wife and I with her 100 percent to the interviewer, she says at one point, “I’m poetry including Union River: Poems and Irish roots stretching back to 1870 in the city a memory worker.” That captures what’s Sketches (Bootstrap Press, 2017) and editor and my 100 percent French background. I going on in this telling of the French story of Jack Kerouac’s early writing, Atop an Un- realized that he would be far from his ethnic in America. Those of us who write, speak, derwood (Viking/Penguin, 1999). His book origins. It would be up to me to give him sing, research, and more are all memory Mill Power chronicles the renaissance of some grounding so that he would have an workers in the big Memory Bank. Lowell in the late 20th century, a case study understanding of where he comes from. His of a post-industrial city reviving itself. His arrival heightened my commitment to tell poems and essays been published widely in the French Canadian-American story in my Paul Marion was born in Lowell, journals and anthologies. For more infor- writing, both the Lowell French story and Mass., in 1954. He grew up in French Cana- mation, see www.paulmarion.com for more my family’s place in it. I’m still reconstruct- dian-American parishes in Lowell (St. Louis information. ing the family experience. Fortunately, two de France) and next door in Dracut (Ste. He lives in Amesbury, Mass., with his of my aunts had researched the genealogy Therese). His ancestors left Quebec in 1880 wife, Rosemary, an art historian and former of the Marion and Roy lines as far back as to settle in Lowell where they could earn a community and campus program manager. the mid-1600s in Normandy, France. The living as carpenters, textile mill operatives, Their son, Joseph, lives in New York City. paper trail doesn’t go back farther, so far. and grocers. After Catholic elementary

fights over pew rents. (Don’t get me wrong: Why I Tell the I do like my meat pie and altar-cations as much as the next person.) Older histories often portrayed the Franco-American History Little Canadas in terms that echoed their nativist detractors. Clerical authorities de- by Patrick Lacroix picted the Little Canadas as small citadels, insulated from American materialism, where We’ve only scratched the surface. But will these sources substantially Francos followed their priests in all things With six syntheses in as many decades, change how we view the Franco-American and preserved a “clannish” spirit. More re- hundreds of academic articles, a vast field of past? Naturally, time will tell—the answer cently, we have come to appreciate the many memoirs and oral interviews, documentary you would expect from a historian. At the points of connection between immigrant films, a number of thought-provoking blogs, very least, the last half-century has shown communities and mainstream U.S. society and now multiple podcasts, one would think that this past is infinitely more complex than (whatever that may mean). that the Franco-American past has given all certain early histories indicated. We can now study diverse Franco of its secrets. Standard narratives organized around experiences and honor those different jour- I wouldn’t claim perfect originality survivance and mill work, as in the apt- neys without alleging treason—whether in all of my research; I am refining and in- ly-titled Steeples and Smokestacks, remain. this woman fell for an Irishman or that man crementally adding to the body of research Yet, we are now more aware of women’s spoke English to feed his children. as much as I am unearthing long-forgotten essential role in the household economy, We can now question les vaches stories. Still, I know of archival collections more attuned to the gendered aspects of sacrées. and published sources that have hardly been everyday life in Little Canadas. We have As we open up all of these defini- touched by contemporary scholars. Vast begun to look beyond Woonsocket, Fall tions, the field of Franco-American history digitization projects have revolutionized River, Lowell, Manchester, and Lewiston becomes even wider. This is an incredible research and now highlight just how little in order to understand the variety of Franco time for all things Franco—in research as of the past we have explored. experiences from Putnam to Salem, Barre well as in the realm of cultural programming. For history nerds like me, that’s pretty to Brunswick. We are recognizing that there My own foray in this field began at the darn exciting. was more to these experiences than food and (Continued on page 29) 28 NEW HAMPSHIRE SUMMER/ÉTÉ 2020 (French-Canadian Legacy Podcast sovereignty movement, and the availability significance of the Franco-American story continued from page 28) of Quebec funds for Franco initiatives. stories. Every avenue ought to be explored University of New Hampshire, when I de- I have sought to emphasize French-Ca- in making that case. cided to pursue something I vaguely recalled nadian immigrants’ place in both of these It is in that spirit that I launched my from classes taken in Quebec—something national sagas by contributing articles to ac- blog, which offers a taste of my findings about nineteenth-century emigration. Vague ademic journals. From upstate New York in with less jargon and without the unwelcome indeed: outside of academic works, the the 1780s to Fall River and Barre more than paywalls. Perhaps yet more people, Fran- diaspora receives little attention, even less a century later, I have followed compelling co-American or not, will join the conversa- now that a generation with personal ties to stories with little regard to time or place. tion and the effort as a result. Franco-Americans is passing from the scene. This, after all, is not a story that begins in After all, we’ve only scratched the Of course, this is an American story: industrial New England in 1865 only to end surface. Franco-Americans’ experiences tell us a there three generations later. The story must great deal about religious conflict, nativism, be so broad as to include Revolutionary War Patrick Lacroix is a native of Cow- immigration policy, labor activism, political soldiers and those who disregard doctors’ ansville, Quebec, and spent many years mobilization, and economic development orders and travel to Manchester every June. in New Hampshire, where he earned a in the United States. But, still today, theirs Although this whole business of doctoral degree in history. He now teaches is also a Canadian story. The few sentences academic journals may seem like the stuff in Nova Scotia. You can follow his research we find about la grande saignée in Quebec of ivory towers, they are an important me- on Franco-Americans at querythepast.com/ textbooks fail to do justice to nineteenth-cen- dium for reaching the next generation of franco-americans/. tury economic woes, repatriation efforts, researchers, communicating with teachers, half-baked colonization schemes, continuing and influencing textbooks-in-the-making. attention to Franco communities in news- I have no grand illusions about the value papers into the 1950s, the influence of the of own my research, but I do believe in the NH PoutineFest Won’t Let “2020” Slow down our Momentum This pandemic has pretty much can- event that takes place annually around St. celled everything. The 5th edition of NH Jean Baptiste Day. Maine will be represented PoutineFest is no different. We were forced for the first time since 2016! to cancel our June event back in mid-May. There is no denying that poutine will However, sometimes opportunity can be an important part of Franco-American come out of defeat. Instead of si m p l y culture going forward. The Québécois cre- cancelling the event we are going to host an ated a really amazing food. It’s only logical NH PoutineFest Roadshow from July 11th, that their family in the United States ensure 2020 to August 31st, 2020. Americans view poutine as a French-Cana- The Roadshow offers participants the dian delicacy. Keeping that flame lit during opportunity to visit our vendors at the leisure this whole COVID thing will help keep that with a special coupon over the summer. One spirit alive. really unique component of the Roadshow is For more information visit www. it allows us to invite some vendors who are nhpoutinefest.com or our Facebook page at unable to participate in our regular in-person www.facebook.com/nhpoutinefest .

29 Le Forum NEW HAMPSHIRE WHAT DID YOU DO DURING last days of her life during the Spanish In- THE COVID 2019 - QUARANTINE? fluenza pandemic. They reveal how freely people interacted at this time. No sheltering submitted by in place. Estella, her friends and family go Margaret Langford about their daily routines, visit, dine out , go to the movies. Ralph, a young soldier friend You asked us what we’ve all been of the family, frequently visits from Fort doing during the current pandemic. Here’s Devens in New Jersey. He has a room of his my contribution: excerpts from my late own so he can stay for a while. Sometimes husband’s paternal grandmother’s diary for Howard, a relative, stays overnight also. 1918. As I’ve been preparing them to share with family and friends, I’ll gladly share In the fall, funerals become more and them with you. more frequent. On Thursday, October 3, 16 The last entry in her diary, probably days before her own death, Estella notes: written by her husband Frank, is for Satur- . . .”saw eight funerals go by in one hour. day, October 19, 1918. It reads “Estella died Influenza is raging. . .” 9:14 AM.” The diary does not give her birth year; it does provide her birthday: March 4. Her last entries mention her ten-year- With the exception of correcting her old boy, Lorin, (my husband’s father), How- Estella B. Langford spelling of Fort Devens, I have transcribed ard (a relative), her husband Frank, and the TUESDAY 15 all her original spellings and punctuation. doctors who come to visit her and her boy. Dr. Christopher last visit paid in- Sick as she is, she’s the one who pays for fluenza visits Dr. Hewitt calls I have near This information precedes the diary the doctor. Her diary shows she’s a can-do Phenumonia am very sick Howard is sick to entries: woman from the beginning of the year until the last hours of her life. She, Ralph, {the My Name: baby?}, and Aunt Laura “watched the old WED. OCT. 16, 1918 Estella B. Langford year out.” On Tuesday, January 1st she notes {NO ENTRY} 237 Elm Street “…I clean pantry and change stoves. . .” Manchester, NH THURSDAY 17 My Home Telephone: 4074-W In the following entries, Estella re- {NO ENTRY} My Office Telephone: 3774-R cords the last days of her life. Estella’s diary entries show she had FR. OCT. 18, 1918 worked for a man named Joe in the past. On SAT. OCT. 12, 1918 Had Dr. Hoitt five times. August 19 he calls inviting her to come back I am very sick have to keep Frank “. . for the rest of the season.” She doesn’t home he has Dr. Hoitt for me. SATURDAY 19 accept the offer. The entries don’t show what {Dr.} Christopher calls. Someone else—perhaps Estella’s hus- the job was. band Frank—makes the final entry: SUNDAY 13 “Estella died 9:14 AM” In case of accident or serious illness I am sick Dr. Hoitt calls. I have the please notify: Enfluenza Dr. Christopher calls to see Lorin F.P. Langford Frankie.} Frt Bkm B & M R.R. MON. OCT. 14, 1918 or my father C G Rhinehart still sick Dr. Hewitt (calls?) {Dr} 130 Walker St City Christopher calls baby Catherine funeral The excerpts noted here record the today

The Spanish flu of 1918

The Spanish flu, also known as the 1918 flu pandemic, was an unusually deadly influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. Lasting for more than 12 months from spring 1918 (northern hemisphere) to early summer 1919, it infected 500 million people – about a third of the world's population at the time.

30 NEW HAMPSHIRE MASSACHUSETTS SUMMER/ÉTÉ 2020 (N.D.L.R. The following was written by my Staying Franco — 12 year old daughter, 20 years ago. Thought I would share it during these trying times Is French the Key? and sadly it’s still pertinent today) Why do we judge? by Suzanne Beebe by Holly Michaud (2008) Is Franco-American culture dying? Is speaking French the key to its survivance, as so many Franco-Americans were taught by nuns, priests, parents, grandparents, and other Why do we judge people on the color cultural heavyweights? of their skin, their voice, religious beliefs, Pull any self-identifying group of Franco-Americans together and the conversation or in any other way they may be different? quickly turns to whether Franco culture can exist if Francos are no longer speaking French. I remember watching this movie once, it So many of us in our 60’s, 70’s, and above never spoke it, perhaps never heard it being was called “The Color of Friends” and I spoken at home, and perhaps never even learned it in school. Or maybe we heard it, under- remember a guy saying that a family of stood it, but responded in the English we heard almost everywhere we lived and worked. African Americans having a foreign ex- Or maybe we did grow up speaking it, but over the years have gotten so rusty — because change student from South Africa who was we have so little reason to speak it — that we can’t remember words, phrases, or how to put white staying in their house, was like the our sentences together, and we give up because it’s just too much work. And the younger Jews inviting the Gestapo in for tea. Why? crowd? Forget it! Too many of them don’t even know their families were ever French! Why do people hat people who are differ- ent so much? What did they do to deserve this? I know from watching these movies about racism, or my speech/report about the holocaust may not change your minds about your opinions but just think about it, watching these movies made a big impact on my life and in many other children’s lives as well. “I have a dream...” said Martin Luther King Jr. this man was a remarkable man, he helped set African Americans free. You may not think of him as a heroic figure, but I certainly do, thinking about brings tears to my eyes. Why? Whey could anyone be so cruel? Rosa Parks, another remarkable human being, she would not give up her Can Any Culture Survive Without Its Own Language? front seat on the bus to a white person, she is definitely a hero through my eyes. She It’s instructive to look at cultures that maintain an identity even when few to none was taken by the police and beaten for not of their members are speaking the culture’s original language — or whatever the language giving up her front bus seat to a white, and evolved into over time. that to me means this woman had a lot of Take the Irish, for instance. Ireland was dominated for centuries by England, a larg- courage. I am writing this in the middle of er, more powerful neighbor speaking a different language, practicing a different brand of the night bu it’s something that has been Christianity, embracing a different worldview, formed by a different history and cultural on my mind lately. I’ve been thinking a lot mix, and characterized by different governmental structures. Mired in poverty and severely about the wars around the world, wars that restricted avenues for growth, and devastated by the Great Famine of the 1800’s, Ireland unnecessary, wars that are killing innocent sent its children all over the world in search of a better life. And wherever their descendants people because of their beliefs. I also have reside, many still identify as Irish in the nations they now call home. (Where is St. Patrick’s a dream just like Martin Luther King Jr. that Day not celebrated, and where are there no Irish pubs or music?) throughout my lifetime I will live in a world But given their centuries of English rule, with their native language discouraged or with no hate, that may sound like a lot for a outright forbidden, not all diaspora Irish were speaking Irish when they left, and few, if little girl to do, but hey we can do anything any, are speaking it now. And even in Ireland a sustained attempt to resurrect the language we set our minds to, can’t we? I fear wars within the schools has yielded limited results, with a vast majority of Irish citizens speaking happening in my state, my city, my town, English as their first and often their only language. just because I may be different from another But has Ireland ceased to be Irish? Hardly! Its people’s long history, rich culture, person. That is wrong. No individual should and sustained experience of themselves as different from the English have worked to be hated and killed because of that. And any- overcome their linguistic loss. And the English spoken in Ireland is distinctively Irish in one who stands up to that is most definitely its various pronunciations, intonations, and quirks of vocabulary and phraseology — much a hero in my eyes. Well this is all I have to of it stemming from the Irish language. say, I hope you take this seriously, because (Continued on page 32) this is an issue, in my belief anyway, that if we work together, we can change. 31 Le Forum MASSACHUSETTS VIRGINIA (Staying Franco — Is French the Key? continued from page 31) 3) The extent to which those relation- But how do we account for a sustained Irish identity among so many Irish descendants ships and environment are formative across the globe, immersed as they’ve been for several generations in the language and 4) The degree of good or ill experi- culture of their adopted nations? And what about Jews, speaking the languages of surround- enced within them ing cultures and even developing hybrid languages of their own like Yiddish or Ladino 5) How much an individual or com- in nations throughout Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas? Or indigenous peoples munity values the good and/or detests the ill everywhere who may have lost their native languages but still experience themselves as 6) How many and which group mem- different from their conquerors? Or the descendants of enslaved Africans throughout the ories are passed on — good or bad Americas who lost their languages along with their freedom but are distinctly Afro-American 7) How much and what knowledge of or Afro-Hispanic or Afro-Caribbean in ways (even apart from skin color!) that influence the group is passed on or acquired their surrounding cultures? 8) And how a particular individual reacts to and internalizes it all, given his or her genetic make-up, personality, talents, family history, and personal history In other words, do individuals and communities experience enough of value in a culture that they want it to continue in some way? And do they have the wherewithal and dedication to help do so?

What Keeps Cultures Going?

If we look at Irish emigrants, we see people who departed from their country with a cultural deposit of song, dance, myth, legend, history, music, art, religious practice, and belief. To the extent that they have transmitted enough of that mix to their descendants in ways that the descendants find worth handing on, the sense and experience of being “Irish” continues — more powerfully in some than others and despite the absence of spoken Irish. Obviously, it helps to have some degree of “Irish” community in which to discover and explore one’s Irish-ness. And it helps to have a homeland, however distant, where Irish- ness is the norm, or at least a substantial presence. And it definitely helps to have powerful In the case of Franco-Americans, stories — of St. Patrick, the Irish kings and queens, the English conquest, the Great Famine how many of us know enough, remember — that explain how one’s own life in one’s own place came to be. But a native language, enough, and care enough to tell others, however influential, is not the be-all nor end-all of cultural survival. especially our children and grandchildren, We see that same reality— perhaps even more so — with the Jews, many of whom that our forebears were French, that we think weren’t speaking Hebrew in Palestine or throughout the Mediterranean world even during of ourselves as being at least a bit French, Jesus’s lifetime and certainly weren’t speaking it for almost two millennia of exile after- and that we experience this French-ness as a wards. Religious faith played a powerful role for them — consider the annual Passover good thing? That, I think, is the key, both to celebration with its retelling and reliving of the Jewish movement from slavery to freedom Franco survival and wanting to — or at least in the Exodus. (And consider the whole of Hebrew scripture in which the Exodus is only wishing we could —speak French. one, however monumental, event.) But again, the sustained experience of themselves as different from those around them, nourished in life-giving ways through music, literature, religious faith, and artistic expression contributed mightily. So there are factors at work in cultural survival that I would list as follows: (All Beau-Frog drawings in this ar- 1) Deeply felt and formative experiences, ideas, stories, and worldview ticle are by Peter Archambault. Mr. Peter 2) Shared to some degree by more than individuals and their nuclear families Archambault was an artist at the University 3) Remembered, renewed, perpetuated, and communicated of Maine who was in the Faculty of Edu- 4) Through reenactment and retelling cation in the audio-visual department. His 5) In more or less ritualized ways cartoons of Beau Frog started in 1976 and And these factors have to do with: follows the political and cultural history of 1) The web of relationships one is born into Franco-Americans in Maine and elsewhere 2) The environment in which those relationships exist in the United States.)

32 VIRGINIA SUMMER/ÉTÉ 2020 such as dysentery and malaria. Though Ho Henry Prunier spoke fluent French, he refused to speak it and instead conversed with Prunier alterna- tively in English and Vietnamese. Prunier Franco-American Veteran remembered talking with “Mr. Hoo” about by Michael Guignard Boston where a cruise ship on which Ho was Alexandria, VA working had once docked. The Americans treated “Mr. Hoo” with their ample supply This summer marks the 75th anniver- layas—to the OSS regional headquarters in of medicines. He survived and regained his sary of the end of World War II. Henry Kunming, China. strength rapidly. Prunier, a Franco-American from Worcester, In Kunming, the team that Prunier In contrast to Ho, Giap was far more Massachusetts, was a veteran of that war would become a part of, called the Deer involved with the combat training the Amer- and in 2011 was awarded the Bronze Star Team, took shape in May and June 1945. icans were giving, and was intent on learning for his service. Their mission was to make contact with the capability and effectiveness of the weap- Growing up in Worcester, Prunier Vietnamese guerillas to help disrupt Japa- onry. When the Deer Team began training attended a French-speaking Catholic nese communications and aid the U.S. war Ho’s nascent Viet Minh army, according to grammar school, then the Assumption effort. Prunier, the only weapons the insurgents had Preparatory School, where he was taught Before the Deer Team parachuted into were muskets similar to shotguns and a few by French priests. Not confiscated French guns. wanting to get drafted “They were not armed because he would not be well or able to handle able to choose where he weapons,” said Pruni- would be assigned, he en- er. The OSS dropped in listed in the army in 1942. canisters containing M-1 The army allowed him to rifles, bazookas, 60mm complete his junior year mortars and light ma- at Assumption College, chine guns, just enough an institution founded by to equip the 80 men. “The and for Franco-Ameri- Vietnamese were eager cans. His background, and learned how to take fluency in French and af- an M-1 apart in a couple finity with languages got of hours,” Prunier re- him assigned to the Army membered. Specialized Training Pro- Henry Prunier Although the Deer gram at the University of Team was a military California Berkeley to training unit and not a study Vietnamese. To political training force, it better acclimate the sol- became clear to Prunier diers with their intended through his conversations assignments, in addition with Giap and the other to the language study, the course of Vietnam, no one knew the mission, other Vietnamese that they had a purpose—to get study also included Vietnamese history, than that a ‘Mr. Hoo’ was at Tan Trau and Indochina back as an independent country. geography, society and culture. that they were to give training to his forces. “We didn’t know until then that Ho’s pri- Completing school at Berkeley in The Deer Team was to harass the Japanese mary aim was to get rid of the French,” he 1944, Prunier was sent to cryptology and help “Mr. Hoo” in taking out railroads said. After World War II, the British left school in Missouri, where he was initial- and communications. “Mr. Hoo” had Burma and India, the Dutch left Indonesia, ly assigned to join an infantry division agreed to help the Deer Team in exchange the Philippines gained its independence from prior to D-Day. Just before he was to for U.S. assistance for his nationalist forces us but, unfortunately for the U.S., the French ship out, however, Prunier was ordered in Vietnam. stayed in Indochina. to go to Washington instead—to join the On the morning of July 16, 1945, Pru- The Deer Team celebrated with their Office of Strategic Services (the OSS), nier and the five other members of the Deer Vietnamese allies when they learned of the which was the precursor of the CIA. Team parachuted into Tan Trau and made U.S. atomic bomb attacks, knowing that the After successfully completing a bat- contact with “Mr. Hoo,” “Mr. Van” and end of World War II was near. On August 15, tery of psychological exams and rigorous their band of 80 guerillas. Only later did the Japanese Emperor Hirohito addressed his OSS training, Prunier was sent to Catalina team find out “Mr. Hoo” was Ho Chi Minh nation and announced that they would sur- Island for survival training. His training and that “Mr. Van” was Vo Nguyen Giap. render, essentially ending the OSS mission complete, Prunier sailed in April 1945 with When Prunier and the team first met in Vietnam. The Deer Team made its way 3,000 other servicemen for Calcutta. From Ho Chi Minh, he was “nothing but skin and back to Hanoi on September 9, one week af- there, he flew over “the Hump”—the Hima- bones,” suffering from tropical diseases (Continued on page 34 ) 33 Le Forum VIRGINIA VIRGINIA (Henry Prunier Franco-American Veteran still raging, some of the Deer Team’s photos countries in the former Indochina, offered continued from page 33 ) were published in a Life magazine profile an opportunity for the original Deer Team ter the Japanese officially had surrendered on of Ho. “A couple of people recognized members to travel to Hanoi, visit the Tan the deck of the U.S.S. Missouri and Ho Chi me, so they contacted the local news Trao camp and meet the men they had Minh had declared Vietnam’s independence, organizations,” Prunier said. In short order, trained half a century before. Prunier made citing the Declaration of Independence in his he was interviewed by Worcester TV station the voyage. It was during his trip to Hanoi address to his countrymen. WTAG and the Worcester Gazette. that Giap recognized Prunier by displaying Before leaving Hanoi on September It was during those interviews 52 the grenade lobbing technique (with an or- 16, Prunier only saw Ho and Giap briefly. At years ago that Prunier offered what few ange) that Prunier had taught him. “I taught this meeting, Ho presented a silk tapestry to people, if any, in the U.S. government Giap. I was floored that he remembered Prunier in gratitude for his service. could provide—firsthand insights into the me,” Prunier recalled. Another Vietnamese Prunier then flew back to Kunming Vietnamese leaders when they were formu- soldier from 1945 grabbed him happily by and was temporarily assigned to an intelli- lating their movement’s direction and goals. the arm and cried, “Prunier! Prunier!” over gence unit there. A month later, he was back “When Ho spoke, it was about bettering the and over. It was the first time that Prunier in Hanoi to help set up an OSS detachment lot of his people,” Prunier said. “He wanted realized the Vietnamese held him and the headquarters, from where he was to work independence for them” Prunier pointed out Deer Team in such high esteem. on cases of Japanese war crimes against that Ho believed the United States “would In 2009 Prunier offered all of his the Vietnamese and the papers, photographs, French. Because there sketches, reports and, was little organization Henry Prunier perhaps most important, to the effort, he found his U.S. Army uniform plenty of free time to to the Museum of Mil- explore the city and itary History in Hanoi. located some of the Upon receiving his con- soldiers he had helped tribution, the museum train, including Thai Director called Prunier’s Buc, a fellow translator donation “one of the most in Tan Trau. “He was significant historical con- like a brother,” Prunier tributions that the muse- recalled. The OSS was um had ever received.” disbanded in October, On February 23, 1945, and in November 2011, when he received Prunier was given his the Bronze Star Medal, orders to return home to Prunier recalled the ca- be discharged. He was maraderie between the discharged from the Vietnamese nationalists army in January 1946 and the Deer Team. and joined the family business in Worcester. help him in throwing out the French and “Perhaps six decades after Henry Henry Prunier was never debriefed in establishing an independent country.” Prunier’s work with the OSS, the respect for by the U.S. government about his mission When it was suggested to Prunier that he the last living member of the Deer Team that or about the insurgents he had helped to contact Life about his story, true to his is shared by the Vietnamese and Americans train in Vietnam. It had been a secret mis- typical Franco-American humble nature, he alike will symbolize a new understanding sion. He did receive several invitations to preferred to stay out of the national spotlight. between two former enemies” wrote Claude join the Central Intelligence Agency, which As U.S. involvement in Vietnam went Bérubé, a professor at the U.S. Naval Acad- was formed in 1947, but he did not accept from quagmire to retreat, Prunier’s story— emy. Vietnam today is an important ally in the offer. and that of the entire Deer Team—faded our efforts of contain Chinese expansionism. For the next 20 years, Prunier’s further in the American consciousness. But The Vietnamese have been historical ene- mission in Indochina was largely forgotten that was not the case in Vietnam, where the mies of the Chinese. The border war they as the nation dealt with global tensions of assistance given to Ho and Giap in 1945 by fought in 1979 basically ended in a draw but the Cold War. In the early 1960s, as U.S. the American team is hailed as a turning there have been no more Chinese incursions involvement in Vietnam escalated, the old point in the country’s history. into Vietnamese territory. In 2016, after a OSS training grounds were rediscovered, In 1995, the U.S. recognized the 41year hiatus, two U.S. warships visited and stories of the Deer Team re-emerged. Democratic Republic of Vietnam and Pete Cam Rahn Bay on a courtesy call and good Even then, with Ho and Giap on the world Peterson, a former prisoner of war in Hanoi, will visit. The Chinese were watching, I am stage as America’s archenemies, Prunier’s became our Ambassador there. That same sure. The ties between the two countries experience with the leaders went untapped. year, the U. S. Indochina Reconciliation continue to increase. As a point of fact, my Then, in March 1968, two months after Project, which had been established a decade wife’s high school, Thornton Academy, TET, with more than 500,000 U.S. troops earlier as a nonprofit group to help facilitate boasts international students from Vietnam. in Vietnam and while the battle for Hue was relations between the United States and (Continued on page 35) 34 VIRGINIA VIRGINIA SUMMER/ÉTÉ 2020 (N.D.L.R. this is the first of three installments ) (Henry Prunier Franco-American Veteran continued from page 33) Henry Prunier died in March 2013 in Saint Andre’s Home Webster, Massachusetts at the age of 91 but not before completing his degree at Assump- of Biddeford, Maine: A History tion College. He was survived by his wife of 62 years, Mariette Lague, 4 children, 12 by Michael Guignard grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren. Alexandria, VA His old comrade-in-arms, Vo Nguyen Giap, died 7 months later at the age of 102. I always read with interest Gérard English. Some went back. Coulombe’s articles in Le Forum on growing Although I had always known that I All the quotations for this article were up in Biddeford, my hometown. Mr. Cou- was adopted, I did not find out who my birth taken from Claude G. Berube’s work. He lombe mentions many of the Franco-Amer- mother was until February 2003 when I was teaches at the United States Naval Academy ican institutions in the city including St. 57, four months before she died of cancer. and has researched the role of the OSS Deer Andre’s Healthcare on Pool Street, a skilled She had gone to a home for unwed mothers Team extensively. His work can be found on nursing and rehabilitation facility since in the Jamaica Plain section of Boston called the internet. The internet also boasts many 1976. I would like to add more history of the Talitha Cumi home, almost 400 miles other articles on Mr. Prunier, including an that building. from where she lived with her parents in Fort obituary in The New York Times. The building that houses the health Kent, Maine, on the Canadian border. We care facility opened in 1940 and served until never got a chance to speak at length about 1973 as a home for a clientele that was not her stay there but she had fond memories elderly. Le Forum has carried many arti- of the place and the care she had received. cles in its more My birth moth- than forty-five er told me that year history on her maid of Franco-Amer- honor, Claire, ican churches, had been the schools, soci- young lady eties, clubs, whom she had newspapers, roomed with religious or- at the home. ders and other I have had a Henry Prunier French ethnic chance to meet institutions and this now-el- WEBSTER/WORCESTER - Henry A. Prunier, 91, died peacefully on Sunday, March associations. derly lady and 17, 2013, at Beverly Hospital, after a short illness. This article she too remem- He is survived by his wife of 62 years, will deal with bered the good, Mariette “Marie” L. (Lague) Prunier of Webster; what was a Franco-American home…… kind care extended to her at the Talitha four children, Joanne M. Green and her husband for unwed mothers. The article is timely Cumi home. John of Hampton, NH, Raymond H. Prunier and as St. Andre’s Home marks its 80th year of Given the circumstances of my birth, I his wife Gloria of Merrimack, NH, Dianne M. operation. The Home accepted patients of became interested in what life had been like Behnke and her husband Corey of Brillion, WI, all ethnic groups and religions but, espe- in a home for unwed mothers in the 1940’s, and Donald A. Prunier of Coral Springs, FL; 12 cially in its early years, it was primarily a 1950’s and 1960’s. I read books by Rickie grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren. He was Franco-American institution. A big change Solinger and a gripping memoir by Janet predeceased by two daughters, Suzanne P. Leon- ard and Marianne E. Ciociolo; a sister, Lucille B. occurred in March 1967. For the first time, Mason Ellerby called Intimate Reading: LeBlanc; and a granddaughter. on March 15, the entry in the archives on the Contemporary Women’s Memoir. In He was born in Worcester, the son of the which much of this article is based appears 2006, another excellent book called The late Henry E. and Winifred (Suprenault) Prunier, in English. Sister Joanne Roy, in a February Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History and lived most of his life in Webster. He grad- 2019 e-mail to me, explained that the U.S. of Women who Surrendered Children for uated from Assumption Preparatory School in province of the Good Shepherd Sisters, had Adoption in the Decades before Roe v. Wade Worcester, Assumption College in Worcester, and decided that because of an increasing num- was published. The author, Ann Fessler, the University of Massachusetts. He was a U.S. ber of new sisters who did not speak French interviewed 100 women for her book. One Army veteran of World War II, and received the well or at all, the sisters would conduct the of her interviewees, Lynne, had her baby bronze star for his service with the O.S.S. Mr. Prunier owned and operated his fami- home’s affairs in English. The Canadian at St. Andre’s Home in 1967. Through Ms. ly’s business, J.S. Prunier and Sons in Worcester, sisters who were at St. Andre’s at that time, Fessler, I made contact with Lynne and will for many years. He was a member of the Har- and who had possibly worked in homes for quote extensively from our correspondence. mony Club in Worcester. He was a member of unwed mothers that the Good Shepherd Having written my Ph.D. dissertation the Knights of Columbus in Worcester and was Sisters ministered to in Canada, had to de- on the Franco-Americans of Biddeford, a 4th degree knight in the John Cardinal Wright cide either to go back to Canada or to learn (Continued on page 36 ) Assembly. 35 Le Forum VIRGINIA VIRGINIA (Saint Andre’s Home of Biddeford, by the Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Maine: A History continued from page 35) Portland. On Easter Sunday, March 24, the first patient entered the home – a 16 Maine, I knew about St. Andre’s Home and year-old girl who was still in school and the French Canadian order of sisters who who kept her baby. By April 2, the home operated the facility, the Good Shepherd had 5 patients. By the end of October, 19 Sisters. The official name of the Sisters is patients had entered the home. To better Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. protect the patients’ privacy, initially the The initials of the order, SCIM, stand for girls were identified sequentially rather than “Servantes du Coeur Immaculé de Marie.” given pseudonyms. Unlike most homes for We knew them as the Good Shepherd Sisters unwed mothers, St. Andre’s also served as (Soeurs du Bon Pasteur) and I have chosen a maternity hospital with labor and delivery to refer to them by this moniker in this ar- rooms right on the premises, as well as its ticle. Since the St. Andre’s Home is still in own nursery. When it opened, four doctors operation, albeit with a different apostolate, had hospital privileges – Drs. Larochelle, I knew that records would be available. Levesque, Roussin and Perreault – and What I found was a weekly (and some- they regularly worked there, sometimes as times daily) log of events and happenings volunteers. over the course of 33 years, from 1940 until Sister Viola Lausier 1973 before the home moved from its Pool ...sociology psychol- Street address. After the home moved, the ogy and women’s studies would be adopted by a Catholic family. log continued but with fewer entries and St. Andre’s, however, accepted patients of more administrative news rather than a describe the trauma and all religions; Protestant babies would be day-to-day account of life inside the home. guilt of the young, unwed adopted by Protestants and Jewish babies In addition, I found a number of secondary mother, often with no other by Jewish parents (March 13, 1940 entry sources that described the home and its in archives). Père Décary invited the Good work, including correspondence at the di- choices... Shepherd Sisters to minister at the Home and ocesan library in Portland. they accepted. Anonymity was guaranteed One short housekeeping note. When The Home was located in a very tran- and to this day that pledge is adhered to, so I discuss homes for unwed mothers with quil spot on the banks of the Saco River on to speak, religiously. young people, they are puzzled by the con- property that had been a farm. In fact, there A May 14, 1940 entry noted the cept. Why leave home and surrender your continued to be a working farm at St. An- baptism of the first child at St. Andre’s. child? But in the 1950s and 1960s, unwed dre’s Home under the supervision of Sister “The child is doing fine as is the poor pregnancy was considered very shameful St. Armand. In the archives one can find a mother (pauvre mère)”. That reference especially for economically-mobile fami- photo of Sister riding a tractor. They had a is made clearer in a May 22, 1940 entry lies in the period after World War II. Ann large garden and horses and cows. The girls ‘We see young Marie Marguerite Viviane Fessler writes that “the postwar economic worked in the garden and helped the sisters being separated from the arms of her poor boom brought millions of families into can vegetables for the winter. When Sister mother”. The books cited above by Janet the middle class, along with intense social St. Armand died in 1962, farming operations Ellerby and Ann Fessler, as well as almost pressure to conform to a model of family were discontinued. all the literature in this field of social history, perfection…………….single women who The original farm and homestead had sociology psychology and women’s studies became pregnant were shunned by family been purchased by the pastor of Biddeford’s describe the trauma and guilt of the young, and friends, evicted from school, and sent St. Andre’s parish, Monseigneur Arthur unwed mother, often with no other choices, away to maternity homes.” (jacket of the Décary, his brother Zenon, who also served constrained by her family into giving up hardcover edition of The Girls Who Went as a priest in the parish, and another brother her baby for adoption. Dr. Andre Fortier, Away. Janet Ellerby was shipped to an aunt priest in Canada. Prior to 1940, according to who delivered babies at St. Andre’s home in Ohio, two thousand miles from home, by summary accounts of the home that I found for many years, recounted how he remem- her parents the day after they found out she in the archives, some young, pregnant, un- bered the nuns staying up over half the night was pregnant. One woman interviewed by married Franco-American girls went to La consoling young mothers before their trip Fessler explains “This was a period of time Crèche de St. Vincent de Paul, a home for to Alfred, Maine, seat of the York County when there wasn’t much worse that a girl unwed mothers in Quebec also ministered Courthouse, where adoption papers were to could do. They almost treated you like to by the Good Shepherd Sisters. Others, be signed. Sister Viola Lausier, who worked you had committed murder or something.” however, went to homes administered by at the Home for over 45 years, remembers (Fessler, page 9). As we will see, not all Protestants like Talitha Cumi or homes not one young lady who was brought to Alfred homes were the same. St. Andre’s Home religiously affiliated. Monseigneur Décary 3 times before she could finally bring herself treated its residents with dignity and tender thought it more appropriate to care for the to sign the surrender papers and give up her loving care. unwed mothers, who in some cases were child. These were the days before open St. Andre’s Home was a brand-new, being literally thrown out of their homes, adoptions and the surrender was irrevoca- three-story building when it was dedicated closer to home to better assure that adop- ble. Dr. Fortier who befriended many of his on March 3, 1940 in a ceremony officiated tive parents whose mothers were Catholic (Continued on page 37) 36 VIRGINIA VIRGINIA SUMMER/ÉTÉ 2020 (Saint Andre’s Home of Biddeford, nior in college) in her eighth month of preg- a new job and a new life in another state.” Maine: A History continued from page 36) nancy, “still can’t make up her mind what Ruth 19 was a Jewish girl from a small patients at St. Andre’s sometimes received to do about the baby.” Although the baby’s town near Philadelphia. Pressured by her letters from his former patients begging him father did not know where she was, “he’s boyfriend to prove her love, she relented to help them find their children. He could paid all the expenses for her confinement, but he kept right on dating an old girlfriend. not since he had no idea who the adoptive through her father’s lawyer…..Nancy’s Her baby “will be adopted by a couple of the parents were. The Home and Hospital were concern about whether to place her child in Jewish faith.” entirely separate from the person at St. An- a foster home or to have it adopted equaled “Ruth and the other unwed mothers dre’s who facilitated adoptions. Only that her concern about her career.” interviewed insist that they’ll tell the men person and perhaps a trusted staff member “Alice (age 20) planned to leave St. they may someday marry about their ille- knew the birth mother’s real name and the Andre’s for a new life in the Midwest two gitimate babies….before the ceremony. ‘if identity of the adoptive parents. Today, St. days before the adoptive parents arrived to he couldn’t accept it, he couldn’t accept me. Andre’s Home has facilitated the reunions take home her new baby” I think it would be a real test of his love of over 133 birth mothers and the children Rachael, 17, a high school junior, for me,’ says Ruth.” I should add here that they have surrendered when both parties planned to keep her baby and marry the Lynne’s husband and three other children al- sought a reunion. child’s father, an employed twenty-year ways knew about her birth daughter. In fact, There are many citations in the ar- old. “the couple must wait to be married before she died from an incurable illness in chives that refer to St. Andre’s Home as a 1994, Lynne’s younger daughter told her refuge. In a 2007 local journal article, St. Mom in an ironic comment (Lynne always Andre’s was again referred to as a refuge in sees the irony in lots of situations) “You gave its early years. In effect, the mostly young away the wrong baby girl.” (They were only unmarried patients were brought to the two years and 3 days apart in age). Lynne’s Home by parents who were afraid of the husband and children were also always very abuse that an unforgiving community would supportive of her, especially when she finally heap on their daughters and what their neigh- made contact with her birth daughter. bors would think if it were discovered that In my short talk with my birth Mom their daughter was pregnant. It was indeed in February, 2003 she told me that her hus- a refuge. band, my uncle, (yes, I was adopted by my Nevertheless, while some girls faced birth mother’s sister!), had always known incredible amount of pressure from parents, about me. And I think back about how nice their families, their boyfriends, their fiancés, he always had been to me even though we social workers and society in general to give were usually together at family gatherings up their child, not all were forced to do so, al- where his brothers and sisters-in-law all though their choices were very limited in the knew “the secret.” immediate post World War II era. The best I noted one sentence in the Loveitt ar- source that I uncovered in which residents ticle that stuck with me during my research: Sister Elizabeth Cyr were interviewed at length before 1973 was “Mothers who relinquish their babies to a Portland Maine Sunday Telegram article after Rachael is 18 in August and the boy adoption may see and hold the infant before of April 30, 1967, four months before Lynne reaches 21, or his parents grant permission. they leave the home” It is interesting, how- had her baby at St. Andre’s. The author, The young man has visited several times ever, that Sister Elizabeth Cyr, the director Hazel Loveitt, interviewed seven girls and since she’s been in the Biddeford Home”. and resident social worker at St. Andre’s describes how ‘the residents are on a first Because Marie, a high school fresh- Home, emphasized that she encouraged the name basis, with even these names fictional. man, “believes that she and George will girls who refused this contact to at least look On rare occasions, a patient may know an- ‘eventually’ be married, she has decided to at their babies reminding them that “You will other’s real identity………..The knowledge keep the baby, although it may have to be surely want to know your baby is healthy and makes little difference. The philosophy in temporarily placed in a foster home. Marie that God gave him ten perfect little fingers these cases is, ‘We have something in com- and George will continue to date, a plan and ten tiny toes. You will never be really mon to conceal so we won’t give each other sanctioned by both sets of parents” sure unless you look with your own eyes”. away.’” At the time Ms. Loveitt visited, Louise, 25, is a college graduate and But given the fact that in 1965 only 7 of there were 15 girls in residence, 8 Catholics, businesswoman in a nearby state who told 118 women and girls kept their babies at 6 Protestants and one Jewish girl: her co-workers she had found a new job in St. Andre and only 7 out of 124 kept them Lena who was 25 years old and a Maine. She and Joe were engaged but did in 1966, extensive contact was not encour- secretary, planned to give her child up for not marry because “I’d insisted there would aged. The national surrender rate was 80% adoption and “intends to make a fresh start be no marriage unless our children could be according to Loveitt. Consequently, homes elsewhere afterwards” Her parents did brought up in my (Catholic) Church…… for Unwed Mothers in the 40’s 50’s and not even “know about the pregnancy but a She’s never heard from Joe –he has her 60’s did not encourage days-long contact sympathetic older sister, in compliance with address and knows that he may visit her at between mother and child. In sharp contrast, house rules that some relative or close friend St. Andre’s – even though he was against today only about one percent of unmarried must know, has been told.” giving up the child. So Louise will release Nancy (no age given but she was a ju- her baby for adoption before she leaves for (Continued on page 38) 37 Le Forum VIRGINIA VIRGINIA (Saint Andre’s Home of Biddeford, One young girl interviewed by Ann Fessler mother, of her own accord, must make the Maine: A History continued from page 37) told her that when she told her boyfriend she decision; is she to keep her child or surrender mothers give their babies up for adoption. was pregnant, he said he would get affidavits it for adoption.” At St. Andre’s, the decision Sister Theresa Therrien who was associated from several of his fraternity brothers saying at least for the younger girls appears to have with St. Andre’s Home for over 22 years, she had slept with all of them. Another could been made before they entered the home – by having retired in 2009, was quoted to the not help financially because he had gotten 3 their parents. effect that 50 years ago parents did not allow girls pregnant at about the same time. When I was not been able to determine the their daughters to come back home with their Janet Ellerby told the father of her child of average length of stay of the patients at baby but that today they are told not to come her Dickensian experiences in her home for St Andre’s Home interviewed by Loveitt. home without the baby. Society changed a unwed mothers, he accused her of making Marie Marguerite Viviane’s mother was great deal in those 50 years. the story up. The injustice of these situa- there less than two months. Another girl, The November 2, 1967 issue of the tion is mind-boggling as most of the boys however, entered the Home in October 1940 Biddeford-Saco Journal also carried a front simply carried on with their lives without a and left in May 1941 “to go back to her page article by Peg Hendrick entitled “Sis- care while many of the girls had their lives family.” (She was gone quite a while so it ters Help Girls Over a Difficult Point of altered forever. It was the double standard would be interesting to know what kind of Life.” The article begins this way: “Linda, at work, with a vengeance. story her parents concocted to explain her 20, had been President of her sorority at Nevertheless, typical of the Christian absence). The Home had received a check college. An honor student, she had always charity of the Good Shepherd sisters, Sister for $700 (a princely sum in 1940) on behalf been shy with boys until she met Bob, a Elizabeth told Hazel Loveitt that “the fa- of this young lady for her care and to place 21year old student at a nearby university. thers need help and understanding too, and her child for adoption. She gave birth to a They had been dating for two years when wishes she had the staff to allow the home young girl on March 22, 1941 and it was Linda realized she was pregnant.” Bob did to include the fathers in its counseling ses- noted that female infants were more easily not want to get married and Linda was not placed than boys. A careful reading of the ready to raise a child. “St. Andre’s has been ...some homes for unwed daily log indicates that most of the girls a second home to me” said Linda who added mothers operated as baby whose entry and departure dates are recorded “my biggest regret is that I’ll never know my stayed about 3 months. Lynne, who had her baby. It is better this way, I guess.” mills using the girls as hu- baby in August, 1967 stayed a little over Another resident, Doris, a tiny dark- man incubators for greedy two months. haired 17 year old, recounted that “My adoptive parents eager to In some of the literature I have read parents were wild when they found out I was it is implied that some homes for unwed going to have a baby. They never told me pay large sums for a baby. mothers operated as baby mills using the about sex but I had read enough and heard girls as human incubators for greedy adop- enough to know what I was doing. There’s sions.” I hope the unwed fathers received tive parents eager to pay large sums for a no excuse. I thank God I am here where their counseling. They certainly needed it. baby. This was definitely not the case at St. people understand and help. My boyfriend Lena, Nancy, Alice, Rachael, Marie, Andre’s. In its first decade of existence, St. is only 16 but he wanted to marry me. My Louise, and Ruth were all interviewed before Andre’s struggled to find homes for babies father wouldn’t hear of it. I’d about given they had their babies. Ann Fessler conduct- left in their care. Prayers were constantly up when my mother heard about St. Andre’s. ed her interviews decades after her contacts offered to God to help the home find par- I’ll probably give my baby for adoption had given birth; the regret, shame and sense ents for newborn infants. Adoptive parents where I know he’ll have a good home. We’re of loss the abandonment of their child was were highly praised for their sacrifice and so darn young for all this” still a powerful emotion in their lives. I Christian love in accepting another child It was great to read in Ms. Loveitt’s hope that those mothers who surrendered in their family (I could not determine what article that there was at least one father, their children at St. Andre’s have been percentage of adoptive parents were child- Nancy’s boyfriend, who had to bear some reunited happily with their birth children if less but most of the ones referred to in the financial responsibility for his actions. that was the mothers’ and children’s wish, archives had other children) There were There were other boyfriends who also paid or that they have successfully put that epi- numerous visits by staff to parishes around the costs of a stay at St Andre’s, according sode of their lives behind them and moved the state (St. Andre’s was the only home for to the nuns I have interviewed. But they on. Parents, families, social workers, and unwed mothers in the entire state) seeking were few and far between. The father of society certainly believed that the girls who prospective adoptive parents. There were Lynne’s baby disappeared. “When I told him were surrendering their babies could put also references to Attorney Henry Hamel I was pregnant, he asked me what the heck I their experiences behind them. For many (whose wife became the Home’s greatest thought he should do. And the next thing I girls, it did not work out that way. benefactor) for his work in helping place knew, he was gone……. I never heard from It is clear from Loveitt’s article that at babies for adoption. The first notice that I him again except for when I had the baby. I least for the older women, Lena and Louise, ran across in the archives that all the babies wrote him a note and he called me and said who were both 25, the decision to relinquish at the home had been placed was on April 1, ‘you sound so bitter, Lynne, you were never their child was their own, although given so- 1945. The Sisters welcomed the short period bitter.’” (Fessler, page 68). This last quote ciety’s attitude toward unwed motherhood, of time they could rest. made it into a review of Ann Fessler’s book choices were limited. In an undated and During its first year of operation the in The Atlantic magazine because if its poi- unsigned article, entitled St. Andre’s Home, facilities at the home were underutilized. gnancy. (The Atlantic, May 2007, page 112). written in about 1967, the author wrote “The (Continued on page 39 ) 38 VIRGINIA VIRGINIA SUMMER/ÉTÉ 2020 (Saint Andre’s Home of Biddeford, tions) of the babies” (their grandchildren). mother was out of danger. In an interview, Maine: A History continued from page 38) (May 14, 1941). Dr. Fortier, whose twins were born at St. Consequently, in October 1941, married January 23, 1942 - departure of an- Andre’s in October, 1949, was proud of St. women started coming to the home to have other patient who had arrived on October Andre’s record of no maternal deaths when their babies. Some of the more prominent 8, 1941 - “her prolonged stay led to a great he started volunteering there. Franco American women in the city, such as attachment for the sisters and their work.” The year 1946 saw a steady stream of Mrs. Lucien Lessard, (November 16, 1941) September 2, 1942 - Sister Superior unmarried patients to the home. World War Mrs. Maurice Roux (January 29, 1942) and and an assistant go to Portland “dans le but II was over the baby boom was on. On April Mrs. André Fortier (October 19, 1949) de trouver une voie pour placer les bébés. 13, 1946, the Home set a new record with gave birth at St. Andre’s, which I believe is Nos appels au ciel restent sans réponse et 16 girls in residence. To give the reader a a testament to the care provided there. The quatre bébés tendent les bras vers un père better idea of how the girls were perceived married women, however, were housed on et une mère qui les adopteront” (“with the by the sisters at the home I will simply quote a different floor than the unmarried girls. goal of finding a voice that will help us place from passages in the archives. Married women continued to deliver babies the babies. Our appeals to heaven have not August 19, 1946, “our girls in general at St. Andre’s Home until 1952 when, as the yet received a response and 4 babies extend show good will and are docile and hard Home’s patient population increased, the their arms to a father and mother who will working. Some leave out of a yearning to Sisters decided they had to concentrate on adopt them”) Until the mid-sixties, entries be home or in more familiar surroundings their primary mission, their ministry to the like these were common at St. Andre’s as but all appreciate their stay with us” unwed mothers (“les filles mères”, as they there were more babies available that adop- On December 26, 1946 a young girl were called in French). Soon after married entered the home at 1:00 a..m. This “poor women were accepted, we start seeing girl” was given the pseudonym, Marie. names of mothers: Mrs. Alcide Nolet, Mrs. “From now on, our girls will be given Jerome Gagne, and we start seeing reports names” instead of identified by the sequence of visits of adoptive parents and their “little of entry, wrote the sister, stating that the new treasures.” Unfortunately, there are no practice was much more welcoming. One references to single birth mothers coming can easily surmise the details of this strange back to the Home with their babies since arrival time. The parents probably relented most infants were surrendered. Some of and let their daughter, whom they considered the girls did come back to visit the nuns but errant in her ways and having brought shame without the children they had given up. And, on the family by her pregnancy, celebrate of course, some of the girls who kept their Christmas at home; she was brought to the babies came back to visit also (Interview home immediately after the family festivities with Sister Gertrude Champoux) Dr. Andre P. Fortier, M.D. were over, however, and not a minute later. On Christmas Day 1940, the sister Lynne was allowed to attend her brother’s who was compiling the archives wrote: “the tive parents. college graduation but her mother made snow, the river deep in its coat of blue, the July 17, 1944 - “departure of a young her wear a rather large, heavy raincoat even trees peaceful. It is so beautiful”. Although Protestant girl. Very well educated. She though it was warm and sunny. Lynne was less than 3 miles from the center of the city, greatly edified us. In her difficult situation, almost 7 months pregnant. Her parents St. Andre’s Home was rather isolated in she went right into housekeeping work as if drove her to Biddeford the next day and 1940, as was the intent of its founders. she was well acquainted with it. This pious, dropped her off to a place she had never On January 19, 1941 the home re- petite Anglican puts fresh flowers at the feet seen. She had never felt so lonely and aban- ceived a visit from a woman from Manches- of the blessed Virgin that her mother would doned in her life. At least they brought her ter who referred unwed mothers from New bring her every week.” all the way to the home. One participant in Hampshire to the home since “there were On November 13, 1945, the 200th girl an internet group about St. Andre’s whose no Catholic homes in her area.” Lynne was “brebis” (young lambs, as they were often father was a cab driver recounted how one from New Hampshire in 1967 when she was referred to), entered St. Andre’s Home. The father could not bring himself to drive an referred to St. Andre’s by Catholic Charities home had been opened a little over five and extra three miles but simply dropped his in the Granite state. Those arrangements one half years, for an average of 3 unmar- daughter in downtown Biddeford and hailed were all made by her parents even though ried patients a month, or 36 per year. On a cab to bring her to the home. she was 20 years old at the time she gave November 23, 1947, St. Andre’s delivered In January 1947 Nellie, Gilberte, birth. its 1,000th baby. Not one mother had died. Josephine, Anna and Florence arrive at the Another notation in 1941 refers to Assuming that about 50 unmarried girls home. “It seems more human to give them these “unfortunate ones” (the young girls). entered St. Andre’s between 1945 and 1947, names”, writes the sister who is chronicling “Even if the number of patients is small, in its first seven years of existence, 70% of the history of the home. An entry later their quality consoles us. A very good spirit the births there were to married mothers. that month gives the reader an idea of how animates them. They are happy with our St. Andre’s did have a close call on June 26, some of the girls and their families came system, like their teachers and give thanks 1946 when a patient hemorrhaged and was to know of St. Andre’s Home. “Bishop to God for this refuge in this time of their taken to the Webber Hospital, the city’s larg- McCarthy calls to ask us to take another distress. The parents of these unfortunate er non-denominational hospital. The sisters’ girl” (January 27, 1947) That same day the ones are busy arranging placements (adop- prayers were answered and by June 30, the (Continued on page 40) 39 Le Forum VIRGINIA VIRGINIA (Saint Andre’s Home of Biddeford, parents. By January 1948, the Home’s wider that 6 couples had been recommended by Maine: A History continued from page 39) geographic outreach efforts appear to have the pastors as potential adoptive parents. doctors at St. Andre’s Home hospital ask been working as it is noted that the happy Another notation mentions Mr. & Mrs Omer Bishop McCarthy for permission to open a adoptive parents of one young infant were Fortier of Falls Church, VA. (formerly of Catholic hospital in Biddeford. He consents returning home by plane. (January 1, 1948) Lewiston, Maine) adopting a baby. (May although backers are not ready to staff the On October 18, 1948, the Sisters of 29, 1950). Later that year the Breton family hospital yet. The cornerstone of the hospital St. Joseph’s (Religieuses Hospitalières de of St. Joseph’s parish adopted a child and was laid on August 13, 1950. That hospital St. Joseph) who would staff Notre Dame the relieved Sisters marveled at “the real called Notre Dame was finally completely Hospital arrived to prepare for Notre Dame charity in this world.” (July 3, 1950). Mrs. opened in 1952 and was conveniently sit- hospital’s opening. Their presence increased Sanford Waters gave $100 for the elevator uated adjacent St. Andre’s Home on Pool religious staff with hospital experience in fund thanking the Sisters for their prayers in Street. This allowed St. Andre’s hospital the city. helping her to find a child to adopt elsewhere to service only unmarried girls while the Throughout its first decade of exis- when she could not adopt at St. Andre’s. married women started having their babies tence, St. Andre’s received literally hundreds (August 16, 1950). Another local family, at Notre Dame. By 1963, the girls at St. of gifts and donations. Within a month of the Lauziers, was praised for having adopted th Andre started giving birth at Notre Dame opening, the Red Cross brought 12 dozen their 4 child from the home although they Hospital also, to avoid the added expense eggs. (April 11, 1940) Dr. Larochelle who had children of their own. (Nov 3, 1951). of duplicating facilities and equipment and was Biddeford’s most prominent obstetri- Gerry Plante, a noted Franco American from finding qualified lay medical staff. By cian bought two radios for the home in June Old Orchard Beach, who adopted a child 1967 the girls were discharged directly from 1940, one for the recreation hall and one for from St. Andre’s, told me that he discussed Notre Dame Hospital after recuperating the hospital area. Prominent Franco Amer- adoption with the pastor, the pastor talked to from childbirth rather than returning to St. icans donated baby furniture, clothes and Sister Elizabeth Cyr and the adoption pro- Andre’s Home for rest and recuperation. In hospital equipment. In 1943, the St. Andre’s ceeded forthwith. It was an informal system. 1969, Notre Dame merged with the Webber Home Ladies Auxiliary was founded for the One factor that complicated adoptions was Hospital and all deliveries occurred at the primary purpose of fundraising. Over its 50 the health of the infant. One sick child An- Webber after the merger. Soon the Webber years of existence, this group held hundreds drea was returned to the home in March 1953 moved to a new larger facility and was called of fundraising events. The Ladies Auxiliary from foster care because of illness. Andrea the Southern Maine Medical Center. After had been organized by Miss Hélène Thiv- was adopted, however, as the sisters asked the merger, the girls at St. Andre’s had their ierge a prominent Franco-American who the Lord to “bless these good parents” who babies at this regional hospital. was recognized by the French government had agreed to adopt the sick child. On August 17, 1947, Sister St. Fer- for her efforts to promote the French lan- By 1950, the number of girls en- nand de Jesus - (Sister Gertrude Champoux, guage and culture in the city. tering the home continued to increase. By - Sisters began using their real names in Later in 1947, new sewing machines October 15 of that year, 1500 babies had 1967) - arrived at St. Andre to work for two were donated to St. Andre’s Home and some been born at St. Andre’s. An October 21, weeks before beginning her course of nurs- of the nuns taught the girls how to sew, a 1951 entry in the archives announced the ing at the Mercy Hospital School of Nursing handy skill especially for those girls who arrival of two unmarried patients this way: in Portland. She received her nurse’s certifi- would keep their babies. Some of the pa- “deux brebis arrivés au bercail” (two young cate on July 6, 1951 and joined the full-time tients gave gifts to the home upon departure. lambs enter the fold) as the home prepared nursing staff at St. Andre’s. In November, 1948, for instance, one young to accommodate only unwed mothers. The Sister Gertrude, in one of her many Protestant girl Clara gave a green chasuble last married patient left on Feb 5, 1952. Five letters to me, explained that she had some for the chapel to express her thanks to the days later there were 20 girls and 18 Sisters contact with the Home while in high school sisters. (November 9, 1948). In later years, in residence. The home still had sufficient in the early 1940’s because the Good Shep- the Christ Child Guild (a parent group whose space, however, to accept Mrs. Helen Hamel herd Sisters were her teachers at St. Joseph’s adopted children were born at St. Andre’s) as a patient in March 1952. Her diabetic High School. Some of these teachers lived also helped raise funds for the institution. condition was serious enough for her to at St. Andre’s Home, augmenting the staff In reading the daily log of St. Andre’s, I receive the last rites but she recovered un- that was on call twenty-four hours a day. recognized as benefactors many parents der the watchful eye of the Sisters. “what But Sister Gertrude was quick to add that I and grandparents of my own classmates. a charming woman, so polite, so pious, so “never met any of the girls. Confidentiality! In 1949 at the initiative of two of the girls, dignified” wrote the Sister about Mrs. Hamel The sisters felt that they owed this to the Eva and Nathalie, a small gift shop was set in the archive entry for March 25, 1952 when girls who wished to keep their own secret.” up in the reception area of the home. These Mrs. Hamel was discharged. (Letter from Sister Gertrude, June 14, 2008) girls knitted various articles of clothing that Piety was not an uncommon attri- Because of the difficulty that the were sold, the proceeds of which went to an bute in the home. The Home had its own Home had in placing for adoption the babies elevator fund. And, of course, they knitted chaplain and daily mass was offered in the born there, the director of the home, Sister for their babies. chapel. Many of the girls sang in the choir, Elizabeth Cyr, contacted representatives of The following decade saw a more along with the nuns, at the many religious Maine’s Division of Child Welfare (Dec. concerted effort by the pastors of Catholic observances held at the Home. It was usu- 4, 1947) and Catholic Charities of Boston parishes to find good homes for the St. An- ally noted when a non-Catholic entered the (Dec. 12, 1947) in an effort to find adoptive dre’s babies. A March 1950 entry mentions (Continued on page 41) 40 VIRGINIA VIRGINIA SUMMER/ÉTÉ 2020 (Saint Andre’s Home of Biddeford, it was noted for a second time that all St. an appeal for funds to help carry out their Maine: A History continued from page 40) Andre’s infants had been adopted and the mission. nursery was empty. The sisters could rest There is very little information about home and wanted to convert (Nov. 24, 1951). for a little while and care for the remaining the family background of the patients in the Non-Catholics, however, were driven to mothers-to-be. archives. Confidentiality was sacrosanct. a place of worship of their choice, if they On October 23, 1954, a study group There were a few entries that indicated visits chose. (Loveitt, page D3) from Portland, Maine came to visit St. An- from representatives of Maine’s Department Stuck between the pages of the ar- dre’s “to see how we do our work.” They of Social Welfare (DSW) to girls who were chives for 1953 was a thank you note from asked Sister Ste. Elizabeth if the girls were in the care of that government agency. The “Rachel” to the Mother Superior: “I want bad “méchantes.” “No, we have no bad number increased over the years and in its to thank you very much for being so very girls” answered the Sister. Given the fact later years. many of the patients were sent wonderful to me while I was there. Even that many of these girls had been abandoned to St. Andre’s by Maine’s Department of though I am not a Catholic, my religion is by the father of their child and sometimes Human Services. The four former residents much stronger because of the lectures and thrown out of their homes by their parents, whom I have contacted, however, were opportunities I was given while there. I lost the Sister continued “we have to try to pen- private patients. a great deal by the mistake I made of having etrate the walls that they have put around In February 1960. Helen Hamel died to come there. But in so many other ways I themselves, understand them, love them. and left an estate of over $300,000 to St. have gained and know that now I will have After that our work of helping them is easy.” Andre’s Home. The sisters decided to a much happier and more thoughtful life. At the end of the visit, the head of the dele- enlarge the Home. By 1965, the new wing Thank you so very much for all you people gation, a Mrs. Sullivan, the wife of a judge, of the St. Andre’s named for Mrs. Hamel have done for me. I hope if ever I can be of gave the Home a $50 donation. was opened. The new wing “afforded 24 help you will let me know. I enjoyed playing At a November 28, 1954 General private and semi-private rooms, a chapel, an bridge with you very much. I miss it already Assembly of the Ladies Auxiliary, 75 auditorium, a cafeteria, a few small parlors, because no one at home here plays. When members, almost all of whom had French smokers on each floor, a spacious lounge, a I come to visit some time perhaps we can surnames, were in attendance. The sister library, an arts and crafts room, a sundeck have a game.” superior described the St. Andre’s mission and a sun porch. The rooms left vacant in In early 1954, St. Andre’s Home as: “Providing a home for those who need to the first building by the transfer of the girls to received its license to become an adoption hide their difficulties and hearts. We must the new quarters were made into offices for agency. Sister Elizabeth Cyr, who held be good and strong to help them back on the the social workers and staff members.” (A her Master’s degree in Social Work from right road. We must help those in need. It Brief History of Saint Andre’s Home Bid- Boston College, would conduct the home is a Catholic duty. Some of our girls come deford, Maine written by Mrs. Ann Meyers, studies. Becoming an official, licensed and from broken homes and from homes where Director of Education at the home in the late registered child placement agency gave St. love was lacking and who fell for the first 1960’s) In the meantime, the entire third Andre’s Home a wider geographic range guy who said ‘I love you.’” The chronicler floor of the old building was renovated into from which to find prospective adoptive wrote that the Dames had tears in their eyes individual rooms for the Sisters. Prior to that parents. In later years, as society’s views after that address. This same theme was time, they had slept on cots in their offices. toward unwed mothers became much more again reiterated in the archive entry of De- (Loveitt). The open house with the 200+ tolerant with fewer patients entering the cember 4, 1955 at another assembly of the attendees mentioned earlier featured a tour Home and fewer and fewer of its patients Ladies Auxiliary. (The December 5, 1953 of the new, third floor bedrooms. surrendering their child, an increasing issue of the Biddeford Daily Journal has a In 1966 the staff at St. Andre made amount of St. Andre’s work revolved around photo of 48 members of the Ladies Auxiliary arrangements with the faculty at Biddeford performing home studies for other adoption with two sisters attending an open house at High School to start teaching classes that agencies and for international adoptions. the Home. There is no indication of the topic would lead to a high school diploma. Prior Later in 1954, with donations to the of discussion that day but any formal pro- to that time, classes were more informal and Home, St. Andre’s bought a television set gram probably focused on the same theme did not provide high school credit. The girls for the girls, which was a big hit. Since as the 1954 and 1955 assemblies. Forty-five had been given pre-natal instruction, taught pregnancy is traditionally reputed to induce of the forty-eight lay attendees had French to sew and cook, and received instruction cravings, Sister St. Armand would bring surnames.) in math, English and science from the nuns pails full of strawberries, some picked by The May 20, 1960 issue of the Bid- resident at St. Andre’s who taught school the girls, to the kitchen to be eaten by the deford Daily Journal carried a front-page during the day. There are a number of girls and staff. (“God spoils us”, wrote the photo of Sister Ste. Elizabeth and an article photos in the archives which were always chronicler). Sister Gertrude stressed that marking its 20th anniversary of service. taken from the back of the classroom with all medical and kitchen staff made sure the The general public was invited to this open the girls facing away from the camera. The girls ate healthy foods since they “were house and the event was hosted by 13 Sis- girls and their families had been promised eating for two.” But there were notations ters, including “Rev. Sister St. Fernand de confidentiality and St. Andre’s always made that on holidays – July 4, for instance - the Jesus, R.N., obstetrical supervisor.” (Sister good on that promise. The high school at girls were treated to a “pétard sucré” (literal Gertrude). Over 225 attendees, more than St. Andre’s Home was called Hope High translation – sugared, sweet firecracker). No 75% of whom sported French surnames, School. Every year, a small graduation one seems to remember what these were but were also listed individually. Attendance ceremony was held even if only one patient I bet they were delicious. By October 1954, was free but I surmise that the Sisters made (Continued on page 42) 41 Le Forum VIRGINIA VIRGINIA (Saint Andre’s Home of Biddeford, them the opportunity to guess the amount of cise classes Maine: A History continued from page 41) beans in the pumpkin. They were left free --shorter walk or free time. was receiving her diploma. Some of the girls to wander about the auditorium to participate 5:30 evening meal who had been forced to drop out of school in in the different games we had set up in a --free time in lounge: games, cards, their senior year were able to graduate from carnival type fashion. ………… Oh, but the T.V. etc. Hope High School not long after they would festivities did not end there. While there was -- 7:30 Conference (psychology, re- have graduated with their public or private fun and laughter in the one room, screams of ligion, sociology, etc. The house mother & school classmates. terror could be heard echoing from within girls would share on different topics. Sex The typical day at St. Andre’s home our ‘House of Horror’………….We then education was always popular) was a busy one. Some of the girls worked in assembled in the auditorium where we --followed by night prayer the laundry which after 1962, when married awarded the prizes to the most proficient in --after night prayer, residents would women were no longer admitted, had scaled the games. We were then entertained with either retired or stay up in the lounge doing back its operations. The number of girls who a piano selection from Sister St. Lucille and their thing. Many took advantage of this worked in the garden also declined after the ‘Indian Love Call’ harmonized beauti- time to speak privately to the House Mother. 1962 after farm operations were discontin- fully by Sister St. Elizabeth and Sister St. Such talks could last hours at a time. ued. Others worked in the kitchen. One of Cyril. While the cider and cookies were --Lights out at 10:00 o’clock in the Lynne’s duties was to read stories to a blind being served in trots Sister St. Priscilla dis- dorm nun who lived at the Sister’s convent. guised as ‘Snoopy’ to haunt Sister St. Cyril. *When official classes started at St. And I was struck from reading the ar- This put the finishing touches on what was Andre’s, the teaching would be held at a time chives at the number of parties and celebra- a really amusing evening. I’ll never forget most convenient for the instructors – who tions held at the home. Dozens of religious it. Will you” often came from another school” feast days, including “St. Patrice”, who had entered the Franco-American pantheon of Serena I never had the opportunity to speak saints, got his party every March 17. There with my own birth mother about her daily were Halloween parties, parties on the 4th Halloween, 1966 routine at the Talitha Cumi home. She did of July and the girls even organized events mention in our talk together in February to mark the 25th or 50th anniversaries of sis- Sister Gertrude Champoux has written 2003 that the girls would knit little booties terhood among the staff (see archives, July to me about what life was like for the girls and mittens for their babies. Claire, my 26, 1966 for instance) or surprise parties at St. Andre’s during the years that Ann mom’s roommate, mentioned that the Jamai- for religious staff entering college (January Fessler writes about in her book, the 1950’s ca Plain Home was adjacent to the Franklin 22, 1967) and 1960’s. An octogenarian at the time Park Zoo and the girls would go visit the Life at St. Andre’s was still isolated I interviewed her, Sister Gertrude had an zoo and walk in the park. There were also even in the mid-1960s but not without excellent memory. Her penmanship was pre-natal classes, chores in the kitchen or in diversions: flawless as was the penmanship of the sisters housekeeping and free time to listen to the The Halloween party planned for who kept the St. Andre’s logs. I never had radio and write letters home. October, 1966, for instance, is described this any trouble reading their writing. At St. Andre’s home one slowly sees way by mother-to-be Serena: “1950-1970 Daily Schedule at St. the carefully constructed safeguards for “Halloween comes but once a year and Andre’s Home. (as I remember it). total anonymity slowly begin to be relaxed, we, the girls at St. Andre’s, decided it was although the 1965 Biddeford Directory still to be a memorable occasion and one never 6:30 Mass – Our residents were free described the Home saying “There the girls to be forgotten by the Sisters or the girls. to attend. There were always some in at- are assured of absolute discretion as to their The party took about four days to plan and tendance. identity.” (page 72). A note in the archives two solid days of ‘active labor’ (if you will in 1960 mentions that for the first time the pardon the expression) devoted to decorating 7:30 Breakfast girls were allowed to help with the decora- and the making of prizes. Our first objective --followed by approx. an hour of light tion of the crèche in the front of the building. was secrecy and was executed beautifully cleaning or assistance in the different depart- (Dec 24, 1960) Lynne mentions that when through the cooperation of the girls. When ments of the Home & Hosp. (The heavy & she lived at the Home in 1967, the girls were the bewitching hour of 7:30 P.M. arrived on seasonal cleaning was done by the sisters). not allowed to take walks on the spacious Halloween night the Sisters were escorted --free time followed – often inter- grounds between the front entrance of the to the basement by Jane, the kooky clown, rupted by the weekly medical clinic on the building and Pool Street. Perhaps one of the and Terry as the intoxicating gypsy. To greet Hospital Floor or by Doctors’ visits. reasons was to avoid any additional incidents them when they assembled in the hall was --craft lessons were given by the such as those that sometimes occurred when Rachel, known to one and all now as ‘the House mother or other Srs. they did stroll behind the building along the Little Pumpkin’. We so kindly gave the --lunch at noon followed by a mile- river; that is, unidentified boaters (Sister anticipating nuns an outline of the program walk of the group around the grounds with Gertrude said they were college students) and briefly explained what those selected the House Mother. who hollered obscenities at the girls. for the ‘House of Horror’ were in store for. --Rest period – Residents would read In 1966, lay volunteers were accepted Awaiting the Sisters in the auditorium was or write letters but were encouraged to rest for the first time at the home as long as they Susan who adorned each and every sister in bed. were skilled and deemed to be discreet. and guest with a paper carnation, also giving -- pre natal classes or pre natal exer- (Continued on page 43) 42 VIRGINIA VIRGINIA SUMMER/ÉTÉ 2020 (Saint Andre’s Home of Biddeford, back and forth between Portland and Bidd- St. Andre’s home and the girls made posters Maine: A History continued from page 42) eford discussing the most mundane details and banners for the occasion. A few years While there was no contact between St. Jo- of such a change in ownership. Finally, later, prayers were being said at St. Andre’s seph High School students who picnicked at in February, 1973, Sister Anita Therrien, so that Father Audibert would remain in the St. Andre in its early years and the patients the provincial supervisor at the time, wrote priesthood. The Vietnam War itself is sel- there, that changed at least in the 1960s. Bishop Gerety saying that the Sisters had dom mentioned in the archives but the sisters Several members of the St. Joseph’s (girls) decided to continue sponsoring and funding did pray for peace. Father Audibert returned high school class of 1965 went to St. An- the Home themselves. I wrote Sister Ger- to Canada and did leave the priesthood. dre’s Home to hear some of the girls, who trude to see if she remembered any of the In late summer 1968, Sister Elizabeth were seated behind a screen, speak to their issues involved. She did not but did check Cyr, the Director of Social Work at St. An- contemporaries. One of my fellow class of with Sister Anita who was residing at the dre since 1952, left the Home for a year to 1965 graduates remember feeling very sad St. Joseph infirmary at the time. Sister Anita return to Quebec due to ill health. Katherine for the girls who had been forced to leave did not remember the exchange of letters but Cronin was named to replace her and took home and school and found themselves in a Sister Gertrude added “evidently, this offer over as acting Director on September 3, strange town without their families. was never accepted since we retained the 1968. Soon there were more open house By the mid-1960s there is also in- ownership of S.A.” events for parents and other relatives of the creasing contact between the staff at St. Most Franco-Americans in Biddeford girls. There were roundtable discussions Andre’s and the diocese of Portland. Neil were well aware of the Portland Irish hi- for the parents and relatives and sometimes Michaud, who was the diocesan director of erarchy’s traditional reluctance in helping films that had been recommended by the Human Resources, visited St. Andre’s with struggling Franco institutions. St Louis girls were shown. Other sessions involved increasing frequency. The Home also hosted High School in Biddeford had closed in talks by psychologists. The home econom- noted state legislators such as Lucia Cormier June, 1970 and St. Ignatius in Sanford had ics students prepared lunch for the guests. who gave talks to the staff at the home on closed in 1967 when little financial help was On December 20, 1968, Juanita entered St. how to lobby in Augusta. Her strategies forthcoming from the diocese to help the Andre’s Home. She was the 2,000th unwed bore fruit apparently when the State of schools survive. The Sisters’ efforts to have mother welcomed by the Good Shepherd Maine increased its stipends to St. Andre’s the diocese take over the operation of the Sisters. for indigent girls from Maine from $3,000 Home were never made public. If they had, On January 9, 1972, 9 girls were ad- per year to $8,500 per year. The payment refusal to commit would have been ascribed mitted to the home, a new one-day record. from the state had been $3,000 “for some by some Francos to Irish-American diocesan The Dames, who since 1943 had been fund- time” (July 31, 1967). A diocesan fund leaders’ traditional high-handed treatment raising for St. Andre’s, now began to take drive in 1967 had also earmarked money of almost 80% of Catholics in the Pine Tree a more active role in interacting with the for St. Andre’s Home to be used, among State. Gil Domingue summarized the entire residents. On January 26, 1972 13 Dames other needs, “for follow-up services after outcome by tersely saying that without the met with 17 prospective residents who had discharge, especially for the mother who Good Shepherd Sisters, St. Andre’s Home been referred to the Home by the State of decides to keep her child.” (Catholic Char- would have closed in the early 1970s. Maine. Dames took the girls shopping and ities Newsletter, Vol 1, No.2, March-April, According to Mr. Domingue, a lay hosted them at home for meals during the 1967) In 1965, the Bishop of Portland, director at the Home for a decade and a half Christmas holidays. Sunday nights became Daniel Feeney, made an anonymous gift of from 1971 to 1987, Sister Elizabeth Cyr bowling night at Roll Away lanes in town. $10,000 to the Sisters to help retire the debt had also written to Bishop Peter Gerety in The owner, Al Huot, whose sister was a nun, for construction of the new wing costs of Portland for help in staffing and financing was a well-known benefactor in town. I am which had run over budget. (thank you letter the work of the Home. The diocese finally sure the girls bowled for free. from Sister St. Elizabeth to Bishop Feeney assigned Mrs. Katherine Cronin to the Home There were as many changes admin- dated January 27, 1965 at the Chancery in mid-October 1967 as a counselor. A new istratively as there were in policy. Sister Library in Portland). In 1968, the diocese unwed mother’s handbook was published Elizabeth Cyr who had returned to Biddeford donated another $20,000 to the Sisters to that same month at the home. Entries such to assume the position of Coordinator for help retire the same debt. (memo dated July, as the one on March 9, 1968 “girls prepare Planning of Services to Unwed Parents and 1969 from the diocesan bureau of human breakfast with the sisters. All eat together Adoption left the city again for Caribou in relations services central office in chancery and sign and play cards after the meal” November 1970. (Sister Elizabeth died in library files). While very appreciative of the become more common. On July 4, 1968 1977 at the age of 57 – The St. Andre’s Home Diocese’s help, the Sisters also approached the girls are praised in the archives for their endowment fund is named for Sister Eliza- the Bishop about relinquishing control of clever, original and patriotic plays and par- beth). In September 1971, Gil Domingue. the Home because of the increasing costs ties they organized and put on. Lynne has a professional administrator. took over as of lay staff and a declining number of pa- mentioned to me that she was vocally against executive director of the home. By June tients that had begun in the late 1960s. The the war in Vietnam as were some of the other 30, 1972, Katherine Cronin had retired. A sisters simply could not afford to fund the girls. Father Matthew Audibert, who was skillful fundraiser, Mr. Domingue, with the home without diocesan help, as they had vociferous in his opposition to the Vietnam help of Finance Director Sister Viola Laus- done since 1940. There is no hint of any War, was the chaplain at St. Andre’s home ier, used his skills to obtain in July 1973 of those negotiations in the home’s archives in the late 1960s. On October 15, 1969, on $260,000 from the State of Maine to fund but there exists many letters in the Chancery the day of the nationwide anti-Vietnam war St. Andre’s Home for a two-year period. Library. Multipage letters and memos went moratorium, a mass for peace was said at (Continued on page 44) 43 Le Forum VIRGINIA POETRY/POÉSIE (Saint Andre’s Home of Biddeford, Field, where Biddeford High School played 3, 1973. The Sisters had always solicited Maine: A History continued from page 43) its football games. Society had changed a funds and help from adoptive parents. This St. Andre’s Home Inc. would soon operate great deal since 1940, and frankly the girls group, however, became a more formal 3 group homes, two of which were more did not need to be hidden anymore due to organization with a statewide presence. Its centrally located in the state – in Bangor, the greater acceptance of the unwed mother. first five officers came from Lewiston, Saco, Lewiston and Biddeford. Since the girls In 2009, the old family homestead was torn South Portland, and two from Waterville. no longer gave birth at the home, no lon- down and a new one-story modern facility By 1970 adopted children also took a more ger returned to the home after giving birth was built in its stead and was designed active role in the Ladies auxiliary. Some and were more likely to keep their babies, specifically to care for young mothers and were approaching 30 years old by then and it would actually be less expensive to run their babies. they greatly appreciated the existence of three group homes than one large institu- The move from Pool Street to Pros- the home and its work. (See Friends of St. tion that required maintenance, upkeep and pect Street in 1973 was not without some Andre’s Home Newsletter March 1973) The landscaping. The old St Andre’s Home was nostalgia. The girls planned an elaborate Friends are “an association of people with converted to an assisted care facility for the last Christmas party that would be held in a common interest in St. Andre Home and elderly which is still operating today. the building that had been home for aban- who have a desire to see the Home continue Amid, these changes, the press started doned unwed mothers for 33 years. (Dec. to serve the needs of unmarried mothers reporting about St Andre’s Home’s imminent 20, 1973). A few days before, the home had and their child.” (Newsletter July 1973). demise. (Portland Press Herald, February placed two babies for adoption with “two Executive Director Gil Domingue cited the 11, 1973). On March 4, Gil Domingue charming young overjoyed couples.” De- Friends’ behind-the-scene lobbying efforts wrote to the editors: “ St. Andre’s is shifting, spite the complicated logistics of the move, in Augusta for the $260,000 appropriation (not closing) its home from its present some- the work of the home continued unabated. in 1973. (Newsletter, July 1973) what isolated (that was an understatement On December 23, the girls began I was continually amazed at how although in 1973 St. Andre’s was not as moving to Prospect Street. The girls who seldom current events were ever mentioned isolated at it had been in 1940) institution- were able to go home went home. Two in the archives at St. Andre’s home. There al-like building to a smaller house located mothers-to-be who could not go home or was no mention of the attack on Pearl Har- closer to routine community activities”. had no home to return to moved to the group bor although there were a couple of entries With the shift in societal attitudes toward home. That first night, one girl went into about local civil defense personnel being the unwed mother, there was no need to be labor and delivered at the Webber Hospital on the alert for German submarines on the isolated any longer. soon after. The hospital was actually closer Biddeford coast. There was a detailed de- True to their word, the Sisters bought to the new group home than the Pool Street scription of VE day but no mention of VJ a home on Prospect St. in Biddeford on Oc- building had been. A new era had begun at day 4 months later. The election of John F. tober 2, 1973. The process was expedited St. Andre’s Home. (Interview with Sister Kennedy is noted. On January 1973 men- since the home that was purchased belonged Madeleine d’Anjou on November 6, 2018 tion is made of LBJ’s death and the Paris to the mother of one of the Good Shepherd by Nicole Morin Scribner). By February, Peace Accords ending the Vietnam War. The Sisters. There was some trepidation in the 1974, another group home in Bangor had Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision was neighborhood (the “not in my backyard” been purchased and was being prepared to not mentioned, however. sentiment) but the new group home was in accommodate unwed mothers who lived in The Sisters simply continued their operation for over 40 years with only one in- central Maine. The home opened its doors ministry to unwed mothers as they had for cident that required police intervention. The on November 1974. 33 years in Biddeford and for 123 years Good Shepherd Sisters had been ministering To encourage more lay support for the since the order’s founding. As was written in Biddeford as teachers since 1882. They institution, St. Andre’s Home supporters also anonymously in an undated summary of were given the benefit of the doubt by a re- organized the Friends of St. Andre Home the home “in 1973, in response to the needs spectful public when they wished to expand to supplement the work and fund-raising of the time, to changing attitudes toward their ministry or adapt it to more current activities done by the Ladies Auxiliary. illegitimate pregnancy, and to trends toward societal standards. While the group home The group, which was made up primarily of de-institutionalization, the services of St. was much less isolated than its predecessor adoptive parents and increasingly of adopted Andre’s Home Inc., were relocated to group on Pool Street, it was set back from the street children who had been born at St. Andre, homes in Biddeford and Bangor.” and bordered on one side by Waterhouse held its first meeting at the home on February (See Fall Issue for 2nd Installment)

The mission of Saint Andre Home is to: Serve women & children in need; Strengthen & restore child and family life; Promote the individual dignity of each person approaching the Agency with a need.

44 VIRGINIA POETRY/POÉSIE SUMMER/ÉTÉ 2020 POETRY/POÉSIE... Pépère Was a Teamster Pépère was a teamster, not a textile worker Like so many Québécois who came to Lowell. No indoor work for him: he stands beside his horses In a photo of the long flatbed wagon Loaded with logs that he would haul to some construction Site within the ever-growing mill city.

He loved horses. On a farm acquired later In Chelmsford, where he raised his brood of nine, Putting his in-house labor force to work as each Child arrived, thus adding another pair of hands, He kept horses, at first to pull the farm machines And wagons of the early 1900’s, then,

When engines disenfranchised equine laborers, They served as recreation for his sons and daughters, Pépère Arthur Loiselle stands with Mémère Eva Loiselle Who rode them through the woods and pastures of the farm, behind one of his beloved horses. Enjoying rural pleasures on the dirt roads Of the old Yankee town that once had sent Militia men to help start a revolution.

I never knew him, since he died at 63 Before I, a Lowell girl, was born two years later And grew up in the little house my other Pépère Built in 1927, close to Chelmsford’s Border near where An Wang would build his towers Across from where Lowell’s poor farm once had stood.

He smoked hard, my mother’s father, as so many Did then, and died of cancer that would eat Through his chest and back to put him in his grave. And not long after, my father’s father died too (From hardening of the arteries my parents said) And soon his wife — three grandparents I never knew.

Tablier French-Canadians all: not greatly schooled, but Trained to toil, poor rural people of Québec, Building the only life they knew how — not aiming Mon tablier est joli, n'est-ce pas? High, since high had never been within their sight Je suis prête à vous servir: Back in Québec, la belle province, with its rolling hills Du café au lait, And winding roads and long, long winter nights. Du thé épicé, Du chocolat--Pourquoi pas? But in their labor and insistence that their children Je suis prête à vous servir Labor, too, they paved a road to other work En beauté, And opportunities their children’s children then might En charité. Use to gain a foothold in society that They themselves weren’t dreaming of when living better My apron is pretty, isn't it? Simply meant the money for more clothes and food. I'm ready to serve you: Coffee with milk, Chers pépères inconnus, chère mémère jamais vue, Spiced tea, Je prie, souvenez-vous de moi, votre petite fille, Chocolate--Why not? Jusqu'à ce qu'on se rencontrera à la patrie I'm ready to serve you Où tout est bien, et tout compris, et tout oublié, In beauty, Et tout rempli, parce qu’on se réjouit de se reconnaître, In charity. Et on désire seulement la joie de vivre.

–––Maureen Perry © 2020, Suzanne Beebe 45 Le Forum BOOKS/LIVRES GENEALOGY BOOKS/LIVRES The Acadian by Phillip Daigle

The Acadian is the story of an underdog who thrives by never giving up. In 1660, Acadia lies between Boston and Quebec, and both France and England claim it. The vast area of old-growth forest and pristine waterways is home to the Mi’kmaw people. The French colonists in Acadia have established a friendly alliance with their Native hosts, but Massachusetts Militiamen currently occupy the four Acadian forts. Olivier arrives from France as an indentured servant and runs away from his employer for the fur trade’s adventurous life. When he witnesses an atrocity committed by rogue English soldiers, he’s drawn into the resulting conflict by Atahocam, a Mi’kmaw warrior who fights to avenge his family’s murder. Olivier dreams of his own land, a wife, and a family, but every winter, he’s drawn back to the woods, and its dangerous adventures, jeopardizing his family.

If you enjoy historical fiction and Native American literature like Barkskins, you’ll enjoy The Acadian: Olivier.

The Acadian: Return of the Dagger by Phillip Daigle

What did it take to be a hero in the New World?

It’s 1661 in Eastern Canada where a handful of French colonists hang on to a piece of paradise called Acadia. Deep in the woods, an orphaned eighteen-year-old enters a man’s world in a remote logging camp where he witnesses an atrocity that changes the course his life. A Port Royal businessman plays a dangerous game of both sides against the middle while he tries to save his beloved homeland. A Mi’kmaw warlord raises an army to challenge the English and avenge the massacre of his clan. A Catholic priest, has his faith turned inside out through his relationship with a Mi’kmaw healer and shaman, who must recover an ancient obsidian dagger that cuts through the curtain to the spirit world. The brilliantly researched and rendered historical setting creates a unique slice of time and place full of significance. The action is fast moving and the characters rich in nuance and emotion.

About Phillip Daigle: Phillip was born and grew up in an Acadian community in Northern Maine. Like most of his Acadian neighbors, he had never heard of Acadia and knew nothing of the history of his early ancestors. Half a century later, Phil's interest in genealogy uncovered the history of Acadia which climaxed with the expulsion and diaspora of the Acadians from the colony they established and occupied for one hundred years. Phil's stories seek to bring the early years of the colony of Acadia to life.

https://phillipdaigle.com/about-phillip-daigle/ 46 GENEALOGY SUMMER/ÉTÉ 2020 the Paspébiacs. Anglo-Normans - Bilingual French The fishermen were also farmers, but the abbot wrote that the habitants of Paspébi- ac were heavily dependent on the “House of Canadians of Norman Descent Robin.” Mr. Charles Robin, who was from Jersey, was said to rule with absolute power. by Denise R. Larson He persuaded the fishermen that there were Genealogists of non-Catholic French Gaspésie, especially in Bonaventure County advantages to having no more than ten ar- Canadian descent whose ancestors lived on around Port Daniel and Paspébiac, spoke pents (about 10 acres) of land to cultivate. the Gaspésie, the long paw of a peninsula French at home but English at church and This gave the men more time to fish but also that stretches into the Atlantic Ocean north school. They developed the fishing industry made them dependent on and often in debt of New Brunswick, might do well to exam- during the late eighteenth and early nine- to the company store. ine Church of England and United Empire teenth centuries. Port Daniel became world Charles Robin and Company grew so Loyalists records for traces of their family renown for the quality of its catch. large that there was a shipyard at its head- name. In 1783, British ships transported quarters in Paspébiac that built nearly three While researching the Ramier and more than thirty thousand Loyalist troops dozen ships to transport the catch to Europe Bebee families, I cast a line in the direction and civilians from New York City to ports and South America. On the return trip, the of the Gaspésie and the people who settled in Nova Scotia (and present day New Bruns- cargo was salt, supplies, and goods for the there. My interest snagged on the history of wick) and Quebec. This group of emigrés are company stores. the Channel Islands, which are off the coast called United Empire Loyalists. They were The drying and salting of cod lasted of Normandy. given two hundred acres as compensation into the 1930s. Refrigeration of food stuffs, The Ramier ancestor who I was trac- for their losses in the newly formed United improved transportation methods, and the ing had been born on Jersey, the largest of the States and to reward their loyalty to the diminishment of religious meatless fast days Channel Islands. His heritage was Norman, Crown. (Some of the land given to these dis- all contributed to the decline of the fishing so his family’s French connection might placed persons had been seized from French industry on the Gaspésie. go back before 1204, when the population Acadians who refused to swear allegiance voted to remain with the English crown to England.) The records of the marriages Denise R. Larson lives in the greater rather than revert back to Normandy and between the new landowners and the locals, Bangor metropolitan area. She is the author France. many of whom spoke English and belonged of Companions of Champlain and several In time, a robust fishing industry to the Anglican or Church of England, can works of fiction that are available from enticed men and their families to leave Jer- reveal names of Anglo-Norman families and Apple’s iTunes bookstore. sey and follow the cod to North American perhaps their origin in the Channel Islands. fishing grounds. Many settled in the English According to Abbot J.P. Ferland in his Helpful websites: https://www.socie- colonies of British North America, aided by lecture on the Gaspésie, first published in te-jersiaise.org the fishing companies of Jersey and Guern- 1861 by Emmanuel Brasseur, the Church- sey that needed large numbers of fishermen of-England Paspébiacs adopted the French https://www.gov.je/Leisure/Jersey/ and helpers to meet the demand for fish. of the Catholic Acadians but did not go so Pages/History.aspx During the eighteenth century, the far as to intermarry with them. There was Anglo-Normans from Jersey and Guernsey, a mission in Bonaventure and Casapédiac Jersey Family History Research: Aurtigny, and Sercq who settled on the for the Acadians, and one in Port Daniel for http://www.jerseyancestry.com

Photographe inconnu, Dépeçage de la Morue à Percée, non Map of Channel Islands courtesy of wikipedia.org daté | Don de Sylvio Gauthier, Collection du Musée régional de Rimouski, NAC SG-40. https://quoivivrerimouski.ca/ evenements/rimouski/bas-saint-laurent-gaspesie-parcours-et- https://phillipdaigle.com/about-phillip-daigle/ cartes- postales 47 Le Forum GENEALOGY GENEALOGY men to attack the Acadian population. The Our Acadian Roots peace minded Acadians endured many of these unprovoked attacks from the English by colonists. That explains the old adage that, Jim Bélanger "if you were a Catholic in Boston you could be shot without cause" and the reverse was Hollis, NH also true about noncatholics in Canada. Al- though carried off by the British, Champlain returned to Quebec after peace had been Acadia had been, until this time, most- was the com- restored and remained there until his death ly left alone. The Acadians had been forced, munity's first leader and he established "The in 1635. When Champlain returned to Que- several times, to take oaths of allegiance to Order of Good Cheer". This was a way of life bec, he found that the wars had decimated Great Britain. Those who took this oath where everyone in the community worked the population which now was only about were allowed freedom of religion and were together as one big family (possibly the one hundred. guaranteed protection so that they did not first "Canadian commune") and took turns have to bear arms. That made them less at preparing the food. When it came to be NEUTRAL ACADIANS of a threat and they were largely ignored your turn to gather and prepare the food, by both the French and the English. They you wore a golden chain. Meals were eaten The Acadians had always resisted did not have to serve in military service, as one huge family and were accompanied taking oaths of allegiance to England and paid no taxes and were left to their own by song, stories and ceremony. In this way, this made them known as the "neutral rule. With the settlement of Halifax and the the new settlers practiced their heritage and French". Because many of them had taken influx of English settlers, mostly military, handed down their homeland customs to this oath, it made them unpopular with the this changed the makeup of Acadia. You their children. This practice not only made French. So, these neutral peoples were not can imagine what happened to Nova Scotia for very efficient use of time and material thought of as a threat by either side but, at when it exploded from about 250 settlers to but made the community very close knit with the same time, were not considered loyal over eight thousand.1 little room for dissension. by either. It put the Acadians in the middle The main purpose for making the of the struggle that developed. kept trying to instigate the Acadians and the ACADIAN HISTORY ocean voyage, in the first place, was to trap and export furs. Since Port Royal was really Indians against the English and the English not in the deep woods and not conducive to were always fearful that the Acadians would In 1603 a small group of French mer- the trapping of furs, Champlain went further declare their loyalty to the French. Without chants formed a company to which the King inland. In 1608 he established a settlement in the English government's knowledge, the of France granted a monopoly for all the fur what is today Quebec City. This location was governor of Nova Scotia, Gabriel Dangeac, trade in the Gulf of St Lawrence region. As not only ideal for the "Rendezvous" that the decided to solve the problem by removing soon as winter broke, they left France on trappers needed but was a good location for the Acadians from their homes and force a three month crossing to the new world. a strong defense because of the narrowing them from the colony. In early summer of 1604, their vessels ap- of the river with its high bluffs. proached the southern end of Nova Scotia In 1613, Port Royal was attacked by 1755 (this was called Acadia by the French) and a raiding party from Virginia and destroyed. established a settlement on an island at the Thus Port Royal passed into the hands of mouth of the St Croix River. Many did not The expulsion of the Acadians began the British. In 1621, a Scottish nobleman in the summer of 1755. Troops marched survive the tremendous chore of building reestablished Port Royal and changed the homes and growing enough food to endure into the villages and the people were called name from Acadia to Nova Scotia, which to be told of their fate. They were asked to the coming winter. The first winter claimed meant New Scotland. The French regained many lives from scurvy because food, good assemble in the churches and other places the territory in 1632 and for the next three of assembly on the ruse that they were to re- drinking water2 and shelter were scarce. hundred and fifty years the Acadian French In the Spring of 1605 these settlers moved ceive special instruction. No weapons were participated in the establishment and expan- allowed in the churches and in the assembly across the and established a sion of Canadian history. Acadia switched permanent community called Port Royal. halls so they were left outside. Once inside, between French and British rule many times the villagers were unarmed and defenseless. Port Royal was the beginning of Canadian during the period following 1632. Acadian history. The settlers built a mill and Ships had been prepared and hundreds were In 1629 war broke out between the forced onto them without warning. Families planted gardens with the seeds and plants French and English and this lasted until brought in from France. One must realize were destroyed and no attention was paid to 1632. Every time France and England went whether one was loyal or not. The Acadians the sacrifice these people made by saving to war in Europe, the English in the Amer- these seeds and plant through the winter were scattered from Salem Massachusetts ican colonies would send contingents of (Continued on page 49) famine.

1 About 1,000 more were scattered in Cape Breton and Prince Edward Island and in present day New Brunswick 2 Even the fresh water rivers were salty due to the tides and the tremendous ocean backup into fresh water outlets 48 GENEALOGY GENEALOGY SUMMER/ÉTÉ 2020 (Our Acadian Roots continued from page Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware loss of it. These terrible ordeals and times 48) and New Jersey. Some were intercepted in that Acadians lived through forced them to New York and Massachusetts where their suffer the loss of family, family records, to Savannah Georgia and to France and goods and water craft were confiscated and their heritage and homeland. The survivors England. There were about 7,000 Acadians they were sent to the interior of those states. and all who finally came back to Acadia, deported by the order of Colonel Charles This did not dissuade them as they continued and later settled further West in Maine and Lawrence and between to migrate North toward a homeland that no New Brunswick, had an inbred instinct for 1755 and 1762 several thousand more longer wanted them. These activities result- family and closeness of community never were deported each year. It is odd to find that ed in the State of Massachusetts passing a before shared by anyone. This can be seen such good records of the numbers3 deported law which said that French Neutrals living even in the 20th century in settlements in were kept. in large groups was a danger to the colony New Hampshire, Connecticut and other and, when that happened, they were to be states. One after another, families joined It is odd to find that such good records dispersed into small clusters among many those who ventured to establish themselves of the numbers4 deported were kept. communities. A second law made it illegal in other territories until, more often than not, for Acadians to cross the town lines of the the entire family was again reunited at the 1. 1500 were deported to Virginia communities they were sent to which did new location. 2. 450 were deported to Pennsylvania not allow them to leave those towns and This Acadian heritage is important 3. 2000 sent to Massachusetts therefore restricted their movements. Even as it plays a great part in the lives of those 4. 1027 bound for South Carolina but these laws did not discourage the constant who settled Van Buren, Maine, Grand Falls, some departed in Boston attempts to go North. New Brunswick and the entire St John Val- 5. 900 to Connecticut By 1763 the King of France had been ley. The Belanger family, being researched 6. 250 to Maryland informed of the fate that had been dealt to here, is very rooted in the Acadian heritage. 7. 450 to Georgia the Acadian population. During the negotia- Although the Belangers themselves connect tions of the Treaty of Paris, the French King directly to Quebec, the more recent gener- No Acadians were deported from claimed the Acadians as his loyal subjects. ations married in Acadian country and to Acadia directly to Louisiana. The old story As a result, an announcement was made Acadian women. The Acadian history is of Evangeline which relates an exile to New that he would send boats to gather the Aca- our history. Orleans is fictional but based on facts of the dians and bring them to France. The highly deportation. Any Acadians who ended up in developed information highway spread this Louisiana got there after having been deport- news like lightning and this was the reason ed to the French Indies, France or England Acadians disregarded any laws restricting and then found their way to New Orleans. their movement. They left their temporary Upon their arrival at the ports where homes and traveled toward Acadia. they were "dumped" off, they quickly A group of Acadians, led by Jacques assembled in small groups to attempt at Vigneault, hired a ship and departed from recapturing their lives and regrouping their Boston and, on October 1, 1763, they landed families. They were not wanted by the peo- on the shores of Miquelon Island. These ple among which they were deposited and Acadians had the surnames of Vigneault, they were forbidden to form large groups. Hebert, Cyr, Cormier, Bourgeois, Theriault This forced them into small clusters among and Leblanc. This group was followed which an information pipeline was formed by another with the names of Arsenault, to pass word along as to who was where and Bertrand, Blanchard, Boudreau, Bourgeois, what was happening. This news highway Chiasson, Comeau and Cormier. More soon became highly developed with infor- groups followed carrying back the names mation being passed among the colonies of Beliveau, Blanchard, Boudreau, Chias- Samuel de Champlain and by ship's sailors to other parts of the son, Comeau, Deveau, Doucet, Lapierre, continent. It can be said, with a high degree Bonnevie, Brault, Bourg, Hebert, Gaudet, of reliability, that, from the day of deposit Gousman, Nuirat, Onel, Poirier, Damours, on strange shores, the Acadians continually Dugas, Landry, Gaudet, Gauthier, Guedry, attempted at regrouping and going back to Goguen, Guibault, Moise, Pitre, Richard and the homeland they had been exiled from. Renaud dit Provencal. By Spring of 1756 an underground All of this history of the Acadians highway leading north (perhaps the model should give the reader the feeling of com- for the Negro underground railroad during munity and togetherness that the Acadians the American civil war) had been established developed. One does not miss something with Acadians skirting the coastline of the nearly enough until one has suffered the

3 The Acadian Miracle by Dudley J LeBlanc, published by Evangeline Publishing Co., Lafayette, Louisiana 4 The Acadian Miracle by Dudley J LeBlanc, published by Evangeline Publishing Co., Lafayette, Louisiana

49 Le Forum COIN DES JEUNES LETTERS/LETTRES

Coin desjeunes...

Colorier par Numéro 1. Rouge 6. Brun 2. Jaune 7. Mauve 3. Vert 8. Rose 4. Bleu 9. Gris 5. Orange

50 LETTERS/LETTRES SUMMER/ÉTÉ 2020 March 23, 2020 Lettres/ Letters Hi Lisa, Congratulations on the Winter/Hiver 2019-20 issue of the FORUM. I just finished reading it, and must say that it is one the best issues that you, your team and the Fran- Bonjour Lisa, co-American Centre have ever published. I speak from extensive experience since I was present at the founding of the Centre and of “Fanal” (The FORUM’S precursor) in the early You are incredible! Your finding and 1970s and have read just about every issue since. What specifically impressed me was: adding the information about “Batiste” at 1. The overall quality of the writing the end of my “Graniteville” essay answered 2. The wide range of age groups represented by the authors. I was especially pleased a lot of questions. “Batiste” was a fictional to note that a number of students’ works were included. Daniel Moreau’s “Tourtière and character created by Daniel T. Trombley. He cul de sacs” deserves special praise as does Meaghan Murphy’s “international Language would write short poems and place copies Acquisition Compared to National Practice and Averages.” Hard to believe that they are on the ferries and rail cars. Eventually in both undergrads. 1915 he published a rare volume entitled, 3. The range of genres represented – from poetry to novels to history / other “Batiste of Isle LaMotte, His Trubbles”. non-fiction. As you know, my mother was a Michaud from Ste. Agathe, so I was totally Online I was able to find a rare copy and thrilled to follow Richard Michaud’s “Maine Trip” as he went in search of Michaud origins I ordered it. For some strange reason, this and eventual destinations. It was quite a trip for me, in many different ways. I was also copy is from India, so it is taking some time. touched by seeing the notice of a translation of Normand Dubé’s poetry. He was a good Daniel Trombley was born in 1849 and died friend and an excellent poet. I am very happy to see that his poetry continues to find readers. in 1940 at the age of 91. Building and em- 4. The status of writers the FORUM regularly attracts – James Myall, Normand bellishing on “Batiste”, this famed fictional Beaupré, Juliana L’Heureux, Susanne Pelletier, Don Leveesque Vermonter with a French-Canadian heritage, 5. The ability of the FORUM to attract articles from an ever-expanding geography is Lawrence Earl. Mr. Earl, who lives in Morrisville, found one of Mr. Trombley’s I must also single out Kerri Arsenault’s article as extremely well—written and rare books which he says he treasures. He touching. started reading the adventures of “Batiste” Under your editorial leadership, the FORUM has become a unique resource for to groups with a lot of success. He in turn writers who are looking to express their Franco-American experience, as well as for the has written and embellished the legend of growing number of readers who seek and find a reflection of who they are in your pages. It “Batiste”. In 2008 Mr. Earl recorded a CD is a wonderful service you are providing – one which reflects very positively on the Centre entitled, “An Evening with Batiste”. Now, and the University of Maine. Please be assured that I will continue to support this valuable you and I know the rest of the story. publication in any way I can. Amitiés, Congratulations again on your outstanding work. I very much look forward to Xavier de la Prade the next issue. Petaluma, CA Sincerely, Greg Chabot, South Hampton, NH 03827 French-Canadian descendants & Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), an inherited disorder submitted by Reed Mszar Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) small, tight-knit communities. Despite to elucidate accurate prevalence estimates is an inherited disorder characterized by extensive genetic- and population-based as well as diagnostic and treatment gaps in chronically elevated low-density lipoprotein research involving the French-Canadian Franco-Americans; and (3) validate contem- cholesterol levels and an increased risk of founder population, primarily in the Prov- porary risk stratification strategies such as premature atherosclerotic cardiovascular ince of Quebec, little is the Montreal-FH-SCORE to enable optimal disease. FH has been shown to dispropor- known regarding Franco-Ameri- lipid management and prevention of prema- tionately affect French Canadians and other cans in the United States. Concurrent with ture atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease ethnic populations due to the presence of addressing the underdiagnosis rate of FH among French-Canadian descendants. a founder effect characterized by reduced in the general population, we propose the genetic diversity resulting from relatively following steps to leverage this founder See full text here: few individuals with FH-causing genet- effect and meet the cardiovascular needs ic mutations establishing self-contained of Franco-Americans: (1) increase cascade https://www.cjcopen.ca/ar- popu- lations. Beginning in the mid-1800s, screening in regions of the United States ticle/S2589-790X(20)30005-6/ approx- imately 1 million French Canadians with a high proportion of individuals of immi- grated to the Northeastern United French-Canadian descent; (2) promote fulltext States and largely remained in these registry-based, epidemiological research 51

(Continued on page 34) Université du Maine Non-Profit Org. Le FORUM U.S. Postage Centre Franco-Américain PAID Orono, ME 04469-5719 Orono, Maine Permit No. 8 États-Unis Change Service Requested

THE FRANCO AMERICAN CENTRE LE CENTRE FRANCO AMÉRICAlN DE OF THE l’UNIVERSITÉ DU MAINE UNIVERSITY OF MAINE Le Bureau des Affaires franco-américains de l’Université du The University of Maine Office of Franco American Affairs was Maine fut fondé en 1972 par des étudiants et des bénévoles de la founded in 1972 by Franco American students and community volun- communauté franco-américaine. Cela devint par conséquent le Centre teers. It subsequently became the Franco American Centre. Franco-Américain. From the onset, its purpose has been to introduce and integrate the Dès le départ, son but fut d’introduire et d’intégrer le Fait Fran- Maine and Regional Franco American Fact in post-secondary academe co-Américain du Maine et de la Région dans la formation académique and in particular the University of Maine. post-secondaire et en particulier à l’Université du Maine. Given the quasi total absence of a base of knowledge within the Étant donné l’absence presque totale d’une base de connaissance University about this nearly one-half of the population of the State of à l’intérieur même de l’Université, le Centre Franco-Américain s’efforce Maine, this effort has sought to develop ways and means of making d’essayer de développer des moyens pour rendre cette population, son this population, its identity, its contributions and its history visible on identité, ses contributions et son histoire visible sur et en-dehors du and off campus through seminars, workshops, conferences and media campus à travers des séminaires, des ateliers, des conférences et des efforts — print and electronic. efforts médiatiques — imprimé et électronique. The results sought have been the redressing of historical neglect Le résultat espéré est le redressement de la négligence et de l’ig- and ignorance by returning to Franco Americans their history, their lan- norance historique en retournant aux Franco-Américains leur histoire, guage and access to full and healthy self realizations. Further, changes leur langue et l’accès à un accomplissement personnel sain et complet. within the University’s working, in its structure and curriculum are De plus, des changements à l’intérieur de l’académie, dans sa structure sought in order that those who follow may experience cultural equity, et son curriculum sont nécessaires afin que ceux qui nous suivent puisse have access to a culturally authentic base of knowledge dealing with vivre l’expérience d’une justice culturelle, avoir accès à une base de French American identity and the contribution of this ethnic group to connaissances culturellement authentique qui miroite l’identité et la this society. contribution de ce groupe ethnique à la société. MISSION OBJECTIFS: • To be an advocate of the Franco-American Fact at the Uni- 1 – D’être l’avocat du Fait Franco-Américain à l’Université du versity of Maine, in the State of Maine and in the region, and Maine, dans l’État du Maine et dans la région. • To provide vehicles for the effective and cognitive ex- 2 – D’offrir des véhicules d’expression affective et cognitive d’une pression of a collective, authentic, diversified and effective voice for voix franco-américaine effective, collective, authentique et diversifiée. Franco-Americans, and 3 – De stimuler le développement des offres de programmes • To stimulate the development of academic and non-academic académiques et non-académiques à l’Université du Maine et dans program offerings at the University of Maine and in the state relevant l’État du Maine, relatant l’histoire et l’expérience de la vie de ce groupe to the history and life experience of this ethnic group and ethnique. • To assist and support Franco-Americans in the actualization 4 – D’assister et de supporter les Franco-Américains dans l’ac- of their language and culture in the advancement of careers, personal tualisation de leur langue et de leur culture dans l’avancement de leurs growth and their creative contribution to society, and carrières, de l’accomplissement de leur personne et de leur contribution • To assist and provide support in the creation and implemen- créative à la société. tation of a concept of pluralism which values, validates and reflects 5 – D’assister et d’offrir du support dans la création et l’implémen- affectively and cognitively the Multicultural Fact in Maine and else- tation d’un concept de pluralisme qui value, valide et reflète effectivement where in North America, and et cognitivement le fait dans le Maine et ailleurs en Amérique du Nord. • To assist in the generation and dissemination of knowledge 6 – D’assister dans la création et la publication de la connaissance about a major Maine resource — the rich cultural and language diversity à propos d’une ressource importante du Maine — la riche diversité of its people. 51