The Maine Franco-American Genealogy Society will hold the spring meeting on April 22, 2023, at the Auburn Public Library.

Saint Dominic Academy teacher Camden Martin will be the guest speaker.

AUBURN, Me.- — The Maine Franco-American Genealogical Society (MFGS) will hold its spring meeting at 10 a.m.,on Saturday, April 22, at the Auburn Public Library, 49 Spring Street in Auburn.

Camden Martin is the speaker on April 22, at the MFGS meeting in Auburn.

A brief business meeting will be followed by refreshments and guest speaker Camden Martin’s presentation, “Lewiston-Auburn: Where the Language of Molière shined, 1880-1960,” from 11 a.m. to noon, according to a news release from Ann Nadeau, treasurer with the genealogical society.

Lewiston-Auburn was once dubbed “The French Athens of North America.” Camden, a local resident and educator, will take attendees back in time to explain, according to a news release from Ann Nadeau with the genealogical society.

Even though the French language of Lewiston-Auburn is regarded by some as a broken “patois,” a minority language of the past that is spoken only by mémères and pépères, Lewiston-Auburn was in fact a bastion of French and French-Canadian culture in New England. The French cultural influence was so strong that the Franco-Québécois historian Robert Rumilly coined the name “the French Athens of North America” to identify the area.

Martin’s presentation will paint a picture of the associations, societies, schools, theatrical productions, churches, newspapers and tours by musical artists that contributed to the support and vigorous growth of the French language in Lewiston-Auburn for the better part of a century.

Martin was born in Lewiston, grew up in Auburn and attended Edward Little High School until his sophomore year, when he left to attend the Lycée Albert Camus in Nîmes, France. He won a scholarship that permitted him to study in France for two months, but the end result was a stay of two years, allowing him to complete both his junior and senior years abroad.

After graduating from both Edward Little and Lycée Albert Camus, Martin took a year’s sabbatical, during which time he worked in French language customer service and studied Environmental Protection at the Cégep Saint Félicien in Québec, Canada.

Upon returning to Maine, he worked at Museum L-A, now known as Maine MILL, before becoming the French teacher at Saint Dominic Academy, where he continues to spread his love of the French language and culture and to inspire future generations.

Martin has been involved in promoting the French language across Maine for numerous years. Besides being a board member of the genealogical society, Martin is a board member of the Alliance Française du Maine and of the Franco-American Collection at the University of Southern Maine.

The event is free; the public is welcome. For parking information, visit auburnpubliclibrary.org.

For more information about the meeting, contact Nadeau, the genealogical society’s treasurer, at 207-212-7177 or nadeauann151@gmail.com.

Check the MFGS website at this site here.