Maine’s bicentennial was officially commemorated on March 15, 2020, but this date on the history calendar does not tell the entire story. At the time when Maine became the 23rd state to enter the United States, there was no defined border with Canada. I’m not a historian, but in my opinion, when Maine became a […]
A source check, I researched the quote “There are no atheists in a foxhole”, because I wanted to blog about the poem entitled, “The Crucifix”. This inspirational poem was written by the late Private First Class Elisée Dutil (b. 1919, in Maine – d. 1945 in Germany), who was a Franco-American and Lewiston resident. Memories […]
Published in the Canadian Anthology “Cavalcade of the North”, in 1955, Thomas Costain contributed four short historic essays. Thomas Costain (b. 1885 – d. 1985) wrote the essays about French Canada in a section of the book titled Vignettes of French Canada. This anthology is loaded with the writings from Canadian authors, but the book […]
Bishop Laval-the first Roman Catholic bishop of Quebec, appointed when he was 36 years old by Pope Alexander VII. This essay about his death, written by Thomas Costain, describes a period in French colonial history that deserves to be remembered because of how the outcome influenced the French-Canadians at the time and for many years thereafter. Thanks to Mr. Costain […]
Original people of this land – the Native Americans. Check out a virtual exhibit at Harvard’s Peabody Museum, about the history of Native Americans and the Plymouth, settlers (link below). This particular exhibit is focused on the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), in Plymouth, MA, but the history mirrors French and Native American colonial […]
Two press releases recently came to my attention. One was from the Montreal CTVNews channel reported by Cindy Sherwin. Another came from the French Consulate office in Boston, reported by Noah Ouellette, Chargé de mission éducatif et culturel. Both news bulletins are about how to support and expand the use of the French language in […]
Bonne fête! On the occasion of my son Paul’s birthday, I am creating this blog. This is a hand written, in beautiful cursive, gift from his Franco-American grandmother. Rose Anna Morin L’Heureux, born in Roxton Falls, PQ, in 1895, gave me a hand written maternal genealogy, many years ago. She lived in the Ridegway neighborhood […]
Maine is one of the most beautiful places for pandemic sheltering during the brilliant fall foliage season. We can take advantage of “staycation” visits to beautiful and close to home Franco-American historic sites, especially while the warm daily temperatures are cooperative. A day trip destination I recommend for leaf peepers who enjoy fall beauty with […]
Like most of us who are sheltering, I’ve had time to do some pandemic cleaning, So, I found several old books that seem to be new again. In fact, that’s how I found “The Friendly Frontier: The Story of the Canadian-American Border”, by Edith Patterson Meyer with illustrations by W. T. Mars. It was hidden […]
A Canadian anthology was published in 1958, titled Cavalcade of the North, edited by George L. Nelson, and includes a series of interesting short historical essays about New France, written by Thomas B. Costain. The essays were published in a chapter titled Vignettes of French Canada. I purchased this book (without a dust cover) for […]
