Franco-Americans of Maine (Images of America)
Title:Port man spotlights Franco-Americans in Maine and beyondAuthor: Liz KingPublisher: Newbury Port Daily NewsDate: 07/22/2010From Amesbury's recent creton cook-off of the classic, potted meat spread said to have originated in 18th century Quebec to The Thirsty Whale in Newburyport's poutine, a Quebecois diner staple of french fries topped with gravy and cheese curd, the region has a notedly French-Canadian flair.As part of the "Images of America" series, Newburyport-based journalist Dyke Hendrickson has written "Franco-Americans of Maine," which highlights the influence and cultural heritage of Maine's many French-Canadian residents. But, Henrickson says, the presence is just as strong in the Merrimack Valley."Although the book I wrote was about Maine, the same situations occurred in Amesbury, Haverhill, Lawrence and Lowell -- almost every community near the river had a textile mill, and many French-Canadians inhabited them," Hendrickson says.Though his heritage is derived from Dutch potato farmers on New York's Long Island, Hendrickson understands the French presence in the area better than most. Living in Biddeford, Maine, in the 1970s, he was exposed to the language and culture of the highly French-Canadian-populated city.Hendrickson was a writer and editor for newspapers in Biddeford, Portland, Waterville and Bangor, and won a feature-writing award for his series in the Maine Sunday Telegram titled "The Franco-Americans.""It hit a sweet spot in a sense -- no one had ever taken French-Canadians seriously," he says.Hendrickson published a book on a similar topic 30 years ago titled "Quiet Presence: Stories of Franco-Americans in New England," which has been excerpted at the Museum of National Heritage at Ellis Island, N.Y."In recent years, I felt the whole story had not been told. This is a fuller picture of the work I've done before," he says of "Franco-Americans of Maine."While "Quiet Presence" contains primarily text, Hendrickson's newest book features 210 photos, which he gathered over the course of a year by visiting various institutions in Maine, such as heritage centers, libraries and archives. He also obtained photos from French-Canadian families hoping to show a more personal side, rather than relying on stock photos of mill workers from federal committees on labor and other government departments."A lot of the photos I first saw showed mill workers looking dirty, depressed and tired," Hendrickson says. "I looked for photos of weddings, staged plays, sporting events -- people who are happy. I think I caught something that other people didn't see. Sure, they worked in mills, but they also had lives."In addition to having been a major force in Maine's development, Franco-Americans are a cohesive ethnic group with a strong belief in family, church, work, education, the arts, their language and their community, Hendrickson says."They've hung onto their heritage longer than other immigrant groups on the East Coast, such as Irish folks in New York or Italian folks in Boston," Hendrickson says. "They've kept their language and kept their Catholic school system going much longer."Nearly one-third of Maine residents have French blood and are known as Franco-Americans, Henrickson says. Locally, French-Canadians have a strong presence in Amesbury, where Henrickson estimates about 10 to 20 percent of the local population has French-Canadian blood.Many trace their heritage to French-Canadian families who came south from Quebec in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to work in the mills of growing communities, he says."Up until recently, Franco-Americans were considered just mill workers -- almost relegated to faithless people who had worked in the mills over the years," Hendrickson says. "But they are so much more than just mill workers. They had loving families; they were active in theater and the arts ... and held parades on French holidays. They were much more vibrant and passionate than many would think."Title: 'Franco-Americans of Maine' Author Dyke Hendrickson captures their 'great passion for life'Author: David A. SargentPublisher: The Sun JournalDate: 7/20/2010"Much more than millworkers" is the concise and heartfelt description Dyke Hendrickson uses when he talks about Franco-American families who shaped many Maine communities.His new book, "Franco-Americans of Maine," is a picture-packed treasure chest of historical images, and a recent book signing at the Franco-American Heritage Center confirmed his observations about the area's strong ties to the past.Hendrickson talked with many Lewiston-Auburn residents who added their memories to the information he includes in his book.There is a 1916 photo of tiny 3-month-old Carroll Poulin in his father's tuba. The father, Joseph Poulin, was a violinist in the Portland Symphony Orchestra and founder of St. Peter's Choir; the son founded a well-known L-A music store."They had taken lessons and purchased instruments at Carroll's School and Music Center and knew Carroll Poulin as an adult," Hendrickson said.He also said people fondly remember Madeleine Giguere, whose picture is in the book. She helped organize the Franco-American Collection at the University of Southern Maine, Lewiston-Auburn campus.One person pointed out that Giguere grew up in a prosperous family, Hendrickson said."Many Franco-Americans were professionals and lived well," he was told.Hendrickson wrote his first account of the state's Franco-Americans in 1980. His own Dutch ancestry roots are from a Long Island potato farm and his New Jersey boyhood, but his fascination with the Franco-American culture blossomed during employment at the Biddeford-Saco Journal and the Portland Press Herald. As a Portland reporter, he wrote a prize-winning series highlighting first-person stories of Franco-Americans. That led to publication of a book, "Quiet Presence: Stories of Franco-Americans in New England."Hendrickson moved away from Maine, but the influence of the Franco-American culture stayed with him."It kind of followed me," he said. "I didn't feel their story had been told. They had a great passion for life. There was a lot more joy and feeling of accomplishment in their lives."The new book, "Franco-Americans of Maine," which is from Acadia Publishing's "Images of America" series, has about 200 photos and informative captions that show many sides of the Franco-American immigrant experience throughout Maine. Dozens of photos are of Twin Cities families and scenes, including the cover photo of a 1957 Dufour-Gosselin family wedding party on the steps of SS. Peter and Paul Church in Lewiston. Inside is a scene of the large gathering for the 1897 marriage of Marie Philippon and Alfred Tancrel at 24 River St., Lewiston.Hendrickson also noted that the immigrant experience of Franco-Americans from farms in Quebec differed significantly from families coming to America from Ireland and many European countries."There was a lot of back and forth travel going on," he said.Hendrickson divided his book into several sections that cover work, family, religious life, community, sports and recreation, arts and entertainment, education and Franco-American pride. He also has a section about Acadians and their influence along the St. John River Valley."It's photographic evidence of what went before us," Hendrickson said.The making of bricks took energy -- and muscle. Alphee Grenier poses at the Bergeron Brickyard of Lewiston in 1940. He was born in Lac Megantic, Quebec, in 1907 and spent much of his life making bricks. However, each fall he went to work in the lumber industry, as did many Franco-American men.Title: Author Q&A;: French ToastAuthor: Ray RouthierPublisher: The Portland Press HeraldDate: 7/18/2010When Dyke Hendrickson was a journalist covering Biddeford in the 1970s, he couldn't help notice the French accents and French last names.Like many Maine mill towns, Biddeford had a significant French population, descendents of French Canadians who came from Quebec to find work and a better life. Later, while working at the Portland Press Herald, he did a series of stories about Franco-American history and culture in Maine.The series garnered lots of positive response, and prompted Hendrickson in 1980 to write a book, "Quiet Presence: Stories of Franco-Americans in New England." Thirty years later, Hendrickson is no longer a full-time journalist, but has come out with a sequel: "Franco-Americans of Maine" (Arcadia Publishing, $21.99).The book, part of Arcadia's "Images of America" series, includes more than 200 vintage photographs chronicling the lives of Franco-American families in Maine in the late 1800s and early to mid-1900s.Hendrickson, 64, works as a public relations consultant and writer. He splits his time between Newburyport, Mass., and a vacation home in New Sharon.Q: What prompted you to do this latest book on Franco-Americans, 30 years after the first?A: The first one found a sweet spot; I kept getting letters on it for years. I wanted to get it re-published, but I couldn't. I still felt like the full story of Franco-Americans hadn't been told. I noticed the list of Arcadia's books, and thought this would fit. About a third of everyone in Maine, some 400,000 people, have some French heritage, so I figured there'd be interest in a book like this.Also, a lot of the major industries in Maine that Francos helped build -- textile mills, pulp mills, woodworking -- are disappearing. So I thought this would be a good historical tool to help get in touch with those things.Q: What sort of changes did you find after 30 years, both in terms of what Franco-Americans are doing now and their perception of their own heritage?A: When I covered Biddeford in the 1970s, you still heard French spoken on the streets, and some city councilors would mutter to each other in French when they didn't want reporters to hear. That's not the case now. You don't hear as much French spoken.I think today it's a much more educated group, and you have some high-profile, accomplished people, like (U.S. Rep.) Mike Michaud, or (Republican candidate for governor) Paul LePage.There is more awareness today. I think the more people learn about their history, the more they find to be proud of. Since 2002, there's been a Franco day at the state house in Augusta, and there's talk of having a Franco component taught in history classes in school.Q: What are some of the things that made Franco-Americans stand out among immigrant groups in Maine?A: Germans or Italians who came here couldn't go back very often. But Maine had many French people who went back and forth from here to Quebec, so that really helped keep the language and culture alive. There's a picture in the book of young people in Sanford who spent the winters working in Maine then spent the summer working a farm in Quebec. So there was a constant shuttle going on.Q: Where did you find your photos, especially the ones that show family life, from weddings to picnics to parades?A: I went to a lot of institutions that focus on the French, like the Franco-American Collection at the University of Southern Maine's Lewiston-Auburn College, the Franco-American Heritage Center in Lewiston, and the McArthur Public Library in Biddeford.I wanted pictures that stressed institutions that were central to Franco-Americans in Maine, like the church and family. That's why the picture on the cover (of a 1957 wedding in Lewiston, with dozens of well-dressed people crowding the church steps) worked so well. I got a lot of response. Women look at it closely to see if it was their wedding.So many photos you see (of Franco-Americans) are workers in a mill, looking a little dirty and tired. But I wanted to show the other parts of their lives too. These were people who bought houses and put their kids through school, and were proud of the lives they built here.Title: Les Franco Americains: Photo essay tells Franco-Americans' taleAuthor:JULIANA L'HEUREUXPublisher: The Portalnd Press HeraldDate: 6/23/2010Maine's Franco-Americans are the focus of a new book by Dyke Hendrickson."Images of America: Franco-Americans of Maine" is a photographic essay with historic narrative describing the Franco-American experience during the 20th century, published by Arcadia Press.Many of the book's 1,000 photographs have never before been published.For Hendrickson, the book is a logical extension of his interest in the Franco-American culture. In 1980, he wrote a descriptive history with first-person interviews of Maine's Francos, "Quiet Presence: The True Stories of Franco-Americans in New England," published by Guy Gannett Publishing Co. of Portland."Franco-Americans of Maine" is an informative and sometimes bittersweet pictorial history. Each black-and-white photograph is a quality reprint, with captions including the names of those depicted and the dates and places where the photographs were taken. Photographs are from nearly every town in Maine where Franco-Americans lived and worked.Franco-Americans love parades. Among the many parades pictured is one with Le Club Passe-Temps Drum and Bugle Corps, photographed marching in the snow in a 1948 parade in Lewiston's Kennedy Park. (Of course, the vintage cars photographed in the parades were not antiques when the pictures were taken.)Photographs are plentiful of hard-working Franco-American men and women in the mills where they provided badly needed labor during Maine's 20th-century industrial expansion.A rare look at the oppressed immigrant experience is included. Two pictures commissioned by the U.S. Congressional Committee on Child Labor and Farm Labor reflect the dark side of the Franco-American working experience, says Hendrickson.Hendrickson sections the book into Franco-American family life, work history and culture. Franco-Americans and Acadians in the St. John Valley are showcased."I wanted to produce a record that shows varied dimensions, such as joy and pride," says Hendrickson. "I hope the book depicts numerous dimensions of Franco-American life, and demonstrates how many educated and prosperous Franco-Americans live in Maine communities."Two large Maine Franco families are pictured on the book's cover in a church steps portrait of the Dufour and Gosselin wedding. This portrait is a panoramic photograph of the beaming bride and groom surrounded by their multigenerational family members.The Dufour-Gosselin wedding photo is a reproduction of a perfectly preserved photograph taken in 1957,on the steps of Lewiston's Sts. Peter and Paul Church.Wedding fashion is an interesting focus in the cover photograph. Each of the bride's attendants and the adorable flower girl are wearing classic ruffled gowns flowing to the ground over stylish hoops. Each gown complements the style of the bride's formal wedding dress.This wedding was obviously a grand opportunity for the Dufour and Gosselin families to enjoy a magnificent reunion as well as attend a joyous nuptial ceremony.Franco-American family photographs often include relatives who were members of religious vocations such as brothers, priests and nuns. Indeed, the various pictures of the religious nuns dressed in their old veiled habits are precious.One fascinating action picture was once published in Life magazine. It was taken in 1948 and depicts two Franco-American boys named Norman Goulet and Raymond Cote while they were jumping into the Barker Mill Dam in Auburn. Raymond Philbrick was the photographer.Another photograph, taken in 1935, pictures the construction of Sts. Peter and Paul Church, surrounded by scaffolding.Hendrickson's work collecting these vintage photographs and the detailed documentation of each picture create a cultural archive that is certain to become more precious over time.