Keywords: French Canadian
- Historical Items (188)
- Tax Records (0)
- Architecture & Landscape (0)
- Online Exhibits (50)
- Site Pages (19)
- My Maine Stories (38)
- Lesson Plans (0)
Online Exhibits
Your results include these online exhibits. You also can view all of the site's exhibits, view a timeline of selected events in Maine History, and learn how to create your own exhibit. See featured exhibits or create your own exhibit
Exhibit
From French Canadians to Franco-Americans
French Canadians who emigrated to the Lewiston-Auburn area faced discrimination as children and adults -- such as living in "Little Canada" tenements and being ridiculed for speaking French -- but also adapted to their new lives and sustained many cultural traditions.
Exhibit
St-Jean-Baptiste Day -- June 24th -- in Lewiston-Auburn was a very public display of ethnic pride for nearly a century. Since about 1830, French Canadians had used St. John the Baptist's birthdate as a demonstration of French-Canadian nationalism.
Exhibit
Like many cities in France, Lewiston and Auburn's skylines are dominated by a cathedral-like structure, St. Peter and Paul Church. Now designated a basilica by the Vatican, it stands as a symbol of French Catholic contributions to the State of Maine.
Exhibit
In the early 1600s, French explorers and colonizers in the New World quickly adopted a Native American mode of transportation to get around during the harsh winter months: the snowshoe. Most Northern societies had some form of snowshoe, but the Native Americans turned it into a highly functional item. French settlers named snowshoes "raquettes" because they resembled the tennis racket then in use.
Exhibit
Lewiston, Maine's second largest city, was long looked upon by many as a mill town with grimy smoke stacks, crowded tenements, low-paying jobs, sleazy clubs and little by way of refinement, except for Bates College. Yet, a noted Québec historian, Robert Rumilly, described it as "the French Athens of New England."
Exhibit
Father Rasles, the Indians and the English
Father Sebastien Rasle, a French Jesuit, ran a mission for Indians at Norridgewock and, many English settlers believed, encouraged Indian resistance to English settlement. He was killed in a raid on the mission in 1724 that resulted in the remaining Indians fleeing for Canada.
Exhibit
The history of the region now known as Maine did not begin at statehood in 1820. What was Maine before it was a state? How did Maine separate from Massachusetts? How has the Maine we experience today been shaped by thousands of years of history?
Exhibit
"We are growing to be somewhat cosmopolitan..." Waterville, 1911
Between 1870 and 1911, Waterville more than doubled in size, becoming a center of manufacturing, transportation, and the retail trade and offering a variety of entertainments for its residents.
Exhibit
Immigration is one of the most debated topics in Maine. Controversy aside, immigration is also America's oldest tradition, and along with religious tolerance, what our nation was built upon. Since the first people--the Wabanaki--permitted Europeans to settle in the land now known as Maine, we have been a state of immigrants.
Exhibit
Music in Maine - Radio Cowboys and Country Music
"… influences from the British Isles and French Canadians to tell story-songs about life. Slim Andrews, Gini Huntington and Barry Deane founded the…"
Exhibit
Music in Maine - Community Music
"… me a Master Artist in traditional French Canadian dance, providing the chance to pass the French dance traditions down to numerous younger…"
Exhibit
World Alpine Ski Racing in Maine
Sugarloaf -- a small ski area by European standards -- entered ski racing history in 1971 by hosting an event that was part of the World Cup Alpine Ski Championships. The "Tall Timber Classic," as the event was known, had a decidedly Maine flavor.
Exhibit
"… across the United States and Canada where she met Canadian mine operator Bruce White, who became her husband in 1898."
Exhibit
Music in Maine - Bluegrass Music
"… dinner that were unique to the festival, plus Canadian bands. In 1993, MPBN-TV series, “Mainely Bluegrass” filmed the festival."
Exhibit
Music in Maine - Community and School Marching Bands
"… Band in 1907, at a time when preserving the French language in oral and written forms was important for passing cultural traditions to the next…"
Exhibit
"MAKE Music makers include musicians, artists, and craftspeople who make instruments, write songs, and make music in the home and community settings."
Exhibit
Music in Maine - Music in Maine
"Music in Maine Music is something we share as humans—non-verbal forms of storytelling and expressions of beauty and emotions through sound."
Exhibit
Music in Maine - Longfellow Family Music
"Longfellow Family Music “Music is the universal language of humankind.” --Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Outre Mer, 1835 Henry Wadsworth…"
Exhibit
Music in Maine - Country Music
"Country Music Don Doane Katahdin Mountaineers, 1925 Courtesy of Bob Greene X Don Doane Sr.’s Katahdin Mountaineers, regarded as the first…"
Exhibit
Music in Maine - Military Marching Bands
"Military Marching Bands View of Portland Light Infantry Muster, ca. 1803 The Portland Light Infantry Muster with a drummer and a horn player in…"
Exhibit
Music in Maine - Rock and Roll, Punk, and Elvis
"Rock and Roll, Punk, and Elvis Dave Glovsky and Louis Armstrong, Old Orchard Beach, ca. 1955Maine Historical Society Rock and Roll Concerts in…"
Exhibit
"HEAR The invention of recording machines opened up a world of choices for listening to music without leaving the home."
Exhibit
Music in Maine - Music and Television
"Music and Television The Dave Astor Show Click to see more Dave Astor Show photos Dave Astor (1919-2011) produced a variety show in Portland…"
Exhibit
"Sacred Music People play and sing sacred music during religious services and events. Singing allows worshipers to participate in the liturgy, with…"