Schoolyard sports, St. Peter's School, Lewiston, 1925
Item 67532 info
Franco-American Collection, University of Southern Maine Libraries
By the early 20th century several schools operated in Lewiston-Auburn under the auspices of the local Catholic parishes.
Although they had originally offered education completely in French, their curricula gradually shifted to include more English-language lessons, while Maine's public schools prohibited the use of French outside foreign-language classes in 1919.
Parents were keen to have their children integrate into Anglophone society, and children were being exposed to more English-language culture through new media such as radio and television.
Those children whose parents ran a store or local business were also exposed to English more regularly as the Franco and Anglo populations became less segregated in the 1940s and 50s.
This photograph shows a group of children at a French parochial school Americanized through their adoption of American sports such as baseball and football.
Item 6 of 13
