Bilingualism -- Maine

Abstract 2325 Andrew Redmond, interviewed by Barry H. Rodrigue, spring 1993, Madison, Maine and St. Georges de-Beauce, Quebec, Canada. Series of eight interviews. Redmond, a French-Irish timber jobber, entrepreneur, and Maine State Senator, talks about life on both sides of the Maine - Quebec border; people: Barry Rodrigue, Kenoci Rodrigue, Yvon Labbe, Liliane Labbe, Angela Hebert, Sylvester Redmond, and others. The interviews are in both English and French. Text: 257 pp. transcript. Recording: C...

Abstract NA4205 Annia Warner, interviewed by Darlene Metcalf-Bergeron, February 22, 2008, in her house in Bangor, ME. Warner, age 48, talks about her early life in Costa Rica (CR); her family; moving to San José; meeting a Maine family; visiting ME on vacation; meeting her future husband and staying; the scarcity of Costa Rican immigrants; her parents’ reaction to her staying; becoming pregnant; getting married; her husband and two sons; learning English with Mr. Rogers; raising her sons bilingually;...

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1696 Antoinette Boucher, interviewed by Steffan Duplessis and Mark Silber, December 15, 1980, Lewiston, Maine. 19 pp. Tape: 3/4 hr. w/ trans. French. Boucher talks about her life as a Franco-American and her family history. Text: transcript. Recording: T 1817 3/4 hour.

Scope and Contents From the Collection: A 1992 community based oral history project co-sponsored by the Maine Folklife Center and the Franco-American Center at the University of Maine generated a series of 35 interviews focusing on the culture and history of the French Canadian immigrant community located on French Island, Old Town, Maine. The project also resulted in a book of photographs, interview excerpts, and articles, Nos Histoires de I’lle: History and memories of French Island, Old Town, Maine (1999) ...

Scope and Contents From the Collection: A 1992 community based oral history project co-sponsored by the Maine Folklife Center and the Franco-American Center at the University of Maine generated a series of 35 interviews focusing on the culture and history of the French Canadian immigrant community located on French Island, Old Town, Maine. The project also resulted in a book of photographs, interview excerpts, and articles, Nos Histoires de I’lle: History and memories of French Island, Old Town, Maine (1999) ...

Abstract NA3725 Delia Michaud, interviewed by Pauleena MacDougall, June 21, 2005, at Michaud’s home. Michaud talks about being born in San Juan, a province of Argentina; coming to the United States in 1970; living first in Houston, Texas and then moving to Maine; cultural differences between Argentina and the United States; struggle of switching over from speaking Spanish to speaking only English; first experiences with Maine winter; highlights of Argentinean culture; family life in San Juan;...

Abstract 1669 Faye Jordan, interviewed by Marcella Sorg and Steffan Duplessis, February 18, 1981, Auburn, Maine. Tape: 1 1/2 hrs. w/ partial trans. Jordan talks about her life as a Franco-American; celebrating Christmas in Canada with her grandparents; running away to marry a "swamp yankee;" jobs she worked; being bilingual and speaking "true French;" sewing, making clothes for her daughter; crochet work. No notes taken from side 2. Text: 7 pp. partial transcript. Recording: T 1788, CD 2089 1-1/2...

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1678 Florida Charest, interviewed by Marcella Sorg and Steffan Duplessis, January 29, 1981, Lewiston, Maine. 34 pp. Tape: 1 1/2 hrs. w/ handwritten trans. French. Charest talks about her life as a Franco-American. Text: transcript (handwritten). Recording: T 1799 CD 2517 1 1/2 hours French.

Abstract 1625 Genoria Pelchat, interviewed by Margaret Lanoue, October 22, 1982, Lewiston, Maine. Pelchat talks about her childhood in early twentieth-century St. Joseph de Beauce, Canada; immigrating to Auburn, Maine in 1919; working at shoe shops 1920 to 1940; learning to speak English; food lines and shopping during the Depression; 1937 shoe shop strike; and working for elections. In the enclosed memoir, Pelchat wrote of early life at a Sisters of Charity orphanage; years of abuse by her father...

Abstract 1625 Genoria Pelchat, interviewed by Margaret Lanoue, October 22, 1982, Lewiston, Maine. Pelchat talks about her childhood in early twentieth-century St. Joseph de Beauce, Canada; immigrating to Auburn, Maine in 1919; working at shoe shops 1920 to 1940; learning to speak English; food lines and shopping during the Depression; 1937 shoe shop strike; and working for elections. In the enclosed memoir, Pelchat wrote of early life at a Sisters of Charity orphanage; years of abuse by her father...

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1671 Jeanne d’Arc Turgeon, interviewed by Raymond Pelletier and Mark Silber, May 13, 1981, Lewiston, Maine. Turgeon talks about her life as a Franco-American; exclusive use of French in daily life as a child; working in the shoe shop and mill during the 1940s; movement of Franco-Americans out of Lewiston’s “Little Canada”; social activities; and the value of sacrifice. Partially in French. Text: 13 pp., partial transcript (excludes French portion). Recording: T 1790, CD 2091 1 hour.

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NA1698 Josephine Morin, interviewed by Marcella Sorg and Steffan Duplessis, March 19, 1981, Lewiston, Maine. 39 pp. Tape: 1 1/4 hrs. w/ handwritten trans. French. Morin talks about her life as a Franco-American. Text: transcript (handwritten). Recording: T 1819 1 1/4 hours French.

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1687 Marguerite Michaud, interviewed by Mark Silber and Raymond Pelletier, February 19, 1981, Lewiston, Maine. 44 pp. Tape: 1 1/2 hrs. w/ handwritten trans. Michaud talks about her life as a Franco-American; her experience writing songs. Partially in French. Text: transcript (handwritten). Recording: T 1808 1 1/2 hours, partially in French.

Scope and Contents From the Collection: A 1992 community based oral history project co-sponsored by the Maine Folklife Center and the Franco-American Center at the University of Maine generated a series of 35 interviews focusing on the culture and history of the French Canadian immigrant community located on French Island, Old Town, Maine. The project also resulted in a book of photographs, interview excerpts, and articles, Nos Histoires de I’lle: History and memories of French Island, Old Town, Maine (1999) ...

Abstract 1670 Retired State Supreme Court Justice Armand J. Dufrense, interviewed by Marcella Sorg and Steffan Duplessis, May 14, 1981, Auburn, Maine. English and French. Dufrense talks about his family history; his childhood in the early 1900s; his family’s baking work; putting himself through college and law school during the Great Depression; how being Franco-American helped his career as a lawyer and justice; his many years as an active and semi-retired justice; and working with the...

Abstract 1667 Simone Michaud, interviewed by Marcella Sorg and Steffan Duplessis, February 18, 1981, Lewiston, Maine. Michaud discusses identity as an Acadian growing up in Aroostook County in the early 1900s; working at her family’s summer camps; being bilingual and when she spoke French versus English; her views on Franco-American identity; French songs; her genealogical work; how she spends her retirement; pictures of her family; her parents’ winters in Florida during the 1920s; work ethic learned...