Georgette Bérubé Collection Finding Aid
Access: No Restrictions
Property Rights: Owned by Franco-American Collection.
Description
Georgette Beauparlant Bérubé (1927-2005) was a lifelong resident of Lewiston who served in the State Legislature for more than a quarter-century, longer than any other Maine woman. She was the daughter of Leonard and Blanche (Tremblay) Beauparlant, a student of St Peter’s School and Ave Maria Academy, the University of Maine at Augusta and the Maine School of Commerce, where she met her future husband, Gérard Bérubé. She worked with her brother, Maurice, at Beauparlant Furniture, located at 359 Lisbon Street. As State Representative and Senator, she was an independently-minded who often voted with Republicans on fiscal issues. In 1978, she and Madeleine Giguère were censured by the local Democratic party for endorsing future US Senator William Cohen, a Republican. In 1982 she ran unsuccessfully for governor against the Democratic incumbent, Joseph Brennan. She retired from the State Senate in 2000. Georgette was a strong advocate for Franco-American heritage, as a legislator and community member. She hosted a long-running French radio station, Le Rendez-Vous de la Chanson on the Bates College Radio Station. She was a member of the International Association of French-Speaking Parliamentarians, the Fédération Feminine, L’Union Saint-Jean Baptiste d’Amérique and the Financial Council of the Catholic Diocese of Maine. Along with Professor Madeleine Giguère, she was a founding member of the original Centre d’Héritage Franco-Américain which became the Franco-American Collection at USM LAC. She was chair of the Collection at the time of her death in 2005.
