Georgette Beauparlant Bérubé (1927-2005) was a lifelong resident of Lewiston, ME, and served in the State Legislature for 26 years, the longest of any other Maine woman. The daughter of Leonard and Blanche (Tremblay) Beauparlant, Georgette attended St. Peter’s School and Ave Maria Academy in Lewiston. She later attended the University of Maine at Augusta and the Maine School of Commerce, where she met her future husband, Gérard Bérubé. The two married in 1952 and had two children, Claude and Michele Bérubé.
After working at the family business, Beauparlant Furniture, Georgette won her first election to the State Legislature in 1970, despite considerable backlash from Party elite, including “Mr Democrat'' himself, Louis Jalbert. As a State Representative and Senator, Georgette was an independently minded democrat who often voted with Republicans on fiscal issues. In 1977 she controversially endorsed Republican candidate William Cohen for United States Senate and was later censured by the local Democratic party. In 1982 Georgette Bérubé became the first woman to run for Governor in the state of Maine. However, her bid was unsuccessful and she lost in the primary to incumbent candidate 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 also 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. Additionally, Georgette was one of the founding members of the original Centre d’Héritage Franco-Américain, which became the Franco-American Collection at USM LAC. She was the chair of the Collection at the time of her death in 2005.
For more information about the collection please consult the Finding Aid.
