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  Notre Pain Quotidien: Franco-American Entrepreneurs Sustaining Community

  Anna Faherty, Mary T. Rice-DeFosse PhD, and Doris Bonneau

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  Betty Olson Interview with Doris Bonneau

  Doris Bonneau

  Doris Bonneau interview with Betty Olson at the Franco-American Collection in Lewiston, Maine.

  Duration: 00:20:45

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  Archives Richness: A Lecture by Douglas Rooks

  Douglas Rooks

  A lecture given by author Douglas Rooks at the Franco-American Collection on November 13, 2018. Rooks shares his techniques, strategies and intrigues of doing research at the Franco-American Archives.

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  Rhea Côté Robbins Lecture: Franco-American Gender Roles

  Rhea Côté Robbins

  The lecture Franco-American Gender Roles: Motherhood and more was delivered at the University of Southern Maine's Franco-American Collection, in Lewiston, Maine, on April 17, 2014. This lecture was part of the Franco-American Collection's spring lecture series for that year.

  Rhea Côté Robbins is the founder and director of the Franco-American Women's Institute (FAWI).

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  Alice Bisson-Barnes Interview

  Franco-American Collection

  Alice Bisson was born in Lewiston in 1945 to Joseph Felix Theodore "Ted" Bisson and Gertrude Thiel Bisson, the last of sixteen children. She recorded two interviews with the Franco-American Collection.

  In the first interview, Alice talks about her father, Ted Bisson (b.1900), who immigrated to the United States from Chartierville, QC in 1918, with his family, after the death of his father. While the rest of his family were employed in Lewiston's textile industry, Ted worked as a pastry chef at the Court Square Restaurant, in Auburn. He catered the opening of St Mary's Church in 1928.

  In 1933, he operated a boarding house which had initially been purchased by his brother Louis, on Middle Street, in Lewiston. In 1938 he opened the Middle Street Diner next door, and operated that until 1946, when he sold the diner and opened the Maple Inn on Main Street, Lewiston.

  Also included: transcript and photograph.

  In the photograph: Ted Bisson, Court Square Restaurant, Auburn, 1919.

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  Maurice LaBrie Interview

  James Myall

  Maurice LaBrie was born in Lewiston in 1931. His father, Lucien, owned the National Tobacco and Candy Company on Park Street in Lewiston. At the age of 16, Maurice started his own business, National Vending Company, selling cigarettes and candy through vending machines. In this interview, he describes how he started his own business, and Lewiston's business community in the 1940s and 50s. He also discusses many aspects of Franco-American life.

  In the photograph: Maurice Labrie, National Tobacco & Candy, c.1943. Image courtesy Maurice LaBrie

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  Roger Nadeau Interview

  Tina Sirois

  Roger Nadeau (born Lewiston, Maine, 10/10/1941) dropped out of high school in the 10th grade. At the age of 15, he began working full-time at Falcon Shoe, one of Auburn's many shoe shops. Nadeau would go on to serve in the US Army during the Vietnam War. As a result of his army service, Nadeau gained his GED, and on retun to civilian life, he implemented a program at Falcon to help other workers gain their high school equivilency. This interview, with Tina Sirois, conducted December 14, 2012, Nadeau discusses his early life and schooling, his 42 years in the shoe industry, and his experience in Vietnam.

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  Irene Labreque Coady Interview

  Franco-American Collection

  Irene Coady was born Irene Labreque in Salem, Massachusetts in 1933. Her parents, who had come to Lewiston from Quebec, moved back to Lewiston during her childhood. In this interview she talks about the importance of music to her heritage and her family's Christmas traditions. She also talks candidly about her experience at an orphanage run by the Sisters of Charity in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

  This interview was recorded with the assistance of Story Bank Maine.

  Also included: transcript and photograph.

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  Jean and Mercedes Gastonguay Interview

  Cindy Larock and Kathleen Mundell

  Jean and Mercedes Gastonguay are retired school teachers who live in Lewiston. In this interview, they discuss their differing childhoods, the importance of the French language to their lives, and various Christmas traditions. Jean served as the final editor of the French-language newspaper in Lewiston, Le Messager, and Mercedes was an art teacher who organized jurored shows of her pupils for many years.

  This interview was recorded with the assistance of Storybank Maine.

  Also included: additional audio file of the Gastonguay's singing, transcript, and two photographs of Jean and Mercedes Gastonguay.

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  Bert Dutil Interview

  Kathleen Mundell and Cindy Larock

  Bert, a Lewiston native, talks to the Collection about his family's Christmas traditions, his service in the Korean War, and his time as director of the Pine Tree Warriors, a drum and bugle corps.M/p>

  This interview was conducted with the help of Story Bank Maine, December 16, 2010.

  Also included: transcript and photograph.

  In the photograph: Bert (bottom row, center left) with the Pine Tree Warriors in front of the U.S. Capitol.

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  Francis Gagnon Interview

  Kathleen Mundell and Cindy Larock

  Francis Gagnon was born in Rumford in 1973. His father, Normand, was a lumberjack in Quebec before moving to the United States to work as a furniture-maker. He began playing the spoons with his father at age 8 and continued to play with him as part of the Normand Gagnon Ensemble and Groupe de Joie. In this in interview, Francis talks about his parent's decision to come to Maine, his family's musical background, and the importance of music to his heritage. The Gagnon family also maintains a pumpkin farm in Rumford.

  This interview was recorded with the assistance of Storybank Maine.

  Also included: transcript and photograph.

  In the photograph: Francis Gagnon.

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  Paul Jalbert Interview

  Sarah Bolduc

  Paul Jalbert (b.1938 in Auburn, Maine) followed his father into barbering. Paul's father, Alfred ("Fred") Jalbert was a self-taught hair-cutter who owned and operated his own store in New Auburn for nearly 30 years. Alfred passed the business to his son before retiring after 57 years as a barber. Paul continued to operate "Fred's Hairstyler's" until 2001, when he sold the business to go into semi-retirement himself. In this interview, with Sara Bolduc - a distant relative - on April 26, 2006, talks with Paul about the business, his time in the armed forces during the Cold War, and his friends in St Louis' parish choir.

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  André Teko Interview

  Daniel Koumou-nete

  André Teko was born in Togo but forced to flee that country because of his political activities. He worked initially as a university professor at the University of Benin, but when members of the military dictatorship in Togo attempted to kidnap him, he was forced to flee once more. He was granted refugee status in the United States and now teaches at Bates College in Lewiston. In this interview of October 30, 2005 he talks to Daniel Koumou-nete about his political activities in Togo and Benin, adapting to life in the United States, and cultural differences between Africa and the US.

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  Maureen Perry Interview

  Rachel L. Widner

  Maureen Perry talks to USM LAC student Rachel Widner about her family's toutière recipe, genealogy and other family traditions. This interview was gathered as part of the USM class HUM 302: French Settlement in the Northeast on April 27, 2005.

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  Lucille Paré Interview 2

  Kellie Pelletier

  Marie Thérèse Lucille Paré was born in Auburn, Maine in 1923. At the age of seven she was sent to live with the Dominican nuns while her father went to Canada to find work during the Depression. Lucille remained at the convent until she graduated, and returned at age 26 to take holy orders. As a Dominican prioress, she headed the Lewiston convent until just before its closure in the late 1960s. She was also prioress in Phoenix, Arizona, where she earned her PhD, and went on to head an adult religious education initiative.

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  John Schott Interview

  Kelly Pelletier and Barry Rodrigue

  John Schott was responsible for rescuing the former Grand Trunk Railroad Depot on Lincoln Street in Lewiston from dereliction. In 1987, he bought the building from the Lewiston-Auburn Railroad Company for $10,000. For the next 15 years, he spent many thousands of dollars and countless hours of labor renovating the facility and restoring its structural integrity. The Grand Trunk Railroad Depot was built in 1874, and was the terminus of a branch of the Grand Trunk Railroad which ran from Montreal to Portland, Maine. Between 1920 and 1939, approximately 80% of French Canadian immigrants to Lewiston arrived via the railroad. The depot closed in 1975 with declining passenger numbers, and the building was placed on the National Register of Historic places in 1979. John later sold the building back to the LARC for almost $300,000 in 2003. Following further renovations in 2011 and 2012, the building is set to open as a cafe, some time in the Spring of 2013.

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  Betty Cody (Rita Coté) Interview

  Ann Breau

  Betty Cody is the stage name for Rita Coté, a highly-successful country singer from Lewiston, Maine. She married fellow singer Hal "Lone Pine" Breau, and their sons, Denny and Lenny went on to have successful musical careers. In this interview, she discusses her relationship to the Franco-American community and the origins of her musical career.

  In the photograph: Betty Cody (Rite Coté)

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  Theresa Cyr Interview

  Terri Cyr

  In this interview with her daughter-in-law, Jackie, Theresa Cyr reflects on her life - her childhood in Van Buren, and her move to the industrial center of Lewiston and, later, to Rhode Island.

  Also included: transcript.

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  Lucille Paré Interview 1

  Madeleine Roy

  Marie Thérèse Lucille Paré was born in Auburn, Maine in 1923. At the age of seven she was sent to live with the Dominican nuns while her father went to Canada to find work during the Depression. Lucille remained at the convent until she graduated, and returned at age 26 to take holy orders. As a Dominican prioress, she headed the Lewiston convent until just before its closure in the late 1960s. She was also prioress in Phoenix, Arizona, where she earned her PhD, and went on to head an adult religious education initiative.

  In the photograph: Nuns at the Dominican Convent, Lewiston, c1965. Sister Marie Sylvie (Lucille Paré) is in the center.

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  Gilberte Beaulé Interview

  Claude Bergeron

  Gilberte Desrochers Beaulé (b. Lewiston, c.1935) talks to her nephew, Claude Bergeron, about her father, Adelbert Desrochers, who was a strike-breaker in the Auburn Shoe Strike of 1937, growing up in the Great Depression, and family life in her early years. Also present for the interview is the interviewer's mother, Beaulé's sister, Jeanine Desrochers Bergeron.

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  Lillie Dumont Interview

  Jacqueline Couillard

  Lillie Dumont was born into a mixed British-French Canadian family in Montréal. She and her husband moved to Lewiston and operated Dubuc's gas station on East Avenue for six years before returning to Montréal. She discusses similarities and differences between Franco life in Lewiston and Montréal.

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  Robert Hamel Interview

  Daniel J. Desjardins

  Robert Hamel grew up in Lewiston during the Depression and worked in a variety of occupations, including a very brief stint in the Bates Mill, a session in a Jewish-owned shoe shop and finally 37 years and Hahnel Brothers as a roofer. Hamel discusses working conditions and ethnic relations in the workplace.

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  Rolande Duguay Ouelette Interview

  Nadine Gagnon and Melanie Lemieux

  Rolande Duguay was born in St Bonaventure, QC, in 1917. Her mother died when she was only three years old, so she was sent to live with her grandparents. When her grandfather also died, Rolande was sent to live with her aunt and uncle in Waterville, Maine. Her first trip on a train took her to the United States, where she worked in a textile mill. After marrying her husband, Emile Ouellette, in 1935, she moved to Lewiston and then to Brunswick, Maine. In this interview, conducted April 28, 1994 she talks to her grandchildren, Nadine Gagnon and Melanie Lemieux about her early life in Canada, her love of cooking and her family values.

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  Nancy Lee (Morin) Huff Interview

  Peggy Plapis

  Nancy Lee Huff was born Nancy Lee Morin to Lucien and Mary Adams Morin in 1945. In this interview with her sister, Peggy Plapis, she recounts her discoveries about the family history through talking to her uncle, Davila "Dave" Morin and genealogical research.

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  Patricia Paré Camire Interview

  Madeleine Roy

  Patricia Paré Camire was born in Lewiston in 1921. In this interview, she talks to her sister, Collection Coordinator Madeleine Roy about their family and Patricia's time as a boarder at the Ave Maria Convent in Sabattus while their father was 'out west' in Canada. Camire continues with life during the Great Depression, her service in the Army during the 1940s and her later careers.

  Also included: transcript and photograph.

  In the photograph: Patricia Paré Camire (left) and friends in the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps, 1943.