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Description
In the 2012 Legislative Session, the State of Maine mandated the creation of a task force to examine the status of Maine's Franco-American populations.
Collection Coordinator James Myall assisted the Task Force on Franco-Americans, presenting statistical information on Franco-Americans gathered from the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey.
Myall's findings dispelled several preconceptions of Franco-Americans that are based on historical facts that are no longer true. For example, Francos are no more likely to work in manufacturing jobs than non-Francos. Nor are their families significantly larger than those of non-Francos. However, the historic effects of discrimination and a lack of confidence in Maine's largest ethnic group are reflected in lower rates of college attainment among Franco-Americans in Maine.
The report also suggested that traditional elements of Franco identity, such as the French language, and the Catholic church, are in decline.
Myall produced two reports for the task force:
Franco-Americans in Maine (sent to the task force in September 2012) examines the Franco-American population in Maine and identifies socio-economic trends.
Franco-Americans in New England (sent to the task force in October 2012) compares the status of Maine's Franco-American population to that of other New England states.
Read more about the report and the task force at the Bangor Daily News Article.
Read the final report of the task force, including its recommendations for the legislature.
Publication Date
2012
Keywords
Statistics, Franco-American Taskforce, Maine, Franco-American Collection, University of Southern Maine
Media Type
Born-digital
Recommended Citation
Publications, Franco-American Collection, University of Southern Maine
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Language
English
Comments
The Franco-American Collection is one of the largest repositories of its kind in the North-East. The Collection contains tens of thousands of printed books, photographs, newspaper clippings and audio-visual recordings. Please review the Collection's Terms and Conditions regarding use of its material.