By Matthew Lord
 

 To deny who you are is to hate what you are!  This sentiment has some very real truth in the history of the United States and the history of humanity.  In a country made up almost entirely of immigrants it can be said that at one time nearly all of these groups hated themselves.  The process by which nearly every ethnicity has been forced to forget its heritage is called assimilation; others may call it Americanization, or the melting pot.  The idea is to blend us all into one large group with the same history, interests, and personalities.  Otherwise, we may have too many small societies and the nation will not have control of its people and then become weak; at least that is the philosophy behind it.  Assimilation was taught both directly through schools and other government institutions and indirectly through ethnocentric customs and demands, many of which were very discriminatory.  This article is going to focus on one particular ethnic group of interest, the Franco-Americans of New England, specifically of Maine.  In order to get an accurate understanding of the cultural changes and the identity problems associated with the Francos, we must start at the beginning of the state's Franco-American history and work forward.   I will go into the most detail on the central Maine area, the Waterville area and surrounding areas.  The focus will be the shame and denial of the Francos on their heritage caused by the degradation of assimilation and the recent revival and pride in the culture caused by a revolution against these ethnocentric institutions.
 The first French Settlers in Maine were actually the first European settlers in Maine.  In 1604, three years before the James town settlement, Samuel de Champlain led a group of rugged settlers to an island on the St. Croix River, just below what is modern day Calais.(Brennan)  The winter was tough and eventually the settlers moved back across the bay to Port Royal.  The area covering most of modern day Canada, upper New York, and New England, and the American west became known as New France up until the end of the French and Indian war.(Brennan)  Maine was a French colony until 1755 when the French were defeated in the Battle for Acadia. (Albert)  The control changed with this loss, but not the culture and traditions.
 In the fall of 1755 what is known as La Gande Derangement (The Great Disorder) took place. (Albert) Ten thousand Acadians were forced out of their homes and expelled to other parts of the Americas by the British.(Albert)  The British government took all their land and belongings and sent the Francos all over the New World.  Many families were split up for ever.  People were randomly forced on different ships and sent to numerous destinations.  A great deal of these people died from famine and disease because of this tragedy.(Albert)  The Longfellow poem "Evangeline" depicts the horror of this odious event.  Some of the Acadians fled the Maritimes and went north west to the St. John River Valley and what today is Aroostock County.  This became the first large scale immigration of French speaking people in Maine.(Laflamme)  This population of Franco-Americans stayed and is still there today. In the early 19th century many rural Quebec and French New Brunswick farmers and lumberman moved to nearby locations on the opposite side of the Canadian/ American border.(Laflamme)  The boundary was poorly defined politically and nearly invisible socially.  The St. John Valley garnered little attention from government officials and most of the farmers and lumberjacks were happy to have the extra help.(Laflamme)  In 1842, the Webster-Ashburton treaty created a permanent border between Maine and Canada.(Laflamme)  Literally overnight many Francos became Americans.  The common conclusion is that Maine's Franco population migrated to Maine during the 19th and 20th centuries to labor in the factories of the Industrial Revolution, which is very accurate.  However, even before the great immigrations that took place at the turn of the century there was a large community of Francos in Maine living in the St. John Valley.
 The Industrial Revolution fed what has become the largest cause of Franco-American immigration to Maine.  The expanding mills of towns such as Lewiston, Biddeford, and Waterville lead to a large increase in Franco immigration between the late nineteenth century and late twentieth century.(Laflamme)  It is estimated that over one million Francos moved to New England during this time period.
 French settlers first immigrated to Waterville from Quebec in the early 19th century. (Laflamme) The man who founded the Franco community in Waterville was Jean Baptiste Mathieu.  Mathieu, originally from St. Joseph de Beauce Quebec, started as a woodsman in the early 1820's. (Laflamme) He soon realized it would be more lucrative and less work to truck food and supplies from Bangor to the remote lumber camps in the state.  He regularly carried supplies up the Kenebec River to the Jackman area; Waterville became an important stop on the way.  In 1828 he made Waterville his home and moved his wife and eight children there. (Laflamme) He moved to the south end of Waterville, Water Street, a few yards from the Kenebec River. (Laflamme) Mathieu's immediate family became the cornerstone for the Waterville Franco community, one of the oldest Franco communities in Maine. (Laflamme)Mathieu had one more child with his wife.  His children each had numerous children and so did his grand children.  His brother also brought his large family to Waterville.  Waterville had only 2,000 residents at that time, but later grew rapidly as thousands of Francos came to work in the textile and paper mills.  (Laflamme)
 Waterville was a very productive mill town by the turn of the century. (Laflamme) It had two paper mills, a shirt mill, a cotton mill, and a worsted mill. (Laflamme) The Franco migration to the city was hastened in 1870 by the construction of a new cotton mill.  The proof of this can be seen by a census study disclosing the fact that in 1840 2,971 people lived in Waterville, of that 146 were Franco, making the total percentage of the population that was Franco 49%.  In 1900 9,477 people resided in Waterville, of that 4,360 were Franco, making 45.4% of Waterville's total population Francos. (Laflamme) Also, a 1934 survey concluding that forty percent of Waterville's south end (Franco Neighborhood) worked in the cotton mill that was made in 1870.  (Laflamme) A 1990 census found that 6,590 Waterville residents (about 39% of total population) were primarily Franco-American and that Winslow (Watervilles neighbor across the Kenebec River) has 2,584 primarily Franco residents (about 48% of total population).  (Brennan)
 There is certainly a great deal of Franco-Americans in Maine.  The estimates, which tend to be on the low side for may reasons, show that at least 25% of the population is Franco, or about 300,000 people in Maine.(Brennan)  That is a very large number; it makes Francos the single largest ethnic group in Maine.  The number only reflects those that consider themselves Franco.  Many Maine residents have a large Franco ancestry, but do not consider themselves Franco.  There is also another reason this estimate is probably low.  Many Francos are either ashamed or apathetic about their heritage, something that will be discussed extensively further into this paper.  Because of this, they may not put down their ancestry as Franco on a survey. 
 Why has the largest ethnic group in Maine been so ashamed or indifferent for such a long period of time?  As previously mentioned assimilation is the major cause of this problem.  At the turn of the century the Franco culture in Maine flourished.  There were literally hundreds of French newspapers, Churches, and schools.(Guignard)  There is a desire for this to come back today.  French papers like Le Forum and Franco-American plays written  by Gregoire Chabot are starting to bring about a Franco Rennassance.  It will never be the ethnic enclave that resided at the beginning of the 20th century.  French communities at that time were very alive and people were proud to be French.  Francos are regaining their pride and their fervor, but we are still along ways from the spirit of the past.  However, there is a new philosophy among many Francos.  Francos do not necessarily need the zeal for traditions and trite acts we once had.  We need to create our own traditions and acts and create our won future. The Francos of the past kept all their traditions and ideals the same.  They refused to join the est of the culture nor dared to change any traditions
Francos were very conservative and kept to themselves.  Their autonomous behavior was viewed with contempt and confusion by a great deal of traditional Americans.(Laflamme)  The Francos refused to assimilate unlike many other immigrant groups of their time.(Laflamme)  They were viewed as industrial invaders instead of good, stable, settled citizens.  The contempt displayed toward their autonomy only pushed them further into isolation.(Laflamme) This only changed because of a string of events. There were three major incidents that I believe caused the Francos to "Americanize," the Corporation Sole Controversy, the English only bill passed in the 1920's, and the New Deal National Recovery Act caused by the Great Depression.
 Corporation Sole refers to an 1887 law that made the Bishop of Portland sole owner of all parish property in the state.  The Corporation Sole Controversy started because of the decision by the Irish hierarchy of the American Catholic Church to assimilate its people to have greater control over them.(Guignard)  At the turn of the century there was anti-papist sentiment towards the church because of its alleged foreignness. The church decided that it would "Americanize" every mass in the United States and make them all alike.(Guignard)  All masses would be in English with the same basic rituals.  There would be no ethnic traditions or customs.  Even though there were literally millions of catholic immigrants settling in the United States at the time with many different backgrounds and languages they were to all be treated the same. The diocese lobbied for sole control over all churches in Maine because the old system of individual parish ownership was unsatisfactory forcing many parishes into bankruptcy. (Guignard)  Corporation sole helped the church revitalize its credit. (Guignard)  There was no problem until 1906.  Before this period Bishop Healy, Bishop of Portland 1875-1901, was loved by the French because he paid special attention to them and held back a lot of assimilationist practices. (Guignard)  Bishop O'connel took his place and started adding more Irish priests to French parishes.( Guignard)  He left the diocese in 1906 with very little favor among the French. (Guignard)  His replacement was Bishop Walsh.(Guignard)  Walsh held strong assimlationist ideals that further angered his constituents, however, he inherited a very hostile constituency.  The French had been lobbying for a Franco Bishop for many years.  They actually made a group called La comite permanent de la cause du Maine. (Guignard)  The comite went before the pope to lobby for a French Bishop, but it never happened. (Guignard) Assimilation policies were strong in the church now.  Things got heated when Walsh tried to split the Waterville Franco parish into two forcing many of the St. Francis de Sales parishioners to go to the new Sacred Heart parish. (Guignard) The newly appointed pastor of that parish was Irish.  The three clergy in Waterville fought with the Bishop, which outraged him.  Walsh soon had a bad name with the French and many Franco newspapers started attacking him calling him among other things a tyrant and a Francophobe. (Guignard)  In the meantime the comite tried to overturn Corporation Sole law, but most lawmakers did not want to interfere with church affairs.  They proposed a lay council to overlook church property instead of a "king."  The legislature voted overwhelmingly in favor of the diocese. (Guignard) The comite appealed its case to Rome and lost. (Guignard) This did not slow it down it thought of going back to the legislature and kept up its strong lobby for a French Bishop.  It also kept up its attacks on Walsh.  By 1911 Walsh had had enough.  On May 14, 1911 Walsh interdicted 6 men who he felt were the cause of the whole scandal. (Guignard)  Interdiction is the step before excommunication in the Catholic Church.  It deprives you of the sacraments until you retract your offensive statements.  The men appealed their case to Rome and the papers called Walsh's act an arbitrary imposition of tyranny.  Rome supported Walsh's interdiction, but let Walsh know that they supported parish ownership. (Guignard)  Walsh met with 4 of the interdicted men and tried to work out an agreement for a corporation council, but they disagreed on the amount of laymen on this council.  This lead to another bill in the legislature.  The Legislature supported the Bishop again. (Guignard) The controversy lessened significantly after this.  The French never got their Bishop and eventually lost most of their French Parishes.  Today there are only a handful of French parishes left in this state.  There is currently a French Auxiliary Bishop, Bishop Cote, but there has never been a French Bishop of the Arch Diocese of Portland.  This statement is true even though eighty percent of the Catholics in the state of Maine are French.(Guignard) 
 The next great assimilating event was the English only bill that was passed by the legislature in 1919. (PL1919C.146)  Yvon Labbe, the director of the Franco-American Center at the University of Maine reveals, "the Governor during this period was a KKK sympathizer and was heavily influenced by their discriminant beliefs."  The KKK was strong in this state during this time period and they tried heavily to promote anti-Franco propaganda. (Doty1)  They were also known to burn a cross or two at the house of an outspoken "instigator."  The law states, "Basic Language in all public and private schools to be English; state superintendant to prescribe courses of study in private schools approved for attendance or tuition."  In other words, any course taught in the State of Maine had to be taught in English only, whether it is a private or public institution. .  Once this was passed every school in this state was being forcing French children to speak English only.  Labbe adds, "a great deal of propaganda was issued with this law convincing teachers that they will only hurt the children by reverting to their language.  Most schools held heavy penalties for children who spoke their native language.  If child reverted to French by mistake for example, he or she would probably get some kind of corporal punishment such as being paddled.  It then, ofcourse, became embarrassing to speak French.  Most Francos were already put down for their accent and told by almost of everyone that they spoke bad French.  Quebecois French was and still is considered by many to be "hick" French or "bad" French.  Franco French was basically Quebecois French with a thicker dialect so it was not proper French.  Rhea Cote Robbins recalls, "I remember getting D's in my French class at Notre Dame school in Waterville.  Imagine that, French was my first language and I got D's in it.  Obviously my teacher did not consider my French to be correct."  On top of that discrimination, Franco children were now severely punished every time they spoke their native language."  The policy seems very draconian even for the standards of the day.  This greatly impacted the culture over the second half of the century to the point where now only about a third of all Francos still can speak French. (Brennan)  The language being a key element of a culture; the culture certainly lost much of its vitality with this legislation.  It was not so much the fact that the children learned English in school as it was the harsh resistance to their native language.  The psychological impact of this resistance is a feeling of shame and guilt for behaving in a manner that is your identity.  Most Francos were forced to behave in a manner contradictory to who they were.  There is still great debate over the teaching of English today.  Most scholars agree that if you slowly incorporate English in the curriculum over a few years that the child learns the best and still holds on to his or her language and culture.  This also generally gives the child a higher self-esteem because they still keep their individuality and are not forced to pretend to be what they are not. 
 The last of the three major assimilators was the New Deal National Industrial Recovery act.  In the early 1930's the nation was in serious economic turmoil; all labor markets were hit hard.  Waterville's paper and textile mills, along with other mills in the state, were not immune to these economic hardships.  The Francos were not part of organized labor until this period.  The depression caused many to leave their economic enclaves. (Laflamme)  Many felt that their economic interests could be served best outside the Franco community.  The National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) caused the largest textile union growth in the nations history. (Laflamme)  In 1934 there was nation wide strike; it turned violent in Waterville. (Laflamme)  There is evidence that this incident created internal division within the group causing an eventual breakdown within the community. (Laflamme)  By the end of the 1930's organized labor emphasized the common good of all ethnicities, forcing them to behave in terms of class rather than in terms of race. (Laflamme)
 These three events impacted the culture of the Francos so much that by the end of the 20th century only one third of Maine Francos, or about one hundred thousand, can still speak the language.  Many Francos became very apathetic and even ashamed of their culture.   This did not start to change until the end of the 20th century. 
Over the past 20 years there have been some events have spurred a spirit of renaissance of Franco culture.  Many of these changes have been through education.  As more Francos started to be educated they realized that they are not different than any other culture.  They began to realize that they are not "dumb Frenchmen" or strange outcasts of society, but an intelligent, creative ethnic group that was not viewed as strangely by the rest of the world as their skewed upbringings may have had them believe.  A group of students at the University of Maine realized that they were a vibrant, intelligent group that was not as strange as they grew up believing.  These men founded a group called FAROG (Franco-American Resource and Opportunity Group) in 1971 and officially adopted the name in 1973. Yvon Labbe, one of the group's founders and the current director of the Franco-American center says, "the name came from an ethnic slur commonly used by non Francos to make fun of Francos. The name is said to be traced back to the KKK's influence at the beginning of the century and usually was preceded by a derogatory adjective such as stupid, retarded, or dumb." The group established the name as a way for the men in the group to take an odious, negative word and create a positive connotation.  It was in a sense a parody; word that once shamed them they could now laugh at.  A word that once diminished the men gave them power.  By taking this slur head on and facing its creators, they were standing up to their oppressors and relinquishing the power that this word gave to those people over Francos. Labbe says, "we took control of the word for ourselves and empowered ourselves with it."  FAROG became a very outspoken group at the University of Maine.  Labbe says, "President Libby's administration in the early 1970's gave the group a chance to form.  However, he felt the faculty were too conventional and that the group could not survive with such a conservative group on campus."  The group created a newspaper called Le Forum, which was just as the name portrays a forum to battle the anti-Franco sentiment of the campus. (Labbe)  Labbe confides, "[We]FAROG fought unceasingly for University support until they were eventually added to the Multicultural Student Affairs department.  We  were later added to Academic Affairs and given the mission of making a Franco culture curriculum and the opportunity to help construct a Franco-American history."  The Franco-American Center on College Avenue became their home and the name of the Academic service that in now doctrined.   The long road was not over for Yvon and the Franco-American Center, Yvon confesses, "Many administrations were very abrasive towards us, in particular Presidents Lick's administration from 1987 to 1991.  He did not like us and was in no way willing to aid our mission.  He later got fired from the University of Florida for making racist comments in front of the student government." FAROG and the eventual Franco-American Center have become important proponents in societies acceptance of Francos and the acceptance by Francos of their own culture.  In the past twenty years the pendulum that holds the feelings of Maine's Francos has swung away from shame towards pride.  Francos are slowly realizing that their culture is not this odious, disgusting thing but a viable, important aspect of their lives. I have interviewed a few other prominent Francos (all from Waterville) whose personal evolution will show both the progress that has come of the last twenty years and the deliberation that is still necessary to fix the wounds of assimilation.
 I have interviewed three distinguished Waterville Franco-Americans, two women from "down the Plains" and one man from Summer Street (middle class Waterville). The first woman from "down the Plains" is my mother, Marie Claire Lord.  She has held her roots through the years and kept me in touch with mine even though that has not always been easy.  The second women is Rhea Cote Robbins, author of Wednesday's Child (winner of the 1997 Maine Chapbook Award for creative non fiction) and director of the Franco-American Women's Institute.  Her book and message have been very important in revealing the trauma of growing up as a Franco in this state during most of this century.  The man's name is Gregoire Chabot; he has written three plays on the history and culture of Franco-Americans.  He is concerned with the evolution of the Franco culture more than the preservation.  He has a very important and unique message. 
 Marie Claire Lord spent most of her early years "down the Plains" on Water Street in Waterville.  Her mother, Gabrielle Rodrique, was born in Saint-Anne de Beaupre Canada, just outside of Quebec City.  She married a German man named Cecil Domler  when she moved to Maine. 
Did you ever feel you had to deny that your Franco heritage during your youth? "Yes if I did not want to be laughed at (French jokes).  I would pretend I was not French.  It helped that I did not have a French last name, although I had a German last name (even though looked, acted, and talked like a Franco) and many would call me a Nazi because of that.  Also, many people would ask my mother's maiden name (Roderique) then they would know I was French and make fun of me."
Was there any cultural degradation in any particular area of Waterville during your youth?
"'Down the Plains' like Rhea says in Wednesday' Child, there were tiers.  Eventually French people infiltrated the whole town, but Water Street was Franco and was ëthe wrong side of the tracks.'"
What types of discrimination do you remember as a child?
"They always made fun of my accent (French jokes).  My Dad was German and therefore a Nazi.  People laughed because I could not speak English well and that I went to Catholic school instead of public school.  I was also called ëretarded' because I was left handed and other names for living ëdown the Plains.'"
 What was Water Street, "down the Plains" like growing up?
"There were eight to ten bars on every corner.  Some people lived in huge tenements, twenty kids in apartment.  Some of those apartments were three stories below the ground.  I was fortunate to be an only child; I had my own room most of the time.  We lived in one of those tenements for a while when I was a little girl.  It was awful, they were rat infested.  I would not get out of bed in the morning unless I knew a trap that my father set had killed a rat. My father had to show me a dead rat before I would get out of bed in the morning.  Urban renewal destroyed most of those tenements.  They kicked people out of them and threw them in the river."
 What are your thoughts on your Franco culture today?
"It has been enlightening lately. I had not thought about it much till you started researching and I read Wednesday's Child.  I did not have the awareness as a child.  It was a given to me, I did not think of myself as part of a specific culture.   I knew I was different because people always let me know that I was different.  I knew French before English that was the reason I was treated the way I was.  Today that would be looked on much more positively and with intrigue, but years ago it was negative and different, something was wrong with me.  Rather than it being a good thing that I could speak two languages and one well, it was that I needed to be like everyone else.   Even today people give me a hard time about my accent.  People today are fascinated when I tell them I can speak French; for years it was a negative and now it is a positive.  It is a 360 degree turn and sometimes it is hard to understand.  I was really surprised when you wanted to know about it and then you started researching it.  I never expected this to happen."
Rhea Cote Robbins also grew up on Water Street.  She has her own view of its impact on her and her peers and how the Franco experience shaped her life.
Why do you think that you were ashamed of your heritage? 
"Where I lived in Waterville (Water Street)! The neighborhood was put down.  It is a historic neighborhood.  There are 5 tiers in Waterville, a geo-class structure.  Water Street is on the bottom of the tier; we were judged because of where we lived.  We were called Water Street bums; women were thought of as whores because they were from that part of town.  The only source of pride were the boys from the neighborhood who became good hockey players."
 Were there any affluent Francos in Waterville.  If so, did they receive the same treatment as you?  Did they feel the same way about their heritage?
"Yes, there were affluent Francos in Waterville.  There were doctors and lawyers and every other type of profession.  They generally kept to themselves.  We would usually go to the French doctors or dentists though.  They did not receive the same social discrimination because it was not just an ethnic discrimination, but a class discrimination.  Water Street was mostly Francos so some may call it an ethnic discrimination, but it was very much a class discrimination as well.  The affluent Francos would still have been ashamed of their heritage because of the social pressure from Colby.  The French we spoke was ëbad' French.  Towns with large Franco populations that were near big colleges were made to feel ashamed of their way of speaking and their heritage.  Waterville had Colby, Lewiston had Bates, and even Old Town to a degree with the University of Maine.  Old Town did not have the same type of pressure as Waterville because Colby carries more prestige.  Bates had a rule until just recently that stated no one who worked there was allowed to speak French while working.  Even janitors and cooks had to speak English while working because their French dialect was considered improper."
 Tell me about your book.  How do you come to the decision to write it?
"I took my shame and turned it into pride much like FAROG. The neighborhood is still neglected today.  It was a conscious decision; I had planned on writing it since age 16.  It took me five years to write; I only had summers to write because I was a school teacher.   I was in denial of my culture for a long time.  I got an application for a bilingual scholarship for Francos to study at the University of Maine.  It included free tuition plus a thousand dollar stipend.  I was so upset when I saw it that I threw it in the trash and poured coffee grounds over it.  I could not believe that there could be a scholarship for Francos.  I talked to my husband and then I got the courage to apply for it.  I got the scholarship and went back to school.  It was the first time in my life that it ever paid to be Franco-American.  I then got a job at the Franco-American Center.  I had to write articles for Le Forum. I did not think I could write because I was always told that my writing was ëbad' because my English was ëbad'.  English teachers all through high school and college were always critical of my writing.  I was scared to write articles at first, but I eventually began to love it.   That job taught me that I could write well.  I had a different way of articulating myself do to my upbringing, but it was not bad.  My experience writing Le Forum helped to give me the courage to write my book."
 Have you gotten many comments from other Francos about your book?
"Yes, people write or call me often.  There are many women who read my book and then contact me to tell me that they went through the same thing that I did.  I have heard from some amazing women who went through the same experiences as me."
 Gregoire Chabot had a different experience in his youth and has a very intuitive point of view on Franco-Americans now and there future.  He feels that if Francos only work to conserve their culture and do not allow it to evolve that it will fade away.  He has written three plays about the New England Franco experience to not only record and conserve the culture, but to progress it and inform others of their experience.
 Did you ever feel ashamed to be a Franco growing up in Waterville?
"I lived on Summer Street, which was mostly inhabited by small business owners and professionals.  There was a different mentality there than on Water Street.  The shame that Rhea talks about was not drilled into me on Summer Street.  It was more indifference.  I considered it to be a useless thing.  It was great for my family (mother and grandmother).  I was not ashamed, but I considered it to be useless.  There was no way to ever get rid of it, but I could never live it."
What happened?
"It is not easy to throw away your heritage.  I had internal conflicts.  By trying to leave things behind I hit a wall and realized I could not just throw it away.  It is an important part of my life.  I then got active; I joined a conventional Franco-American organization.  They were very conservative.  They refused to look at us objectively; our qualities and flaws could not be looked at, everything about us was correct to them.  Everything had to be maintained to them and nothing could evolve.  I did not agree with their philosophy so I left the organization."
 So what is your philosophy, what do we need to do?
"Pride cannot be the end all, we need to act on it.  We need to communicate our thoughts to others.  My theatre troupe was ecstatic to realize that we were giving a unique message to the French and Quebecois about our Franco-American evolution.  They told us our message is very important because of the hardships we have endured.  When we set off to perform plays about our culture and heritage we never even thought they would treat us as equals, let alone as an important group with a crucial message.  When we first performed in Waterville at the Opera House, people were excited because Francos have never been able to see themselves on stage. Most cultures have a way to see themselves; Francos do not.  A Franco cannot just turn on a TV and see themselves.  There have been four plays written about Francos  in the last fifty years and I wrote three of them.  To preserve and maintain a future you must create it.  Many want uniformity instead of progress.  If we try to conserve everything and keep it like it was one hundred years ago we will go extinct.  We are precarious right now, we have nothing to lose so we must take chances.  Language and culture were created by us to serve us.  The minute they stop being useful, or causing us harm then they can be pushed aside.  However, our culture can be very positive if it helps me to look at the world in a better way and makes me happy, but if it is going to burden me and cause me grief then it will be brushed aside.  To survive it does not necessarily need to be practical and make us extra money, but it does need to help as a people." 
 How did the culture get so conventional?
"When people moved to New England from Canada they did not plan to stay here.  They wanted to stay here for a short time, save as much as they could, and return to their homes.  They moved together into little ethnic enclaves of all French people.  They did not want to lose their language or their soul so they tried to stay the same as much as they could.  They were devoted French Catholics and did not dare to venture outside their ethnicity for fear of losing their faith.  The elite Francos job was to make sure that that message was reinforced.  In the 1920's they realized no one was going to go back to Canada, but they still pushed the language and traditions.  The power base was Francoism and faith, they had control by teaching these things.  All kinds of societies were formed.    The elite ran society/ insurance companies.  For fifty cents a week you could have life insurance, but you had to be a French Catholic with French as your primary language.  Francos coming to America to work after farming most of their lives thought it was great that they could work all week, get a guaranteed pay check, and then pay to have their family taken care of if something happened to them.  The elites made a fortune in the process and kept strict control of these flocks of Francos.  The further from the mother country the more strict was the culture.  France is much more liberal than Quebec and Quebec is more progressive than Franco America.  The fear of the penalties that may come from change caused the formation of an extremely trite culture."
 These three prominent Franco-Americans have lived three different lives with unique perspectives.  Their heritage caused some of them more anguish than others and some of them are fighting to keep the culture viable more than others.  However, they all share a love for their Franco heritage and they all have evolved through the pain and confusion of coming to terms with their heritage.  Their experiences and thoughts are very important to anyone who is interested in and cares about the Franco culture and wants to see it progress into the next century. 
 Assimilation, even for the best reasons, can be very harmful to a race or ethnic group.  It can force a group of people to hate their identity and it can cause some their whole lives to come to terms with who they are.  The Franco-Americans of Maine have been ridiculed and oppressed for centuries.  The diabolical acts of the English during La Grande Derangement in the 18th century and the odious acts in the 20th century such as the English only Bill and the Corporation Sole Controversy have caused a great deal of ambivalence and shame among the group.  Their culture has been slowly dying while many stand by confused and unsure of how to act.  There is a great deal of apathy in this group caused by a growing desire to move on, but confused by a feeling of connection to their culture.  The tide has started to change in recent years as groups such as FAROG stood up and fought the Tyranny and oppression that has been bestowed upon the Franco population.  There have been many personal evolutions over the past thirty years as Francos realized through education and experience that they are no different than anyone else and that their culture can be a positive and wonderful thing.  Francos have started to write about both their experience and the general experience of all Francos.  The culture is starting to evolve and form with the change and times.  Hopefully these events will help it prevail long into the 21st century.

Primary Sources
Albert, Renaud S. 1979 A Franco-American Overview Vol. 1 The National Assessment and Dissemination Center.
 

Brennan, Connie LaPointe (Chairperson) 1997 Report of the Commission to Study the Development of Maine's Franco-American Resources chapter 83
 

Chenard, Robert E. Old Canada Road  HYPERLINK http://members.mint.net/frenchcx/canroad.htm http://members.mint.net/frenchcx/canroad.htm
 

1. HYPERLINK "/search/adoty+c+stewart+charles+stewart/-5,-1,0,B/browse"Doty, C. Stewart (Charles Stewart) Title Acadian hard times : the Farm Security Administration in Maine's St. John Valley, 1940-1943 Publisher Orono, Me. : University of Maine Press, 1991
 

2. Doty, C. Stewart 1985 The First Franco-Americans The University of Maine Press Orono, ME
 

 Giguere, Madeleine 1981 A Franco-American Overview Vol.3 The Evaluation, Dissemination, and Assessment Center
 

 HYPERLINK "/search/aguignard+michael+j+michael+james/-5,-1,0,B/browse"Guignard, Michael J. (Michael James) 1972 Title Maine's Corporation Sole controversy 
 

HYPERLINK "/search/alaflamme+matthew+r+1968/-5,-1,0,B/browse"LaFlamme, Matthew R., 1968-  Title From colony to class : the changing consciousness of Franco-American textile workers in Waterville, Maine, 1934-1954 / by Matthew R. LaFlamme Publisher Orono, Me., 1995
 

Sorrell, Richard S. 1981 "The Survivance of French Canadians in New England (1865-1930): History, Geography and Demography as Destiny." Ethnic and Racial Studies 4 (1): 91-109

Public Law 1919. Chapter 146 of the State of Maine

Secondary Sources: Interviews

1. Marie Claire Lord, a woman of Franco-American descent who grew up "down the Plains" on Water Street in Waterville and my mother.

2. Rhea Cote Robbins, a woman of Franco-American descent who grew up "down the Plains" on Water Street in Waterville, author of Wednesday's Child and director of the Franco- American Women's Institute.

3. Yvon Labbe, director of the Franco-American Center at the University of Maine and cofounder of the Franco student activist group FAROG.

4. Gregoire Chabot, a Franco-American from Waterville, Maine, an author of three Franco-American plays, and director of a Franco theatre troupe.