By Michele Schmidt

Lorraine Jeanne Marie Pomerleau Doyon is a petite woman with sparkling eyes, a constant smile and a quick infectious laugh.  Her life's experiences have made her a woman who is strong of faith and culture of which she proudly speaks.

Lorraine was born September 29, 1940, in what is known as the Sand Hill area of Augusta, Maine.  She is the middle child of five, born to 4th generation Franco-American parents.  Her father's family name had one time been Vachon - di - Pomerleau and because of the dual last name they have had a difficult time tracing the lineage.  She does know that they came to the United States from Canada.  Her mother's family name was Quirion, and that family immigrated to the United States from France.

Lorraine's mother was brought up on a farm in Augusta.  When Lorraine's mother was a young girl her mother died, leaving Lorraine's grandfather with 4 girls to raise alone.  He decided the best thing for them was to send them to the Marcotte Home in Lewiston.  This was a French orphanage run by the "soeur grisse", Grey nuns, who came from Canada.  Lorraine's mother stayed in this orphanage until she was 15 years old, of an age when she could work.  She came back to Augusta and worked for several families helping out with the children in their homes.  Lorraine explains that her parents met while her mother was working in one of these homes.  Her father's family had a bakery; called Pomerleau's Bakery and a store on Franklin Street, in Augusta, according to Lorraine.  Her father worked there until it closed then he went to work in the Hudson Paper Mill.  Her mother also worked in the paper mill after they married until 1954.  Lorraine recalls her mother telling stories of "crossing the frozen river, walking ac
ross the dam to get to wok and hearing the ice crack beneath her."  But, it was worth the risk because it saved her several miles of walking in the cold.

The area known as Sand Hill, where Lorraine grew up and still resides, is on the North end of Augusta bordered by Northern Avenue and Mt. Vernon Avenue.  At the top of the hill stands St. Augustin's Church, an imposing structure overlooking the neighborhood.  Lorraine explains, 'Where I live now and where I was born is in a mile radius."  For years before and after her birth according to Lorraine, "99% of all French speaking families in Augusta lived on Sand Hill.

Lorraine speaks fondly of her childhood years up on the "hill."  Very few people spoke English.  She explains that "since we didn't have a TV until I was 12 or 13 years old, all the games we played were in French and the children we played with were all French speaking.  Every Mass at St. Augustin's Church was conducted in French.  "If you wanted an English speaking Mass you would go across the river to St. Mary's Church," according to Lorraine.  This caused a division between the Catholic's within the city of Augusta.  Lorraine explains, " In the late 1950's or early 1960's Father Curran came to St. Augustin's.  He was from a French speaking mother and an Irish father."  Because his heritage embraced both cultures prevalent in Augusta, his presence "broke the ice between the English and the French," according to Lorraine.  She then explains, "that's why we now have the John J. Curran Memorial Bridge," which spans the Kennebec River in Augusta, "it's to unite all the Catholics in Augusta."

At 5-1/2 years old, Lorraine started her formal education at St. Augustin's school.  She graduated from the 8th grade there in 1955.  All the classes were taught in French with about an hour of English lessons a day.  "Each class at St. Augustin's had about 50-60 students," explains Lorraine, indicating the large French culture of the area.

In the fall of 1955, Lorraine's innocent youth was changed forever.  She entered Cony High School, the high school serving the entire city. She was not only away from her neighborhood for the first time, but this was her introduction to English speaking kids.  Her entrance to Cony High School was less than welcoming.  She quickly discovered that she was considered different, she was made fun of and excluded, all because she spoke a different language than English.  "In as much as I don't like to say this," Lorraine reluctantly admits, "there was a lot of prejudice in the City of Augusta."  "They wanted to make sure that the French stayed with the French and the English with the English.  Except for the French Club at school, French speaking students were not officers in any clubs that you could join," Lorraine continues with downcast eyes.  Lorraine would hear in the hallway, asides from English speaking students, "she came from the hill," then Lorraine says,  "I would come home and ask my mom, am I bad?" Lo
rraine feels this prejudice towards the Franco-American students caused many of them to drop out of high school when they became of age to work, "usually around their sophomore year, at 16 years old, " Lorraine explains.  Lorraine states that of the 62 students who graduated from St. Augustin's; in the 8th grade with her, only 30 graduated from Cony High School.  She explains "if you're not happy in a school, you 're not going to study well."  But despite the criticism and harassment's, Lorraine was determined to continue and succeed.  She explains, "for 9 years of school life we spoke French, not EnglishÖit was a difficult time for a lot of us.  For a while in High School you were ashamed to be French, but we made do."  And Lorraine did.  She excelled, had support of most of her teachers and made English speaking friends.  Lorraine fondly recalls her speech teacher, Mrs. Clark, who one day when a frightened Lorraine had to stand up and present a speech in front of the class, she assured Lorraine that being 
a person who spoke two languages was better than speaking just one!

Lorraine only dated French boys, but according to her recollection, there was a lot of mixing.  "Not everyone was prejudice," she recalls.  But parents were encouraging their children to "marry your own kind."  And marry her own kind she did.  After Lorraine graduated from High School a family named Doyon moved into a house across from hers.  One day when she was shoveling the snow in her driveway, the neighbor's son, Valmont, who had just returned from military service, threw a snowball at her.  "He's been paying for that snowball ever since," chuckles Lorraine.

Valmont and Lorraine married on August 29, 1959 and a year later her first of three children was born.  She worked at home caring for her children for the next 13 years.  When I asked her if her children experienced the discrimination towards their heritage as she had in high school, Lorraine responds, "Yes, my kids felt it some, even in the 1970's."  She says they didn't talk about it much at home, but she does recall a time her son came home saying, "If I was so and so's son and my name wasn't DoyonÖthen I could do this.."  When her children were old enough she went to work for St. Augustin's Parish for 9 years.  "That's when I found out that people were no longer French", she says.  The majority spoke English at the church now according to Lorraine.  She and her husband spoke French to their children until they started school, because even at St. Augustin's school the classes were now in English, Lorraine explained.  Only her oldest child can really speak any French, Lorraine laments, but they are introdu
cing French to their grandchildren.  Lorraine on the other hand continues to favor her native tongue.  She explains, "I'll speak to everyone in the office in English, but when I really want to explain myself to my supervisor who is French, I automatically speak French to him.  I can explain my self better."  Currently, Lorraine works in the Superintendent's Office at the Augusta School Department.

As Lorraine reminisces about her childhood and her heritage she proudly defends, "we weren't very rich, but my mom was extremely neat.  The French people were known to be very, very neat people."  Sand Hill today looks very different then it did in Lorraine's early childhood.  "It is no longer French ethnic, " according to Lorraine.  Many of the homes are run down and are multiple family dwellings.  Lorraine says that despite it being sad to see these changes, "that's life, you have to accept things for what they are and go on.  One thing that has remained constant in the neighborhood, is St. Augustin's Church.  Currently there are 1200 members of the Church.  Each Sunday the 8 am mass is conducted in French.  One Christmas, Lorraine recalls, she and her family attended the French speaking Mass.  She joyfully explains that "there were quite a few people there, more than half of the church was packed with old and young.  The whole service was in French!"

Lorraine feels she's experienced many good times in her life.  She concludes, " I wouldn't change my life.  I wouldn't change anything about it, except, some of the things that did happenÖI wishÖwell, they will happen, not matter where you live or where you come from."