Browse Items (38 total)
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The Franco Factor : A French Canadian genetic disorder can cause killer cholesterol levels in even the healthiest person
Article on instances of familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), a genetic disorder related to high cholesterol, in some Lewiston, Maine families. Its high rate of occurence in people of Native American and French Canadian heritage, and its frequency among Franco Americans in the Lewiston-Auburn area. Online article includes video of those interviewed. -
The Role of Culture in the Medical Encounter
Short piece of health-related scholarship in cultural studies. Describes three instances in which medical professionals' lack of knowledge about their patients' cultural background had a negative impact on medical judgment and personal treatment. Published by Katahdin Area Health Education Center, University of Maine at Orono. Reprinted from "The Maine MOSAIC," Spring, 1989. -
My Last Million Readers
Autobiography of famed newspaperman, Emile Gavreau. His youth in the first decade of the twentieth century in New Haven, Connecticut, and among family in Montréal. A family's pervasive Catholicism; an early attachment to reading; intimate portraits of his father. His early work for the New Haven Journal-Courrier, later for the Hartford Courantaround the time of World War I, and at the beginning of the New York Daily Graphic. -
Basic Conversational French for Health Personnel : A Telecture Program
Franco American language and culture resource guide for healthcare personnel. Glossary of French language terms and phrases, lessons, and an example story of French-English bilingual interaction. Published for a 1979 telecture (long-distance learning) course in nursing, provided by the University of Southern Maine. In addition to course and instructor information, includes the following sections: Historical and Sociological Background (with French in North American timeline) Vocabulary and phrases: Basic Terms; Anatomy; General Hospital Terms and Phrases; Admissions; Physical Therapy; Operating Room; X-Ray; Laboratory Dealing with Feelings -
Henriette, la capuche : The Portrait of a Frontier Midwife
Article on Henriette Blier Pelletier and her lifelong commitment to midwifery. A Québec-born transplant to the Madawaska Territory and the St. Luce Parish - later to be called Frenchville, Maine. Pelletier helped to deliver the children of rural women in their homes, with methods and skills learned through apprenticeship, around the turn of the century. Explanations of medical procedures, folk medicines, and other folk practices used by Pelletier and others in the region, as gleaned from oral history interviews with women in the St. John Valley. -
Determinants of Prostate Cancer Stage in Northern New England : USA Franco-American Contextual Effects
From Parsons and Askland: "Despite screening for prostate cancer, mortality in the United States remains substantial. In northern New England, we know little about either determinants of stage at diagnosis--an important predictor of survival--or health outcomes for Franco-Americans, the region's largest ethnic minority. The objective of this investigation was to identify predictors of late prostate cancer stage in a rural, predominantly white state with a large Franco-American population. " -
Cancer of the Colorectum in Maine, 1995-1998 : Determinants of Stage at Diagnosis in a Rural State
From Parsons and Askland: "Despite screening for colorectal cancer, mortality in the United States remains substantial. In northern New England, little is known about predictors of stage at diagnosis, an important determinant of survival and mortality....The objective of this study was to identify predictors of late stage at diagnosis for colorectal cancer in a rural state with a predominantly white population and a large Franco-American minority... Incident cases from 1995-1998 were obtained from the Maine Cancer Registry. Individual-level variables (age, sex, race, French ethnicity by surname, and payer) and contextual/town-level variables (socioeconomic status, population density, Franco ancestry proportion, distance to health care, and weather) were modeled with multiple logistic regression for late stage...." -
Tay-Sachs disease in persons of French-Canadian heritage in northern New England
From Palomaki et al: "This study sought to determine whether persons of French-Canadian heritage in northern New England are at high risk for the lethal infantile form of Tay-Sachs disease. In order to accomplish this, death records and laboratory diagnostic records were surveyed to ascertain Tay-Sachs deaths in a cohort of 372,000 live births between 1977-1986..." -
The French Canadian Tay-Sachs Disease Deletion Mutation : Identification of Probable Founders
From Brakeleer et al: "Tay-Sachs disease (TSD) is an inherited neurodegenerative ganglioside storage disorder caused by deficiency of the hexosaminidase A enzyme. A deletion allele (FCD) at the HEXA locus has attained high frequency in the French Canadian population. The distribution of affected probands shows a likely center of diffusion for this mutation located in the Bas-St.-Laurent and Gaspésie regions of the province of Quebec. We have reconstructed the genealogies of 15 obligate carriers of the FCD allele to an average depth of 12 generations identifying 60 ancestors and 80 European founders common to all of them..." -
Older Women Doing Home Care : Exploitation or Ideal Job?
Article exploring the contexts and conditions of older age women as increasingly common personal assistance and home care aides in the twenty-first century. This occupation at the convergence of the growing need for home care workers in American homes, with the financial insecurity of older active adults in need of supplemental income, and who are able to provide social support and physical assistance to elders in need of care-taking. Author asks: "As older women are choosing, or being forced, to work later in life, is personal care work in their best interest?" (300). Article based on mixed-methods research - the Older Worker Study - including interviews with Maine home health workers: discussion of financial status, family status, work history, and attitudes toward age and experience. Written by a Professor of Social Work at the University of Maine. -
Gendered Passages : French-Canadian Migration to Lowell, Massachusetts, 1900-1920
Book-length study on French Canadian migrants and migration to Lowell, Massachusetts at the beginning of the 20th century. The role of family in cross-border human movement, and the impact of migration and its social, economic, and labor dimensions on men, women, and children migrants in an industrial New England city. A study of French Canadian migration as an important and distinct continental population movement; the "socially expansive space[s]" created by migrants uniquely across Canada/USA borders. Emphasis on gender dynamics - their responses to migration, labor, and the family in transition, with explorations of the individual experiences of women and men. Includes study of the late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century social and economic contexts of Québec and Lowell, in-depth consideration of migration realities, and exploration of settlement in the United States through the lens of the paid and unpaid work experiences of French Canadian women and men. Contains many demographic data tables; illustrated in black and white photograph.Tags Boston MA, Caribou ME, Death and Disaster, Demography, Emigration and Immigration, Ethnicity and Collective Identity, Family, Gender and Sexuality, Geography, Greek Americans, Health and Wellness, Irish Americans, Labor History, Lowell MA, Manchester NH, Merrimack River Valley, Mills and Mill Work, Nashua NH, New York NY, Nonfiction, Nonfiction -- History -- Labor and Social, Portuguese Americans, Québec, Seattle WA, Social History, Sports and Leisure, Travel and Movement, Willimantic CT, Wisconsin -
"Jumping Frenchmen of Maine" : Myriachit
Article on a neurological disorder marked by violent and sometimes repetitive responses to startling movements or sounds, here found among French Canadian lumbermen in northern Maine. Based on an 1880 report of Dr. George M. Beard - the only author on such a phenomenon at the time - and his research in Maine's Moosehead Lake Region in the 19th century. How Beard's "jumping" condition compares with the similar conditions of "myriachit" and "latah," with references made to Gilles de la Tourette's research and the neurological syndrome named after him. Certain cases of the disorder's varying manifestations among those who possessed it, and the disorder's apparent disappearance. -
Traditional French Canadian Family Life Patterns and Thier Implications for Social Services in Vermont
Behavioral and family life patterns of Franco Americans in northeast Vermont. Based on, and compared with, various research conducted on family characteristics and individual roles within French Canadian families in rural Québec. Considerations of traditional gender roles, parental and child duties, culturally reinforced beliefs, and some of the structures that either support or challenge these patterns among Vermont Franco Americans. The implications of these characteristics and behaviors for healthcare, caretaking, and other social services; suggestions for social service workers in providing for and communicating with Vermont Franco Americans. Later published and featured in "A Franco-American Overview: Volume 3." -
Reveêtues de Force
Le cinquantiième anniversaire de l'arrivée des Filles du Saint-Espirit (dit les Soeurs Blanches) de Bretagne, en France, à¡ la Nouvelle-Angleterre, précisement au diocièse de Hartford, Connecticut. Un récit de l'oeuvre accomplie par les soeurs à partir du moment de leur mise en place aux États-Unis. Leurs activités médicales et éducatives à travers les communautés francophones de la Nouvelle-Angleterre. Avec des photos en noir et blanche.Tags Belgium, Bridgeport CT, Burlington VT, Chicopee MA, Death and Disaster, Education, England, Fall River MA, Fitchburg MA, France, Gardiner ME, Graniteville VT, Hartford CT, Health and Wellness, Jewett City CT, Leominster MA, Moosup CT, New Bedford MA, New Haven CT, Newport RI, Nonfiction, Nonfiction -- History -- Religion, Pawtucket RI, Plainfield CT, Providence RI, Putnam CT, Religion, South Fitchburg MA, Swanton VT, Tupper Lake NY, United States, Warren MA, Waterbury CT, Wauregan CT, Winooski VT -
Themes in the Training of Culturally Effective Psychotherapists
Exploration of issues regarding ethnicity and cultural identity in psychotherapy. Description of 8-week program designed to help counselors and therapists address issues in an ethnic context. Includes an outline of program techniques and activities, remarks on the pilot program participants, and an analysis of program results. -
Mutational Analyses of Tay-Sachs Disease : Studies on Tay-Sachs Carriers of French Canadian Background Living in New England
Paper in biochemistry and molecular biology describing certain genetic mutations found in French Canadians and Franco Americans, exploring if or how they relate to the science of Tay-Sachs disease, a genetic disorder causing rapid mental and physical deterioration. From the authors: "Tay-Sachs disease (TSD) results from mutations in HEXA that cause Hex A deficiency. Heterozygote-screening programs have been applied in groups with an increased TSD incidence, such as Ashkenazi Jews and French Canadians in Quebec. These programs are complicated by benign mutations that cause apparent Hex A deficiency but not TSD. Benign mutations account for only approximately 2% of Jewish and approximately 36% of non-Jewish enzyme-defined carriers. A carrier frequency of 1/53 (n = 1,434) was found in an ongoing prospective analysis of persons of French Canadian background living in New England by using an enzyme-based assay. DNA from enzyme-defined carriers from this population was analyzed to determine the molecular basis of Hex A deficiency. Samples (36) were tested for common mutations, and samples that were negative for these were screened for uncommon or novel mutations by using SSCP analysis. Exons showing mobility shifts were sequenced, and most mutations were confirmed by restriction enzyme digestion. Known disease-causing mutations were found in nine samples (four had a 7.6-kb deletion found in 80% of French Canadian TSD alleles), and known benign mutations were found in four samples. Seven novel changes were identified, including G748A in four samples. The molecular basis of Hex A deficiency in this carrier population differs from that of French Canadian TSD patients. Screening centers should be aware of the presence of benign mutations among U.S. French Canadians or Franco-Americans." -
The Franco Factor : A French Canadian genetic disorder can cause killer cholesterol levels in even the healthiest person
Article on instances of familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), a genetic disorder related to high cholesterol, in some Lewiston, Maine families. Its high rate of occurence in people of Native American and French Canadian heritage, and its frequency among Franco Americans in the Lewiston-Auburn area. Online article includes video of those interviewed. -
The Role of Culture in the Medical Encounter
Short piece of health-related scholarship in cultural studies. Describes three instances in which medical professionals' lack of knowledge about their patients' cultural background had a negative impact on medical judgment and personal treatment. Published by Katahdin Area Health Education Center, University of Maine at Orono. Reprinted from "The Maine MOSAIC," Spring, 1989. -
French Canadian Families
Publication in psychotherapy on the historical backgrounds and cultural registers of a variety of ethnic subcultures in the United States. One essay on communicating with Franco Americans, acknowledging traditional familial roles, and understanding cultural trends. From the text: "'Ethnicity and Family Therapy' represents a good beginning in breaking through the barriers toward honest dealing with the psychology of America's still vibrant subcultures. The findings and practices described here are sure to be controversial, especially when our emotions are ignited by what we read about our own group. As a guide to practicing family therapists and to other general readers interested in cultural systems, the material presented here will prove to be endlessly fascinating and eminently useful." -
Franco-Americans
Outline of Franco American history, traditional practices, cultural norms. Culminates in suggestions to healthcare providers for communicating with Franco Americans. Published online by the Child Welfare Training Institute, Muskie School of Public Education, University of Southern MaineTags Acadians, Auburn ME, Augusta ME, Bangor ME, Biddeford ME, Caribou ME, Death and Disaster, Demography, Education, Emigration and Immigration, Exploration and Colonization, Family, Food, Health and Wellness, Language and Linguistics, Lewiston ME, Nonfiction, Nonfiction -- Essay, Nova Scotia, Québec, Religion, Sports and Leisure -
The Franco-Americans of Northern Vermont : Cultural Factors for Consideration by Health and Social Services Providers
Paper on Franco American values and cultural patterns as visible in the people of Vermont. The importance of recognizing such patterns and morals for health and social service providers. Included in Occasional Paper Number Six, in a series produced by the Center for Research on Vermont, University of Vermont. Originally presented as, "The French-Canadians of Vermont: Cultural Implications for Health and Social Services Providers," at a meeting sponsored by the University of Vermont Department of Psychology, November, 1981. From Woolfson: "Though a number of Franco-Vermonters do not display visible trappings of their French-Canadian heritage, many still share, as do other ethnic groups, inherited cultural patterns and values. This paper examines some of these patterns and values with an eye to describing their importance for health and social services providers in particular. There has been considerable interest in the special social and cultural patterns of the French-Vermonters as an ethnic group, especially the roles that family members play in interviews and other health and social services contexts."Tags Barre VT, Bibliography, Burlington VT, Business and Economics, Death and Disaster, Ethnicity and Collective Identity, Family, Health and Wellness, Language and Linguistics, Nonfiction, Nonfiction -- Anthropology, Nonfiction -- Science and Medicine, Nonfiction -- Social Sciences, Québec, St. Johnsbury VT, Vermont, Winooski VT -
Ethnic and Social Class Differences in Role Strain and Mechanisms of Adjustment
Dissertation comparing the ways in which working- and lower-class Franco American and Italian American women deal with social and psychological stresses. Comparisons of the interpersonal behaviors of "housewives" within each social group, measured in data collected through survey and personal interview. The effects on individuals of changes in social environment. Brief historical background of the two Rhode Island cities from which data was collected, as well as of the two immigrant, ethnic communities in question. Pays close attention to how differing social status, economic class distinction, educational achievement, family size, religious affiliation, etc., factor into personal behaviors. Contains a brief overview of literature on the sociology of mental health and the influences of class and culture on one's orientation toward communicating stress or mental illness. From the author: "This study is concerned with the mental health of selected subgroups, namely ethnic and social class....This study is specifically interested in the amount and kinds of role strain reportedly felt by the members of these two subgroups..." (3).Tags Community: Customs and Social Life, Education, Ethnicity and Collective Identity, Family, Gender and Sexuality, Health and Wellness, Italian Americans, Nonfiction, Nonfiction -- Psychology, Nonfiction -- Social Sciences, Nonfiction -- Sociology, Providence RI, Religion, Rhode Island, Woonsocket RI -
An Exploration into the Health and Illness Beliefs of a Franco-American Community : The Description of a Clinical Reality
From the author: "The purpose of this thesis was to explore and describe the health and illness beliefs of a Franco-American community in Northern Maine. A major assumption of this study was that culture impacts all aspects of life and therefore determines how we define health and illness. The ethnographic inquiry provided an exhaustive description of health and illness experiences of selected members within the community and, through contextual analysis, allowed inductive identification of patterns within the group. Major themes emerged in the areas of health beliefs (functional and subjective health definitions), health behaviors (approach and avoidance behaviors), illness beliefs (susceptibilities and vulnerabilities), illness behaviors (home-care and cues to action) and clinical reality. The subsequent ethnographic record provided a rich description of the health and illness beliefs of a Franco-American community and allowed a glimpse into the clinical reality shared by its members."Tags Alcohol and Drugs, Canada, Community: Customs and Social Life, Death and Disaster, Ethnicity and Collective Identity, Folklore, Food, French Island ME, German Americans, Health and Wellness, Indian Island ME, Irish Americans, Italian Americans, Nonfiction, Nonfiction -- Science and Medicine, Nonfiction -- Social Sciences, Old Town ME, Pownal ME, Religion -
The Pinch-Hitter
Short story about sandlot baseball in Lewiston, Maine in the summer of the narrator's thirteenth year, and the "Phantom Kid," Charlie, who stands up to Billy Boudreau's legendary fastball. Featured in a printed collection of stories told at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee between 1973 and 1990. -
Translation
Short fiction piece about a writer who can be either American (Phil Porter) or French Canadian (Philippe Carrier) depending from which side of the border he is travelling, or upon which side he sits. The complexity of a dual identity lived out in a single life - with accounts of his troubled youth in Montréal, his adult life in upstate New York - that seems to surface in his epilepsy. The success of his recent autobiography, "Head Waters," and the connections he makes with familiarity, his past, and his estranged father on a book tour that brings him to Montréal. -
The Tent in the Wind
Short story that finds James Briggs in London receiving a New York phone call in the nighttime from the mother of his ex-wife, Joanna, an expatriate in London, alerting him to Joanna's attempt at suicide across town. -
Arrhythmia
Short fiction piece about a woman's relationship with her mother illuminated in the ticks and increasing demands of her mother's heart condition. A parallel story of the woman's failed relationship with her partner, Mauricia. -
Your People's Ways
Short fiction piece told from the perspective of Rosaire, a young woman who suffers from a painful and mysterious physical injury. Movements in the relationship between Rosaire and her partner Gabriela, a graduate student, who decides to travel from their Michigan home to California, where a past boss and former lover suffers from cancer. -
Sanatorium : un roman
Un roman sur Pierre Gagnon, un personnage médecin qui est devenu un nouveau malade dans un infirmerie pour les tuberculeux dans la Nouvelle-Angleterre au début de 20e siècle. Des descriptions vivantes de la vie, des autres malades, et de l'hébergement de l'infirmerie. Écrit par un vrai médecin; basé sur ses experiences avec ceux tuberculeux hôpitalisés à Rutland State Sanatorium, Rutland, Massachusetts. Republié en 1982. -
Requiem, Mass.
Novel centered around a family of four and a son's retelling of his disrupted youth. An absent, long-haul trucker father and his multiple families; a psychologically troubled mother who claims, among other things, that her children are imposters; an imaginative younger sister; the ubiquitous cat. The real and make-believe characters who intersect the narrator's life at home, school, and wherever his journeys take him in his attempts to save his family - in life or in story. Plays with, and discusses, concepts of fiction and memoir. Written by Worcester, Massachusetts native and teacher of Creative Writing at Florida International University. Winner of the Florida Book Award. -
Madame Simone Lavoie
Short fiction set in the author's Bateston, Maine. Madame Simone Lavoie narrates suppertime at home with her family - daughter, son-in-law, and grandson. Mémère's illness and some of the changes it has forced on her routine. Dinner conversation. Part II of The Façade, a novel in progress. -
Franco-American Bibliography for Health Care Providers
Bibliographic list of over 350 texts helpful to providers in a variety of healthcare fields for learning about Franco Americans. Historical, cultural, literary, legal, biological, and other resources listed together in an attempt to serve holistically the information needs of educators, medical professionals, and caretakers aimed at serving the Franco American populations of New England. -
Henriette, la capuche : The Portrait of a Frontier Midwife
Article on Henriette Blier Pelletier and her lifelong commitment to midwifery. A Québec-born transplant to the Madawaska Territory and the St. Luce Parish - later to be called Frenchville, Maine. Pelletier helped to deliver the children of rural women in their homes, with methods and skills learned through apprenticeship, around the turn of the century. Explanations of medical procedures, folk medicines, and other folk practices used by Pelletier and others in the region, as gleaned from oral history interviews with women in the St. John Valley. -
The Tent in the Wind
Short story that finds James Briggs in London receiving a New York phone call in the nighttime from the mother of his ex-wife, Joanna, an expatriate in London, alerting him to Joanna's attempt at suicide across town. -
Translation
Short fiction piece about a writer who can be either American (Phil Porter) or French Canadian (Philippe Carrier) depending from which side of the border he is travelling, or upon which side he sits. The complexity of a dual identity lived out in a single life - with accounts of his troubled youth in Montréal, his adult life in upstate New York - that seems to surface in his epilepsy. The success of his recent autobiography, "Head Waters," and the connections he makes with familiarity, his past, and his estranged father on a book tour that brings him to Montréal. -
Gendered Passages : French-Canadian Migration to Lowell, Massachusetts, 1900-1920
Book-length study on French Canadian migrants and migration to Lowell, Massachusetts at the beginning of the 20th century. The role of family in cross-border human movement, and the impact of migration and its social, economic, and labor dimensions on men, women, and children migrants in an industrial New England city. A study of French Canadian migration as an important and distinct continental population movement; the "socially expansive space[s]" created by migrants uniquely across Canada/USA borders. Emphasis on gender dynamics - their responses to migration, labor, and the family in transition, with explorations of the individual experiences of women and men. Includes study of the late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century social and economic contexts of Québec and Lowell, in-depth consideration of migration realities, and exploration of settlement in the United States through the lens of the paid and unpaid work experiences of French Canadian women and men. Contains many demographic data tables; illustrated in black and white photograph.Tags Boston MA, Caribou ME, Death and Disaster, Demography, Emigration and Immigration, Ethnicity and Collective Identity, Family, Gender and Sexuality, Geography, Greek Americans, Health and Wellness, Irish Americans, Labor History, Lowell MA, Manchester NH, Merrimack River Valley, Mills and Mill Work, Nashua NH, New York NY, Nonfiction, Nonfiction -- History -- Labor and Social, Portuguese Americans, Québec, Seattle WA, Social History, Sports and Leisure, Travel and Movement, Willimantic CT, Wisconsin -
The Pinch-Hitter
Short story about sandlot baseball in Lewiston, Maine in the summer of the narrator's thirteenth year, and the "Phantom Kid," Charlie, who stands up to Billy Boudreau's legendary fastball. Featured in a printed collection of stories told at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee between 1973 and 1990. -
Older Women Doing Home Care : Exploitation or Ideal Job?
Article exploring the contexts and conditions of older age women as increasingly common personal assistance and home care aides in the twenty-first century. This occupation at the convergence of the growing need for home care workers in American homes, with the financial insecurity of older active adults in need of supplemental income, and who are able to provide social support and physical assistance to elders in need of care-taking. Author asks: "As older women are choosing, or being forced, to work later in life, is personal care work in their best interest?" (300). Article based on mixed-methods research - the Older Worker Study - including interviews with Maine home health workers: discussion of financial status, family status, work history, and attitudes toward age and experience. Written by a Professor of Social Work at the University of Maine.