Browse Items (26 total)
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Your New Country
Transcription of a Biddeford, Maine, woman's life as told by her in brief stories to interviewers. Her youth in Quebec - being the oldest child of a large family - and her community there. Her marriage and snippets of her later life in Maine. Some daily habits and holiday traditions. A documentary profile, illustrated in black and white photo. -
Becoming a Man : Half a Life Story
Autobiography and coming-out narrative of Paul Monette, an Andover, Massachusetts writer. Monette recounts twenty-five closeted years of alienation and invisibility, explorations of his sexual identity, and observations on the sexual prejudice and violences around him. Growing up working-class in Massachusetts; his ill younger brother; stints at prep-school and Yale in the 1960s; time spent in England; a return to Massachusetts. Written during the battle with AIDS that eventually claimed the author's life. Winner of the 1992 National Book Award for Nonfiction. Republished in 2004. -
Chére Ma-Ma
Remembrances of a French Canadian family in New Hampshire, or the biography of a Canadian immigrant mother as written by her American daughter. Family life, work, and prayer in rural New England. Presented as if in flashback, with the story beginning as the daughter attempts to communicate with her aged and ill mother in a nursing home. Constructed in short vignettes pertinent to the mother's life as mother, each section set out with a descriptive header. Includes some poems from the author. From the book jacket: " 'Chére Ma-Ma' (Dear Mom) is a true story which tells of the determination and perseverance of a French Canadian woman, Mathilda (Bourassa) Charest, who raised a family of twelve children, and how she survived the everyday circumstances of truth in poverty, especially so, during the country's Depression; and her love of God through the Catholic faith." -
A Stigmatist : Marie-Rose Ferron
An impassioned tribute to Marie-Rose Ferron, or "Little Rose," of Woonsocket, Rhode Island. Little Rose is revered in local Catholic mysticism for her experience of the stigmata - the miraculous appearance of the wounds of Christ on her body - and the piety with which she led her short life. This book shares the story of Rose and the Ferron family through recollections, second-hand accounts, and historical research. A unique portrayal of the Franco American community of Woonsocket through the lens of its devout religiosity around the time of the Sentinellist Affair. Features the community's remembrances, its prayers, the phenomena it attributes to Rose, etc. Strangely crafted, with each chapter filled by often disconnected events related in single paragraphs separated by title headers. -
Before All Dignity Is Lost : The Living and Dying of an AIDS Victim
The life of a young man after graduating college, his battle with AIDS, and his friendship with a mentor and former professor, Norman Beaupré, as read through a chronological series of personal letters. From the author's website: "What would you do if you suddenly discovered you had AIDS? What would you think? 'Before All Dignity Is Lost' is the epistolary story of a young man who suffers through the ignominy of AIDS and dies from it at age 34. This is a true story based on real letters." -
Crossing the Divide : Representations of Deafness in Biography
An exploration of the lives and texts of three francophone biographers, each struggling in her own way through the difficulties of deafness. Includes a segment on Franco American author Corinne Rocheleau-Rouleau. From Gallaudet University Press: "This remarkable volume examines the process by which three deaf, French biographers from the 19th and 20th centuries attempted to cross the cultural divide between deaf and hearing worlds through their work. The very different approach taken by each writer sheds light on determining at what point an individual's assimilation into society endangers his or her sense of personal identity." -
Little Canuck : The Adventures of an Immigrant Boy from Québec
Self-published memoir about life in Québec, and life after Québec. From iUniverse: "Michel learns that his father is dying. This news precipitates a nostalgic journey into the past-a childhood spent on a dairy farm in French Québec. As a sensitive boy secluded from the world, Michel wavers between forbidden exploits and heartbreaking tribulations. Catholic school is a culture shock, but it's the huge pumpkin-shaped teacher with a bad temper who terrorizes his brain most. On the farm, his young life abounds with fun and danger-mad bulls, dynamite sticks, runaway darts, lethal ice cubes, and hazardous farm equipment. After struggling with a dismal economy, his family is forced to abandon their home. They desert their isolated farmhouse and move into a cockroach-infested apartment in an English-speaking city one mile from the seductive United States border. There, Michel copes with bullies, Russian spies, and ghosts. 'Little Canuck' recounts the humorous, and at times, heartrending memoirs of a young boy on his journey through a colorful landscape of emotion. Along the way, young Michel uncovers the mysteries of female anatomy, and learns poignant truths about mortality. His most profound lessons are not learned at school.
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Use My Name: Jack Kerouac's Forgotten Families
From ECW Press: "With this fascinating new book, Jim Jones debunks many of the myths surrounding the life and times of Jack Kerouac. Jones concentrates on those whose lives were most affected by Kerouac: daughter Jan Kerouac, wives Edie Parker, Joan Haverty, and Stella Sampas, as well as nephew Paul Blake Jr. 'Use My Name: Jack Kerouac's Forgotten Families' takes its title from advice given to Jan during her second and final meeting with Jack, who encouraged her to profit from the surname she shared with the famous author of 'On the Road.' Sadly, not one of these individuals so closely tied to Kerouac seems to have benefited from the connection, as Jones discovers in his in-depth interview with Jan. She discusses at length her 15 months as a prostitute, her own divorces, her hospitalization, and her life as an author, including a wild European book tour for [her novel] 'Baby Driver.' Although Kerouac is one of the most 'biographied' American writers of our time, Jones offers a new perspective on the King of the Beats and his generation, one in which formerly marginalized figures in the Kerouac storyparticularly womenbecome strong, central characters. He also exposes the cut-throat wheeling and dealing that has plagued the Kerouac estate and that continues today as the various players do battle over the legacy of one of the counterculture's biggest idols." -
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..." -
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." -
Your New Country
Transcription of a Biddeford, Maine, woman's life as told by her in brief stories to interviewers. Her youth in Quebec - being the oldest child of a large family - and her community there. Her marriage and snippets of her later life in Maine. Some daily habits and holiday traditions. A documentary profile, illustrated in black and white photo. -
Yeast
A collection of writings in cultural studies, compiled for a University of Maine course in English composition. Available at the Franco-American Centre, Orono, Maine. -
The First Franco-Americans : New England Life Histories from the Federal Writers' Project, 1938-1939
Selective reprinting of Franco American oral interviews from the late 1930s' Federal Writers' Project. Brief historical introductions to Manchester NH, Old Town ME, Woonsocket RI, and Barre VT, followed by the interviews with workers that took place in those cities. Rare voices from Franco American communities of this time period, in the aftermath of the Great Depression. A publication in the social and oral history traditions of Ann Banks's "First-Person America" and Studs Terkel's "Hard Work."Tags Acadians, Acculturation and Assimilation, Alcohol and Drugs, Barre VT, Community: Customs and Social Life, Death and Disaster, Ethnicity and Collective Identity, Family, Folklore, Forestry, Gender and Sexuality, Government and Politics, Illness, Labor History, Language and Linguistics, Manchester NH, Mills and Mill Work, New England, Nonfiction, Nonfiction -- History -- Labor and Social, Nonfiction -- Immigration, Old Town ME, Personal History: Biography and Oral History, Religion, Social History, Sports and Leisure, Stonecutting, Woonsocket RI -
Holyoke, Massachusetts : A Case History of the Industrial Revolution in America
A study of labor and industry in Holyoke, Massachusetts, beginning with the city's agrarian traditions, and establishing later an emphasis on the city's industrialization at the end of the nineteenth century. Published during the Great Depression, covers also the first three decades of the twentieth century and the saddening economic decline that led to Holyoke's engagement with businesses on the state and federal levels. A case study in New England mill-town economic transition.Tags Boston MA, Business and Economics, Chicopee MA, Connecticut River Valley, Demography, Farming and Agriculture, Forestry, Geography, Holyoke MA, Illness, Labor History, Massachusetts, Merrimack River Valley, Mills and Mill Work, Nonfiction, Nonfiction -- History -- Economic and Industrial, Social History, South Hadley MA, West Springfield MA -
Entraidez-vous : Stick Together
A collection of Franco-American folklore from the northern communities of the state of Vermont. From the foreword to the text: "We have tried to assemble here some of the folklore of the French-American that we have been able to find in the past year in the northern part of Vermont. In this book, you will find some riddles, sayings, songs, poetry, recipes, and some favorite old home remedies."Tags Alburg VT, Bloomfield VT, Canaan VT, Charlestown NH, Coventry VT, Derby Line VT, Folklore, Food, Grand Isle VT, Holland VT, Illness, Island Pond VT, Isle LaMotte VT, Music, Newport VT, North Hero VT, North Troy VT, Norton VT, Personal History: Biography and Oral History, Poetry, South Hero VT, Troy VT, Vermont -
De la difficulté de naître et de survivre dans une ville industrielle de la Nouvelle-Angleterre au XIXe siiècle : mortalité infantile, infanticide et avortement à Lowell, Massachusetts, 1870-1900
De Consortium Érudit: "Le présent texte est consacré à l'étude de la mortalité infantile ainsi qu'aux difficultés de survivre dans une ville industrielle de la Nouvelle-Angleterre durant la seconde moitié du XIXe siiècle. Nous tentons principalement de décrire la maniière dont les contemporains ont perçu, expliqué et tenté de résoudre le problième aigu que représentait la mortalité infantile pour les populations ouvriières. Nous relions briièvement à ce sujet, la question de l'avortement et de l'infanticide."
Tags Beverly MA, Boston MA, Brockton MA, Cambridge MA, Chelsea MA, Chicopee MA, Death and Disaster, Demography, Emigration and Immigration, Everett MA, Fall River MA, Fitchburg MA, Gloucester MA, Haverhill MA, Holyoke MA, Illness, Labor History, Lawrence MA, Lowell MA, Lynn MA, Malden MA, Massachusetts, Medford MA, Mills and Mill Work, New Bedford MA, Newburyport MA, Newton MA, Nonfiction, Nonfiction -- History -- Labor and Social, Nonfiction -- Science and Medicine, Nonfiction -- Social Sciences, Nonfiction -- Sociology, North Adams MA, Northampton MA, Pittsfield MA, Quincy MA, Salem MA, Social History, Somerville MA, Springfield MA, Taunton MA, Waltham MA, Woburn MA, Worcester MA, Youth -
Migration, Family, and Gender : A Longitudinal Analysis of French-Canadian Immigrants in Lowell, Massachussetts, 1900-1920
From Takai: "'Migration, Family, and Gender: A Longitudinal Study of French-Canadian Immigrants in Lowell , Massachusetts , 1900-1920,' explores migration from French Canada to a New England urban centre of the textile industry, Lowell, Massachusetts. During the period under study, both Québec and New England underwent significant socioeconomic transformation. This work analyses the impact of these changes on the process of migration and settlement. It also sheds light on the diverse ways in which French-Canadian men, women, and children responded to new realities in an urban industrial society. In order to investigate these issues, it is necessary to consider this migration as a phenomenon which consisted of a series of processes and not as a linear progression towards inevitable assimilation or Americanization. It is also crucial to emphasize the importance of introducing a gendered perspective in order to recognize the diversity of strategies devised by immigrant men and women as well as the cooperation and tensions they experienced in the process of migration and settlement....This thesis joins recent scholarship in criticizing a perspective that has described all immigrant behaviour as necessarily reflecting one set of culturally predetermined norms and customs. Contrary to the stereotyped image of French Canadians as immobile and fatalistic habitants, evidence from this study shows that they were a highly mobile people for whom migration was a pondered response to the structural changes that were radically reshaping Québec and New England societies. It is argued that the behaviour of Lowell's French-Canadian immigrants in the early twentieth century did not merely reflect the cultural transplantation of habitant values, but also the attempts of working-class immigrant families to survive and cope with significant socioeconomic transformation occurring to both Québec and New England. The diversity in the recorded patterns of movements on the part of French Canadians is indicative of their strategic autonomy and flexibility in adjusting to new socioeconomic realities....This study also seeks to redress a major gender imbalance in the historical studies of immigrants by devoting considerable attention to women. Not only did women's lives differ from those of their male counterparts; there was also great variation in the extent to which women assumed financial and domestic tasks. Such diversity, I assert, in the patterns of women's paid work was defined not only by age or marital status, but also by a combination of factors such as household organization, living arrangements, and the availability of child care. Immigrant families harboured complex interpersonal dynamics where different and, at times, conflicting interests had to be negotiated in not necessarily equal terms, but in accordance to each member's power and authority within the family and the larger society."Tags Acculturation and Assimilation, Business and Economics, Community: Customs and Social Life, Death and Disaster, Demography, Emigration and Immigration, Ethnicity and Collective Identity, Family, Gender and Sexuality, Geography, Illness, Labor History, Lowell MA, Massachusetts, Mills and Mill Work, New England, Nonfiction, Nonfiction -- History -- Labor and Social, Nonfiction -- Immigration, Québec, Social History, St. Lawrence River Valley -
In Advent : Poems
Book of poems from Lisbon, Maine native, former professor of creative writing at SUNY Brockport, and translator of Rainer Maria Rilke's Duino Elegies. -
Franco-American Health-Related Bibliography
Bibliography of books and articles related to the health and wellness of Franco-Americans and people of French-Canadian descent. From the foreword: "The following bibliography hopes to unite health-care providers with the growing body of knowledge focusing on the interdependence of culture, society and medicine. As is true with all bibliographies, this is not an exhaustive list of all resources available. It is the result of a combination of other bibliographies and databases for the specific purpose of creating a Franco-American health-related bibliography...." -
Becoming a Man : Half a Life Story
Autobiography and coming-out narrative of Paul Monette, an Andover, Massachusetts writer. Monette recounts twenty-five closeted years of alienation and invisibility, explorations of his sexual identity, and observations on the sexual prejudice and violences around him. Growing up working-class in Massachusetts; his ill younger brother; stints at prep-school and Yale in the 1960s; time spent in England; a return to Massachusetts. Written during the battle with AIDS that eventually claimed the author's life. Winner of the 1992 National Book Award for Nonfiction. Republished in 2004. -
In Advent : Poems
Book of poems from Lisbon, Maine native, former professor of creative writing at SUNY Brockport, and translator of Rainer Maria Rilke's Duino Elegies.