Franco Route to promote French Canadian heritage in New England

“Growing up in Quebec City myself, I did not know and I’ve spoken to a lot of people who it’s a bit of the history of the province that’s forgotten. And I think people are very interested in knowing and learning about this immigration,” she said.

Representatives of the four cities met at the Museum of Work and Culture last Thursday, April 19, to discuss the early stages of the plan. Some of the institutions involved included Manchester’s Franco-American Center, Lewiston’s Museum L-A, the Gendron Franco-American Center, the University of Southern Maine and Biddeford’s McArthur Public Library. Marie-Claude Francoeur, the delegate of the province of Quebec in New England, participated by phone.

Locally, the effort received the support of the office of Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt, the Rhode Island Historical Society, the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council and Woonsocket’s state representatives, including Rep. Stephen Casey and Rep. Robert Philips, who were present at the meeting. The Museum of Work and Culture took a leading role in the effort, with Aurélie Mejahdi, an intern from France, taking on much of the task of connecting the various delegates, according to Conway.

“I think it’s really the beginning of something exciting,” said Conway as she welcomed the representatives to the museum.

The idea grew out of the North American Francophone and Francophile Cities Network, a 2015 effort by Quebec City in partnership with Moncton, New Brunswick, and Lafayette, Louisiana, to connect all North American cities with French heritage through an online network. The four New England cities, along with nearby Rochester, Somersworth and Nashua, are all members of the network. According to Conway, the Franco Route will help to create a deeper relationship among New England members, an effort she thinks will be repeated in regions throughout North America.

“It means sharing a lot of what we do between the four cities,” she explained. “If there’s a French-Canadian festival in one of the cities, we want to be able to let people know from our area that this is happening over there. It’s really a great way to connect the population of each city.”

The Franco Route will include the creation of a passport and promotional materials that will list attractions in the four cities and offer discounts to travelers. Participants also spoke about creating a bus trip that would begin in Woonsocket and travel to Quebec City, with stops at other locations in between.

The meeting also covered some of the challenges of establishing a route for travelers, including the limited hours of some of the cultural centers and historical societies that would be advertised in a brochure. Attendees also shared concerns about their ability to welcome visitors from Quebec given the reality that, while all of their institutions promoted French culture and language, many of their employees and volunteers were not native speakers.

“By being on the map, I think there’s a natural assumption that you’re going to be there and meet someone who speaks French, and that’s not necessarily the case,” said Jeff Cabral, director of the McArthur Public Library.

Despite the challenges, participants looked forward to moving ahead with the project. Conway said the next step is for members of the group to take a “reconnaissance tour,” an idea suggested by Robert Billington of the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council, to visit the four cities and determine the attractions to be included on the trail. She also welcomed the participation of other cities in the North American Network that were not present at last week’s meeting, such as Burlington, Vermont.

“Part of the next steps will be to explore grant opportunities, ways the cities would be interested in investing in this,” she said.