here is something I wrote that may be of interest to people from Biddeford: In his excellent and thorough historical study of Franco-American parochial schools in New England called “L’oeuvre des communautes enseignantes en Nouvelle-Angleterre 1869-1986: les ecoles paroissiales franco-americaines”, Gerard-J. Brault counted thirty-five religious orders of French-Canadian nuns who taught in New England and six orders of Brothers. They taught in 215 schools in 152 cities in New England. In Maine, French Canadian religious orders taught in 35 cities, towns and villages – alphabetically from Auburn to Winslow and geographically from Fort Kent, Madawaska and Van Buren to Biddeford, Saco and Sanford. And, because it was beyond the scope of his study, Brault did not even cite the hospitals, orphanages, homes for unwed mothers, and private boarding schools staffed by Sisters and Brothers. In my hometown of Biddeford alone, the Soeurs de la Presentation de Marie staffed the Pensionnat Stella Maris, the Academie Marie Joseph, as well as St. Andre parochial school after 1904 and St. Andre’s High School; the Servants du Coeur Immaculee de Marie (also known as the Soeurs du Bon Pasteur) originally staffed an orphanage at St. Joseph parish, St. Andre’s Home for unwed mothers; St. Andre’s parochial school until 1904 and St. Joseph parochial school, which I attended, and St. Joseph’s high school; the Freres du Sacre-Coeur taught boys at St. Andre’s middle school; the Freres de l’Instruction Chretienne taught boys at St. Joseph’s middle school and St. Louis High School from where I graduated; and the Soeurs de St. Joseph Hospitalieres staffed Notre Dame Hospital. These numbers are a tribute to the incredible achievement of our ancestors who exactly 255 years ago, when Wolfe defeated Montcalm on the Plains of Abraham, numbered only 60,000 souls in North America. When he delivered a talk on this subject in 1989 at a colloquium of the Institut francais at Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts, Dr. Brault made a special mention of the Soeurs de L’Assomption de la Sainte Vierge who had taught him in Chicopee, Massachusetts and recognized in the audience a former teacher who had made the trip from Nicolet, Quebec especially to hear her former student speak. I corresponded with my fourth grade teacher, Mere Ste. Rolande as she was known then, who lived in retirement in St. Foy, Quebec until the age of 100. Dr. Brault’s article was included in a book called Les Franco-Americains et leurs institutions scolaires published in 1990 by the Institut francais In Worcester. The book is dedicated “ a toutes les religieuses et a tous les religieux qui sont devoues sans compter pour que vive la francophonie en Nouvelle-Angleterre.” The book has 23 articles about Franco-American parochial schools throughout New England and the religious orders of Brothers and Sisters who taught in those schools, as well as an excellent introduction by Claire Quintal. Noted authors such as Armand Chartier and Robert Perreault, among many others, fondly describe the education they received in Franco-American parochial schools. I hope that readers of this website share their sentiments.
Posted on: Mon, 18 Aug 2014 19:25:23 +0000
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