Quebec Student Interns at L-A College's Franco-American Collection

Marie-Pierre Pross-Rancourt, center, a student from Merici College in Quebec, served as an intern recently at the Franco American Collection at USM's Lewiston College. Pictured behind her outside the College are Collection Coordinator Donat Boisvert, left, and host sister Lilia Bright, right. At far right is Assistant Dean Roger Philippon, and in front is Barry Rodrigue, PhD, assistant professor and the Collection scholar.

April 2004

A tourism major from Merici College in Quebec recently served as an intern at the Franco-American Collection at USM's Lewiston-Auburn College. Marie-Pierre Pross-Rancourt, 23, spent much of her time conducting research for an educational brochure about Franco-American culture in North America. Working with Collection Coordinator Donat Boisvert and scholar Barry Rodrigue, Ph.D., her aim was to contribute "another French Perspective - one from Quebec." Her work also included French translation, collecting images from the archives, and formatting the brochure layout. The document, which Pross-Rancourt said will provide greater insight into the Franco-American presence here, will also serve as a supplement to a "Franco-American Performing Road Show" that is currently in the planning stage.

While in Lewiston, Pross-Rancourt visited an advanced French class at Edward Little High School, interviewed several local French-speaking residents, and collected information from the Franco-American Genealogical Society in Auburn. While there, she traced her own family back six generations in Quebec.

"There are many more French people here than I thought!" Pross-Rancourt observed. "I discovered a different French culture that I didn't know about before."

The Franco-American Heritage Collection, formerly known as the Centre d'Heritage Franco-Americain, is the largest repository of Franco-American archival material in the State, with material on local history, government, religion, language, education, industry, sports and the arts. Visitors are welcome Monday and Wednesdays, 8:30A - 5:00P, and Thursdays, 8:00A - 12:00P. For more information, please call 753-6545 or visit the web site at www.usm.maine.edu/lac/franco.

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