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MF 029 “Our Life, Our Work” Project
Number of
Interviews: 58
Dates when interviews were conducted: 1981-1984
Time period covered: twentieth century
Principal interviewers: Raymond Pelletier, Marcella Sorg,
Mark Silber, Stephan Duplessis
Finding Aides: partial transcripts
Access Restrictions: None
Description: The project "Notre Vie, Notre Travail - Our
Life, Our Work" was initiated by the Lewiston Western Older Citizens
Council, led by Diane Brown who worked there. Funded by the Maine
Humanities Councel, this project involved a series of bilingual
interviews utilizing family albums to stimulate discussion about
Franco-American culture in the Lewiston, Maine, area, particularly
as it pertained to work. Topics covered included: how work reflected
cultural values; work ethic; work/occupation patterns; how work was
integrated with family life (or interfered with it); the history of
work patterns in the Lewiston area; and Franco-American culture and
family life in general. Interviewees were elderly persons identified
by the Western Area Agency. The products of these interviews
included: (1) a filmstrip with bilingual audio tape using reproduced
family photos which illustrated themes from the ethnography and
exerpts from the tape-recorded interviews; and (2) a bilingual
traveling photo exhibit using selected family photos and captioned
with quotes (with translations).
1667 Sorg, Marcella and Dupiessis, Steffan. Winter 1981.
Maine: Lewiston. 43 pp. Tape: 1 1/2 hrs. w/ trans. Interview with
Simone Michaud about her life as a Franco-American; several
songs sung in French. Lewiston Western Older Citizens Council "Our
Life, Our Work" Project. T1786
1668 Sorg, Marcella and Dupiessis, Steffan. Winter 1981.
Maine: Lewiston. 3 pp. Tape: 3 hrs. No cat, or trans. Interview with
Adelard Janelle about life as a Franco-American (in French).
Lewiston Western Older Citizens Council "Our Life, Our Work"
Project. T1787
1669 Sorg, Marcella and Duplessis, Steffan. Winter 1981.
Maine: Auburn. 5 pp. Tape: 1 1/2 hrs. w/ partial trans. Interview
with Faye Jordan about her life as a Franco-American.
Lewiston Western Older Citizens Council "Our Life, Our Work"
Project. T1788
1670 Sorg, Marcella and Duplessis, Steffan. Winter 1981.
Maine: Auburn. 11 pp. Tape: 1 1/2 hrs. w/ partial trans. Interview
with the Honorable Retired State Supreme Court Justice Armand J.
Dufresne about his early life and his many years as an active
and semi—retired justice, working with French-speaking people in
Androscoggin County. Lewiston Western Older Citizens Council "Our
Life, Our Work" Project. T1789
1671 Pelletier, Raymond and Silber, Mark. Spring 1981. Maine:
Lewiston. 10 pp. Tape: 1 hr. w/ partial trans. (Side 1, English;
Side 2, French.) Interview with Jeanne d’Arc Turgeon about
her life as a Franco-American. Lewiston Western Older Citizens
Council "Our Life, Our Work" Project. T1790
1672 Sorg, Marcella and Duplessis, Steffan. Spring 1981.
Maine: Lewiston. 70 pp. Tape: 3 hrs. w/ handwritten trans. (French).
Interview with Albert Dumais about his life as a
Franco-American. Lewiston Western Older Citizens Council "Our Life,
Our Work" Project. T1791 - T1792
1673 Pelletier, Raymond and Silber, Mark. Spring 1981. Maine:
Lewiston. 27 pp. Tape: 1 1/4 hrs. w/ trans. Interview with Raoul
Pinette about his life as a Franco-American and his experiences
as a professional funeral director. Lewiston Western Older Citizens
Council "Our Life, Our Work" Project. T1793
1674 Sorg, Marcella and Pelletier, Raymond. Winter 1981.
Maine: Lewiston. 12 pp. Tape: 1 1/4 hrs. w/ partial trans. (French).
Interview with Joseph and Anne Marie Blais about their lives
as Franco-Americans. Lewiston Western Older Citizens Council "Our
Life, Our Work" Project. T1795
1675 Sorg, Marcella and Duplessis, Steffan. Winter 1981.
Maine: Lewiston. 9 pp. Tape: 1 hr. w/ partial trans. (French).
Interview with Genoria Pelchat about her life as a
Franco-American. Lewiston Western Older Citizens Council "Our Life,
Our Work" Project. T1796
1676 Silber, Mark and Duplessis, Steffan. Winter 1981. Maine:
Lewiston. 15 pp. Tape: 1 1/2 hrs. w/ partial trans. Interview with
Berthe Roger about her life as a Franco-American. Lewiston
Western Older Citizens Council "Our Life, Our Work" Project.
T1797
1677 Lewiston Senior Citizens Choir. Spring 1981. Maine:
Lewiston. 6 pp. Tape: 3/4 hr. w/ brief cat, of songs sung. A concert
of mostly French songs given for the Lewiston Western Older Citizens
Council by the Lewiston Senior Citizen Choir; list of Choir members.
Lewiston Western Older Citizens Council "Our Life, Our Work"
Project. T1798
1678 Sorg, Marcella and Duplessis, Steffan. Winter 1981.
Maine: Lewiston. 33 pp. Tape: 1 1/2 hrs. w/ handwritten trans.
(French). Interview with Florida Charest about her life as a
Franco-American. Lewiston Western Older Citizens Council "Our Life,
Our Work" Project. T1799
1679 Duplessis, Steffan and Sorg, Maccells. Winter 1981.
Maine: Lewiston. 51 pp. Tape: 2 hrs. w/ handwritten trans. (French).
Interview with Juilette Blais about her life as a
Franco-American. Lewiston Western Older Citizens Council "Our Life,
Our Work" project. T1800
1680 Silber, Mark and Pelletier, Raymond. Spring 1981. Maine:
Lewiston. 26 pp. Tape: 1 1/2 hrs. w/ trans. Interview with Mr.
and Mrs. Armand Sansouci about their lives as Franco-Americans;
French culture and language an asset to his political career.
Lewiston Western Older Citizens Council "Our Life, Our Work"
Project. T1801
1681 Sorg, Marcella and Duplessis, Steffan. Winter 1981.
Maine: Lewiston. 16 pp. Tape: 1 1/2 hrs. w/ partial trans. (parts in
French not transcribed). Interview with Cecile Dionne about
her life as a Franco-American. Lewiston Western Older Citizens
Council "Our Life, Our Work" Project. T1802
1682 Sorg, Marcella and Duplessis, Steffan. Winter 1981.
Maine: Auburn. 29 pp. Tape: 1 3/4 hrs. w/ partial trans. (French).
Interview with Francoise Bolduc Charest about her life as a
Franco-American. Lewiston Western Older Citizens Council "Our Life,
Our Work" Project. T1803
1683 Silber, Mark and Pelletier, Raymond. Winter 1981. Maine:
Lewiston. 18 pp. Tape: 1 1/2 hrs. w/ trans. Interview with Paul
Labbe about his life as a boxer and trainer and about his
Franco-American heritage. Lewiston Western Older Citizens Council
"Our Life, Our Work" Project. T1804
1684 Silber, Mark and Pelletier, Raymond. Winter 1981. Maine:
Lewiston. 20 pp. Tape: 1 3/4 hrs. w/ trans. Interview with Mr.
and Mrs. Alex Rouleau about their lives as Franco-Americans.
Lewiston Western Older Citizens Council "Our Life, Our Work"
Project. T1805
1685 Silber, Mark and Pelletier, Raymond. Winter 1981. Maine:
Lewiston. 17 pp. Tape: 1 1/4 hrs. w/ partial trans. Interview with
Paul Belanger about his life as a Franco-American. Lewiston
Western Older Citizens Council "Our Life, Our Work" Project.
T1806
1686 Pelletier, Raymond and Sorg, Marcella. Winter 1981.
Maine: Lewiston. 15 pp. Tape: 1 1/2 hrs. w/ partial trans. (Side 1,
French; Side 2, English). Interview with Odilie Maillet about
her life as a Franco-American. Lewiston Western Older Citizens
Council "Our Life, Our Work" Project. T1807
1687 Silber, Mark and Pelletier, Raymond. Winter 1981. Maine:
Lewiston. 44 pp. Tape: 1 1/2 hrs. w/ handwritten trans. (part in
French). Interview with Marguerite Michaud about her life as
a Franco-American; her experience writing songs. Lewiston Western
Older Citizens Council "Our Life, Our Work" Project. T1808
1688 Pelletier, Raymond and Sorg, Marcella. Winter 1981.
Maine: Lewiston. 12 pp. Tape: 1 1/4 hrs. w/ partial hand-written
trans. (parts in French not transcribed). Interview with Irenee
and Simone Bolduc about their lives as Franco-Americans.
Lewiston Western Older Citizens Council "Our Life, Our Work"
Project. T1809
1689 Pelletier, Raymond and Sorg, Marcella. Winter 1981.
Maine: Lewiston. 35 pp. Tape: 1 1/4 hrs. w/ handwritten trans. (Side
1, French; Side 2, English). Interview with Neolia Fortier
about her life as a Franco-American. Lewiston Western Older Citizens
Council "Our Life, Our Work" Project. T1810
1690 Fortier, Neolia. Fall 1977. Maine: Lewiston. 3 pp. Tape:
1 hr. (French). No cat, or trans. Genealogy of the Fortier family by
Raymond Fortier, Lewiston Western Older Citizens Council "Our
Life, Our Work" Project. T1811
1691 Sorg, Marcella and Pelletier, Raymond. 1981. Maine:
Lewiston. 3 pp. Tape: 1 hr. (part in French). No cat, or trans.
Interview with Ephrem Boucher about his life as a
Franco-American. Lewiston Western Older Citizens Council "Our Life,
Our Work" Project. T1812
1692 Silber, Mark and Pelletier, Raymond. Winter 1981. Maine:
Lewiston. 18 pp. Tape: 1 hr. w/ partial trans. (parts in French not
transcribed). Interview with Cecile Lebel about her life as a
Franco-American and her work as a seamstress. Lewiston Western Older
Citizens Council "Our Life, Our Work" Project. T1813
1693 Duplessis, Steffan and Pelletier, Raymond. Winter 1981.
Maine: Lewiston. 38 pp. Tape: 1 3/4 hrs. w/ hand-written trans.
(part French, part English). Interview with Romeo Boisvert
about his life as a Franco-American. Lewiston Western Older Citizens
Council "Our Life, Our Work" Project. T1814
1694 Duplessis, Steffan, Sorg, Marcella, and Silber, Mark.
Winter 1981. Maine: Lewiston. 38 pp. Tape: 1 1/4 hr. w/ handwritten
trans. (French). Interview with Cecile Boisvert about her
life as a Franco-American. Lewiston Western Older Citizens Council
"Our Life, Our Work" Project. T1815
1695 Duplessis, Steffan and Silber, Mark. Winter 1981. Maine:
Lewiston. 38 pp. Tape: 1 hr. w/ trans. Interview with Juliette
Filteau about her life as a Franco-American. Lewiston Western
Older Citizens Council "Our Life, Our Work" Project. T1816
1696 Duplessis, Steffan and Silber, Mark. Winter 1980. Maine:
Lewiston. 19 pp. Tape: 3/4 hr. w/ trans. (French). Interview with
Antoinette Boucher about her life as a Franco-American and her
family history. Lewiston Western Older Citizens Council "Our Life,
Our Work" Project. T1817
1697 Pelletier, Raymond and Silber, Mark. Spring 1981. Maine:
Lewiston. 32 pp. Tape: 1 1/4 hrs. w/ trans. (part French, part
English). Interview with Father Henri Carrier about his life
as a parish priest in several Maine Franco-American communities.
Lewiston Western Older Citizens Council "Our Life, Our Work"
Project. T1818
1698 Sorg, Marcella and Duplessis, Steffan. Spring 1981.
Maine: Lewiston. 39 pp. Tape: 1 1/4 hrs. w/ handwritten trans.
(French). Interview with Josephine Morin about her life as a
Franco-American. Lewiston Western Older Citizens Council "Our Life,
Our Work" Project. T1819
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